Usually the stories we hear of children being attacked by animals do not end well. This is not one of those.

An 11-year-old Brazilian boy named Gabriel Almeida has become of bit of a local celebrity not just for surviving a dog attack, but for the way he did it. He was playing in his uncle's back yard in the city of Belo Horizonte when a pit bull named Tita lunged at him and bit his arm. Almeida fought back with his only weapon: his teeth. He bit that dog right back, clamping down on its neck so hard he broke his own canine tooth.

"I grabbed him by the neck and bit," he says. "It's no big deal. It's better to lose a tooth than to lose your life."

After some nearby workers chased the dog away, Almeida went to the hospital for a couple of stitches. He's doing fine, but Tita, not so much. He was captured and is now living in the pound facing a possible death sentence.

For better or worse, parents are a child's first and most influential teacher of life. It was a job that professor Randy Pausch took seriously.

Dr. Pausch's participation in the "Last Lecture" series at Carnegie Mellon University in 2007 was more than a life changing event for people all over the world, it was a message to his young children on how (and that they could, most definitely!) achieve their dreams.

The hour-long lecture had a bittersweet poignancy because, unlike other speakers who imparted wisdom based on a hypothetical last lecture, Pausch had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Rather than bemoan the fact or feel sorry for himself, ("We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.") the husband and father of three inspired millions (the Youtube version alone has been viewed nearly 4 million times) to live their lives to the fullest.

Wall Street Journal columnist, Jeffery Zaslow was in attendance for Pausch's lecture and the two worked together to share Pausch's thoughts in written form. Pausch was committed to spending every moment he could with his family, but used his hour alone while biking (exercise was crucial to maintaining his health) to speak to Zaslow via cellphone headset, which is how the bestselling The Last Lecture book came to be.

Through the book, and his numerous lectures and television appearances, Randy Pausch gave everyone a blueprint on how to make the most out of life ("Earnest is better than hip") and how face death with dignity.

Randy Pausch died yesterday at the age of 47. He is survived by his wife Jai,and their children Dylan, 6, Logan, 3, and Chloe, 2.

"I want the kids to know what I've always believed in," Pausch had told Zaslow in May, "and all the ways in which I've come to love them."

I don't think Dr. Pausch could have done a better job of letting them know.

If you have ever burnt a batch of popcorn, then you know the smell can be pretty intense. To me, it smells a little worse than burnt milk, but not quite as bad as scorched beans.

To the kids staying in a University of Texas dorm, burnt popcorn smells like something requiring evacuation and a hazmat team. Which is exactly what they got after somebody called the fire department to report a strong odor in the building.

Everyone in the building was sent outside while the brave members of the Austin Fire Department tracked down the source. "What we found was burnt popcorn. It was popcorn burnt on the fourth floor, and it had a pretty bad odor and it spooked a lot of folks," an AFD spokesperson said.

By "spooked", he means "caused imaginary respiratory distress", with about 45 people complaining of feeling sick and having trouble breathing. Can the smell of burnt popcorn really make you sick? The fire department says no and blames the high number of patients on a "sympathetic reaction."

Good news for the manicure deprived mothers of the world! According to the New York Times, chipped nail polish is no longer evidence that you've just given up and let yourself go.

Instead, beat up nail color now says "I don't want to be too perfect" which is a message most mothers are able to convey quite convincingly without assistance, thanks to being forced to function on only 24 total minutes of sleep night after night after night.

Of course, fashion is never easy or everyone would be considered fabulous. The caveat with chipped nails is that they are only considered cutting edge when accenting an expensive handbag, designer outfit, and worn by someone clad in Sex and the City-esque shoes. Bearing beat up nails when wearing a stained t-shirt and yoga pants that haven't been washed in a week with a shrieking baby slung over your shoulder may not have the same artistic wallop noted by the NY Times, but it's a chance I'm willing to take until I have time for a touch up.

A friend recently sent her 11-year-old off to camp. "I'm really going to miss him," she sniffed. I tried to be empathetic, but I was too busy daydreaming about what I'd do with seven whole days to myself. I knew that if it was me putting my kids on that bus, however, I'd be more than a little sad and worried as well.

Camp organizers and leaders say that they've seen a huge increase in what they call "kid-sickness" in the last 10 years. Though kids are eagerly looking forward to the many adventures camp brings, parents feel sad and worried when their kids go away. It's another reflection of our generation of parenting, says CNN, one that is far more anxiety-ridden than the parents that came before us.

My friend recovered from her angst by day two, I think, and says she's now looking forward to her week long break every summer. More importantly, she's celebrating the fact that the experience was a success for her son. Camp, for kids who want to try it, can be a confidence-building activity that creates memories to last a lifetime.

On the surface, 42-year-old Deborah Angilley probably looks like your typical soccer mom. Attending games and even coaching at one point, you could say she is very involved with her kid's athletic life. Maybe a little too involved.

The Edgewood, Washington mom is accused of embezzling $72,000 from the Fife-Milton-Edgewood Soccer Club. And she wasn't just feeding her Starbucks habit and gassing up her SUV with all that cash. It seems she had a little gambling problem. Police accuse her of spending a big chunk of the stolen money at the Emerald Queen Casino. In fact, she spent enough to become one of the casino's "preferred players." You don't earn that status playing quarter slots.

She is also accused of writing checks to her teen son as well as her landlord, who could also be in trouble if they had any inkling where the cash came from.

Her thieving ways nearly ruined the soccer league. "The club almost folded due to this theft, but has stayed in existence only through the generosity of those that have loaned us about $40,000," League president Jeff Flesner said.

While I am shocked and saddened that anyone would steal money from kids this way, I am also blown away by how much money she managed to pilfer. $72,000! It won't happen again, though. Flesner says the league has now taken steps to prevent future treasurers from having unchecked access to the league's money.

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Gas prices, food prices, a lazy stock market, heck, even my dog's food increased in price significantly last month. There's no denying it, the cost of every day living is on the rise, and families are feeling it in their pocketbooks. That might not be good news to retailers, most of whom are gearing up right now for the back-to-school season. A whopping 90% of parents who completed an online survey said that they'd change their shopping habits this year, while 71% said they'd spend less, and 83% said they'd cut back on new clothes.

I can almost hear the protesting teenagers now.

As a mom and a grown woman, the pragmatic me says, "Kids don't need new clothes in July (or September, for that matter). Why not wait until they weather cools down, or even until Christmas?" The teenager who still lives inside of me, though, cringes. I remember needing that "perfect" outfit for the first day of school. My own daughter is young enough to be thrilled by a new backpack and some sharp looking pencils (as well as the dozen other items her teacher will likely require), but I know my day is coming when how much we spend on school clothes will be an issue at my house.

Will your back-to-school budget be affected by the economy this year?

Playgrounds have changed a lot since I was a kid. Metal play equipment bolted onto hard concrete pads are a thing of the past. Today, playgrounds are made to be safe, with plastic equipment set atop cushioned surfaces designed to make sure nobody gets hurt while having a good time. For the most part, the changes are a good thing. But while kids may not be leaving layers of skin behind on the boiling hot slides or pavement, the sun can still heat a playground up to a dangerous level.

Anne Casson, a mom in Brooklyn, found this out when her toddler son's bare foot met the rubber safety mat covering a Brooklyn, New York playground. "He stepped onto the black mats and was screaming hysterically," Casson said. "When I picked him up, the skin was just hanging off his feet." That poor child spent four days in the hospital on morphine.

Although a spokesperson for New York's Parks Department says there were no similar incidents reported at any of the city's other playgrounds, doctors say it isn't uncommon. Two city hospital burn units say they see 16-18 young patients each year suffering from playground burns, mostly from the mats placed under junglegyms and slides.

In the hot summer months, those rubber mats can heat up to 165 degrees or more - hot enough to burn the skin in seconds. The city of New York insists their playgrounds are safe and that they have no plans to remove the mats or replace them with the CPSC- recommended lighter-colored ones.

Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates is outraged. "It is unconscionable that the city continues to install products in playgrounds that hurt the most vulnerable park users - small children," he said. "How many more have to get hurt until someone is held accountable?"

He's simply a boy anxious to start kindergarten, but even at age five, Adriel Arocha is learning that, sometimes, things just aren't that simple. Adriel's dad is Apache and believes that Adriel's hair should remain uncut for traditional reasons. Adriel himself says that he needs his long braids because,"they tell me how long I've been here."

But when the family made plans to move to Needville, Texas and enroll their child in kindergarten, they didn't exactly receive a warm welcome. Adriel's mom emailed the school to inquire about enrollment and to mention his long hair, which, she explained, was always neatly kept in two long braids. The school emailed back that their dress code did not allow boys' hair to touch their collars. After a flurry of emails, phone calls, and meetings, the district decided that they were unwilling to budge on their rules for Adriel and his family.

File this in the list of the stupidest things people do, you know, that list that makes you wonder how it's possible for some loser to be a parent when there are so many great people out there who can't have kids? Some jerk decided it was a good idea to leave his son in the parking lot in the car while he went in and saw The Dark Knight, the latest Batman installment.

Oh, yes he did. David Farnham, candidate for father of the year, left his two-year-old son alone in a locked car while he took in the more than two hour movie. Naturally people who were actually concerned about the boy's wellbeing noticed him crying and sent for help from the police. When the boy was retrieved he was dehydrated and scared but otherwise in relatively good condition.

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The cops noted it was 87 degrees and the windows of the car were rolled up. I think about this kind of thing all the time living in New York where the temperatures get surprisingly hot. Aside from the basic, common sense fact that no child should be left alone in a car, it was too hot for him to be out there. Did I mention it was in the middle of the night? Oh, yeah, the father went to see the 1:00 AM screening of the movie. I know an R-rated movie is no place for a child, certainly not a two-year-old, but isn't it better than being left alone in a hot car? Or, wait--I know the answer: GET A SITTER. If you can shell out the ten bucks to see the movie you can certainly afford a few dollars more to get someone to watch your kid.

Here's the good news: Disney is finally creating their first African-American princess. Here's the bad news: They just can't seem to get it right. The first version, The Frog Princess, was scrapped due to complaints that it was too stereotypical. The princess, named Maddy, was to be a chambermaid who worked for a spoiled white woman. Maddy is saved from a voodoo magician by a white prince, with help from her voodoo fairy godmother.

Disney's second version -- The Princess and the Frog --is still a musical set in New Orleans, but the company is keeping mum on most of the details. The heroine will be a 19-year-old named Tiana, and the film will be set in the Jazz Age. Disney says, "Princess Tiana will be a heroine in the great tradition of Disney's rich animated fairy tale legacy, and all other characters and aspects of the story will be treated with the greatest respect and sensitivity." Let's all hope they do exactly that.

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Though my girls have gone in and out of the Disney princess phase, because one arm of our family is Ojibwe, we've never let them see Pocahontas. Unlike Cinderella, Ariel, and Sleeping Beauty, for example, Pocahontas was a real person, and Disney didn't do history any favors when they fictionalized the events that took place. Though Tiana isn't a historical figure, I really do hope that Disney pays attention to the opportunity they have in front of them, and turn out a movie that's sensitive, appropriate, and fun, all a the same time.

(via Jezebel)

Say what you will about a smoker's right to light up in his car or her own home, but I think we can all agree that underage smoking is wrong, wrong, wrong. a new study suggests that menthol cigarettes are specifically formulated to attract and snag young smokers (and the keep the adult smokers hooked for life).

Menthol cigarettes are the minty ones, you know, the ones most like candy. they're also easier for a young system to tolerate than regular cigarettes. According to a new study out of Harvard, manufacturers of menthol cigarettes are using this information to nab the "vulnerable population." As smokers get used to menthol, like with pretty much anything else, they naturally prefer a stronger flavor or sensation.

The research also indicated that nearly fifty percent of smokers between the ages of twelve (yes, you read that right, TWELVE) and seventeen prefer menthol cigarettes. Menthol cigarettes make up about 28% of overall cigarette sales per year. There's no need to do the math here to realize that a big group of kids is smoking these cigarettes. Those who participated in the study are urging for stronger legislation. Phillip Morris, the company who owns Marlboro Milds, a milder form of menthol cigarette, deny such allegations, as does its parent company, Atria. Lorillard, owner of the best-selling Newport brand of menthol cigarettes, also denied they lure young smokers.

Cig pic by wetwebwork.

President George Bush has signed into law the Children's Gasoline Burn Prevention Act, which is designed to prevent kids from being burned or otherwise injured from gasoline. The Act requires portable gasoline containers to conform to child resistance safety requirements already in place for other flammable liquids. This new requirement applies to containers manufactured for sale in the United States on or after January 17, 2009.

"Families who purchase gasoline cans with child resistant gas caps and who keep all flammable liquids out of the sight and reach of children are improving the safety of their homes," said Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Acting Chairman Nancy Nord.

Keep your kids safe around gasoline by following this tips, courtesy of CPSC:

• Buy a gasoline container that is child resistant.
• Place a gasoline container in a well ventilated, cool area.
• Never store gasoline or other fuel inside the house, in the basement, or near a fuel-burning appliance, open flames, pilot lights, stoves, heaters, electric mowers, or any other sources of ignition.
• Never smoke near gasoline.
• Never carry gasoline in the trunk of the car. Escaping vapors can easily ignite.
• Keep gasoline, kerosene and other fuels out of the reach of children. Never permit children to play with matches or fuel.

The Children's Gasoline Burn Prevention Act was introduced to Congress by Dennis Moore, D-Kansas, after he learned of a tragic accident involving two children in his state. A four-year-old boy died and his younger brother was permanently scarred after they opened a gas can and spilled its contents near a hot water heater.

Ever read the book Brave New World? In Aldous Huxley's science fiction masterpiece most people stop having babies the old fashioned way; instead humans are the product of test tubes, petri dishes and the like. With the advent of that seventy-year-old woman recently giving birth to twins, I'm starting to feel like the "fiction" part of sci-fi isn't so far-fetched.

Turns out scientists themselves don't think so either. A new report in the July edition of the Nature journal, scientists are predicting that within 30 years artifical wombs will be commonplace and it will be ethically acceptable to perform experiments on human embryos. Creeped out enough yet? They're also predicting infertility could go the way of the dinosaur, that labs will be able to manufacture eggs and sperm and that "genetic cassettes" will be used to correct diseases among other things.

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) will be available for everyone and anyone from babies to grandmas will be able to have children. It was also noted that designer babies will remain an impossibility and people will still generally prefer making babies the old-school way, as it's less expensive and more fun. Having that kind of technology is one thing, but using it is another. Ethics take interesting turns throughout the years, and I don't necessarily think everyone would agree with all the possibilities mentioned above.

What do you think? Is this sort of progress inevitable and we should embrace it, or is there a good reason why infertility exists and we should let mother nature take her course?

Who should decide whether a book is age appropriate for your child? Is it you? Is it her teacher? How about the librarian? What about the entire education system? Or, perhaps the publisher? In a move that is sure to gain controversy, publishers are attempting to put age-appropriate information on the covers of their books.

The guidelines would be much those of the movies, which determine what may or may not be appropriate for someone of a given age. Authors among others are vehemently against such guidelines. Among them is none other than J K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books (the movies of which naturally are advertised with such guidelines). Also among them is Philip Pullman, the author of the His Dark Materials books on which the movie the Golden Compass was based.

Pullman perhaps put it best when he said that by adding age limits it would exclude a group of readers and that he doesn't want to do that. I would imagine the last thing an author would want is to have fewer readers of his books! Look, I read Clan of the Cave Bear when perhaps I was a little too young to fully understand it--but I turned out all right. I think books are different than movies, somehow, but I can't put my finger on it. I don't know how I feel about age guidelines for movies--those don't mean anything anymore as the studios use them to get more viewers--but I can't say I champion the idea of putting restrictions on books. Henry Miller will spin in his grave!

Pic by Nils Geylen.