In some small way, I wish we'd never started with the whole Santa Claus things. My kids are so deeply invested in it that I'm afraid finding out the truth is going to break their little hearts. My hope is that they'll learn gradually, like I did, and not all at once. Christmas is still magical to me, and I know that all those years experiencing the mystery and magic of Christmas is part of that feeling.

Cole Gamble, over at StrollerDerby, disagrees with me. He calls Santa Claus, along with the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny, one of the 14 lies we should stop telling our children. Others include:

• Just tell me the truth and you won't get in trouble.
• Do this or you won't get [something big you possibly can't take away anyway].
• Big kids eat their vegetables; aren't you a big kid?
• You'll make more friends if you play nice.
• Mommy and Daddy are "taking a nap."

Cole says it's also statistically impossible that your child is the prettiest/most handsome in the world, because in fact, his children already hold that title. Since we've been talking a lot about lying this week, I think Cole's timing with this hilarious list couldn't have been better.

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For someone who had little to say about her pregnancy, Minnie Driver is certainly opening up these days. She won't reveal the name of the baby's father and she has no plans on finding out the baby's sex before the big day, but she has a lot to say about the rest of parenting.

The actress recently revealed she has no real plans to stay with the baby's father and is seriously considering single motherhood. Now she admits she is prepared to be a "chubby" mother as well. As opposed to other Hollywood starlets who look like they were never pregnant to begin with (Keri Russell, I'm talking to YOU) or those who hit the gym moments after they shed the placenta and worked out frantically to reduce their size, Minnie has no plans to do anything other than be a mommy! Take that, Kate Hudson! (Hudson gained seventy pounds with son Ryder.)

Driver says to plan on seeing her around Malibu, and to plan on seeing her fat. As most of us realistic gals know, it takes a year to put it on, and heaven knows it can take at least a year to take it back off--if we ever do. Nice to hear someone from tinsel town taking a breath of reality! I doubt Minnie will stay 'chubby' as she likes to call it, given that she gained a ton of weight for her breakout role in Circle of Friends and lost all of it, but only time will tell. I just wish someone would advise Minnie she doesn't look fat now that she's pregnant--she looks fantastic!

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We've all seen it -- a child says something wildly inappropriate and shocks the adults around her. Her parents shake their heads, "We don't know where she gets this stuff." It's happened to me, and because my kids spend nearly all day, every day with me alone, I can't look much farther than my own behavior.

I think that most, if not all, parents slip now and then -- a curse word slips out, voices get raised, carefully honed parenting techniques fly out the window in the face of fatigue and stress. Kids are resilient, they learn that grown ups make mistakes just like kids do. And we try harder not to make those mistakes the next time.

An Australian organization called ChildFriendly.org recently put out a children's rights video titled "Children See." It depicts parents at their worst -- abusive, violent, careless, angry -- as well as their children following their lead. It's disconcerting, disturbing, startling, but it's also an excellent reminder for even the most thoughtful parent that our children are watching us, every minute of every day.

Watch the video below, then share your thoughts with us in comments.

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Do you like baseball? Any kind of sport? What about traveling or other activities? If you said yes to any of the above, do you enjoy doing so with your spouse? A new report from a set of studies, some of which have been going on for more than a decade, seems to think that if you do, your marriage has more of a chance at surviving. You know the old saying "those that play together stay together?" Well, turns out there may be something to that after all. Howard Markman, co-director of the University of Denver's Center for Marital and Family Studies, believes that having fun with your spouse is essential to your marriage.

Seems like a no brainer, sure, but when was the last time you went on a date with your spouse? That's one of the questions asked of couples by Markman and Scott Stanley, the other co-director of the study. The results were interesting, especially when they found out that women and men have very different views on what constitutes a date. The last time you spent time with your spouse could seem forever ago due to the economy, raising kids, demanding careers and commutes, among other things. Still, I think any married couple will tell you it's critical to have fun in your shared lives if you want to get something meaningful out of your time together.

According to another study, marital interaction is actually on the decline. Paul Amato, a sociologist at the Pennsylvania State University, surveyed over 2000 couples in 1980 and another set of roughly the same amount in the year 2000 and found that the number of couples who consistently participated in leisure activities together declined. The good news? Markman, in a separate study, noted that cities with major league baseball teams had a divorce rate 28% less than cities who wanted one but didn't have one. Why? Well, it certainly gives married couples something to do! No comment on whether or not the couples were happier if their teams won the pennant.

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When answering machines first became affordable, I ran right out and got one. How great to be able to communicate with others without having to actually talk to them! These days, of course, our options for impersonal communication have increased. With the advent of email, instant messaging and text-messaging, one could conceivably go for days without actually having to speak to another person. According to this article, such non-verbal communication has big-time appeal for the average teenager.

Stephen Saiz, manager of consumer insight and strategy of the Walt Disney Internet Group's North American mobile division, says that text-messaging has become a handy parent-avoidance device for many teens. "Teens are pushing their parents to go on mobile because they don't really want to communicate with them directly," he said.

Because of this, more and more parents are jumping on the texting bandwagon. Saiz says that most of the older people using their cell phone mobile applications are mothers who were pushed into the world of texting by their kids. And why don't kids want to talk to mom on the phone? Saiz believes it is due to the fact that they are busy pursuing much more important activities: playing video games and hanging with their friends.

Does this happen to you? Do you call your child's phone only to end up in voice mail? Does your kid respond to you with a text message? Is this okay with you?

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Actor, comedian and some-time eyedrop commercial maker Ben Stein, who once offered America the chance to win his money, has written a funny and telling article over at the New York Times. Most of us know by now the man who is most famous for asking over and over again, "Bueller?" is an economics genius, but did you hear what he has to say about love? Well, according to Mr. Stein, there is an economics to love, too.

Take for example what he says about junk bonds: "High-quality bonds consistently yield more return than junk, and so it is with high-quality love." I think we can all agree we've had that junk bond love experience and Ben perhaps knows what he's talking about. They're great for the short term, but they won't--and don't--last. Stein likens this to dating someone with a ton of problems and thinking you can change that person. Of course, he also notes that it's impossible to do that unless you control the market.

Stein also said something that is sure to stick, at least with me. That is that one should "fall in love in haste and depart at leisure." This means that once you've found a winner, whether in love or in a stock, that you stick with it. Commitment is everything, as is nurturing. This is true of love of and for adults, but I would bet the same is true of parenting. Fall in love with your spouse, fall in love with your children, and do everything you can to stay in love with them. Good advice? I'd say so--and take that payout to the bank.

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Most OB/GYNs have the box right on their patient information form: Do you perform a self-breast exam? Some women check yes, others check no, some may even guiltily check yes when they mean no, to avoid a lecture from their doctor.

When it comes to self breast exams, the information coming from the medical community can be confusing. While one study found that 35% of breast cancer patients discover their own lump, another recent study found that self breast exams had only a tiny affect on breast cancer survival. In fact, the leads behind that study took their findings one step further and suggested that self breast exams may actually lead to more biopsies and invasive testing.

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A road trip without tantrums or losing feeling in your arm from handing back treats and toys non-stop is nearly impossible for most moms to imagine, but life on the road sans small fry has been the reality all week for a select group of mommy bloggers.

Four members of the Silicon Valley Mom Groups living across the country from each otherr will be meeting up as they drive coast-to-coast to their final destination, the BlogHer conference in San Francisco. Corporate sponsors have donated the vehicle as well as cutting-edge technology (wireless internet IN THE CAR!) that enables the woman to keep readers of their blog updated on their adventures as well as to organize last minute meet ups with bloggers in the area they are stopping.

In addition to attracting lots of media attention, the women are also using their time in the spotlight to raise money for a worthwhile cause. Flashes of Hope is an organization that travels to hospitals to take lovely, professional portraits of children with cancer and other life threatening illnesses and their families, free of charge.

We're often inundated by stories of the dark side of the internet, but the good that can come from this medium should be noted as well. Safe travels and remember to stop and stretch, ladies!

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A recent letter from the Vice President of Communications at Nike, which was perhaps inappropriately shared, has controversy brewing. Apparently, one Amanda Miller contacted one New York Times writer Joe Nocera in an attempt to pitch him some sort of stroller. Nike Communications is a public relations firm that sells expensive stuff. Joe, and everyone else who responded in the comments section of his blog about the letter, was offended, or at least annoyed. You see, Ms. Miller referred to children as accessories. This is nothing new--people have worn their babies since, well, since they've been having them. What we carry them in, as opposed to on us, has changed, but little else.

Oh, perhaps there was a time not so long ago when women didn't really leave the house and therefore, when with child (in or out of the womb) they didn't leave either, which meant no one really saw much of children until they were working age. But now, all that has changed. Now celebrities can be seen with their spawn doing whatever it is they do when they're not busy making the millions required to purchase the kind of stroller Ms. Miller is suggesting to the tune of $1,000.

Celebrities procreate--many of them doing so two at a time--and then they show them off to the world. The question is no longer what those celebrity moms are wearing, but what their babies are IN. That's right--out with Halston, and in with the Phil & Ted's chic stroller, and their new Traveller, which is actually just a playpen. Clearly Ms. Miller should be fired. Not for attempting to sell people stuff they don't need at a ridiculous price--after all, it's a PR firm, that's what they get paid to do!--but because Joe Nocera is clearly not her target audience. I can think about at least ten people, all of them women, who would eat up the letter from Ms. Miller and barely wash it down with an iced decaf skim latte before immediately setting out to purchase one. Did I mention I live in New York City? Joe Nocera? Clearly not interested.

Stroller pic by Ed Yourdon.

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According to the retailing giant, Wal-Mart, moms have a dedicated following of helpers -- family members, teachers, neighbors and baby sitters -- to make sure that raising a family doesn't interfere too much with their ability to go shopping. This "momtourage," as its being called, might even include Dad, notes the New York Times.

Wal-Mart has signed a deal with a new unit of NBC Universal called Women@NBCU that offers access to the more female-oriented side of the business, including cable networks Bravo and Oxygen and television shows like "Lipstick Jungle." Lauren Zalaznick, president for the women and lifestyle entertainment networks at NBC Universal, sees moms as "identifiable consumer targets" for advertising. The agreement with Wal-Mart covers the last half of the year when moms are buying back-to-school and holiday items.

I'm not sure what we're doing wrong -- while we do get a lot of help from my wife's mother, I definitely wouldn't say Rachel has a "momtourage". I also have to say it gets a little tiring having society assume that we dads are nothing more than incompetent buffoons who sit around guzzling beer and, at best, trying not to get in Mom's way. Wal-Mart and NBC, I guess, think that women change every diaper and take the kids to school every day and we guys don't do anything. That would be all fine and dandy if we could actually get away with it, but it doesn't work that way outside of the marketing team's imagination.

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Minnie Driver may want to give Bridget Moynahan a call. Ms. Moynahan has experience in something Minnie thinks she may be taking on pretty soon: single motherhood. The actress, who is expecting any day now, says she isn't certain whether or not she'll stay with the baby's father and is considering single motherhood as a definite option. Minnie has even set the stage for the possibility of a man-free world by surrounding herself with family and friends to help rear the baby.

According to the actress she'll have her mother, aunt and best friends to support her. Minnie has still refused to let on who the father of the baby is. She is also quoted as saying it's great to be independent in that way--and she certainly already has a leg up on that by denying the Hollywood gossip rags info on the baby daddy! Way to go, Minnie!

Minnie has also stated she'll probably go for a regular old baby name instead of some type of fruit, a day of the week or something that belongs on a space station. We'll see about that--she's resisted telling us the baby's daddy, the sex and now she wants a normal name? Who is this person who does whatever she wants? Independent indeed!

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Handbags are a great purchase: they are practical, for starters (think of all the stuff you have to lug around with you every day) and they're an easy way to upgrade even the most basic Mom Uniform. And unlike your jeans, a handbag ALWAYS fits, no matter how many Goldfish crackers you've been swiping from the kids.

But there are some simple secrets to finding the perfect bag: look for one that is proportional to your figure, for starters. A tiny bag will get lost under a big chest, and a gigantic bag will overwhelm a petite frame, so choose something that is in keeping with your own size and shape. Choose a fabric and color that will work with your existing wardrobe, but don't skimp on color and texture; your bag is an accessory, after all, and you should treat it as part of your outfit, even if you are going to stuff it full of things for the kids.

Here are recommendations for five handbags, for diapers and daytime, work and weekend -- all for under $50.00 -- and one splurge bag that can cover all of those things.

Diaper bags are such a bummer -- they never look like real bags, just like these gigantic utilitarian things. Oh sure there are cute diaper bags out there, but really who wants to spend THAT much money for a bag that has a limited lifespan and is going to wind up with apple juice spilled inside it?

Vera Bradley to the rescue.

Bradley's line of cloth totes is perfect for the Diaper Bag Years; her prints are bright and cheery and whimsical, and while they are a bit Preppy, they're not duckies and bunnies; these are grown-up bags, not baby bags. Each tote is roomy enough for diapers and wipes and a change of clothes and a supply of snacks, and each comes with handy interior pockets for your lip balm and cell phone. And because they are cloth, you can clean up spills with a little Woolite or a Tide Stain Remover pen.


Vera Bradley tote, $30.80. Available in a nice range of colors and patterns, these bags can also be monogrammed, with your initials or the baby's.

Once your baby outgrows the diaper bag, you are ready to downsize -- sort of. As the mom, you still need a roomy tote most of the time, for Kleenex and hand wipes and those random stuffed animal friends your kids MUST HAVE when they leave home. But that doesn't mean you have to keep carrying the baby bag once the kids are in school. Instead, upgrade to a chic, sturdy leather tote, one big enough for all the Mom Gear but slim enough to carry easily.

Lillian Vernon's leather tote is perfect for a mom on the go: it is big enough for all the things you need to carry but slim enough to make it manageable. It comes with a convenient external cell phone pocket, to prevent all the fumbling around often associated with deep totes, and the leather is soft and forgiving. Wipe clean with saddle soap and a damp cloth; the leather will age beautifully and look fabulous for years to come.

Lillian Vernon leather tote, $24.98. Can also be monogrammed, for a more grown-up look.

Too many working moms make the mistake of dragging the big Kid Bag to the office. This isn't very professional looking (the Kid Bag, after all, is the one with the peanut butter smeared on the outside and the collection of My Pretty Ponies on the inside), but beyond that, it makes it hard to switch gears and stop being the mom while you're at work (every time you reach inside for a file, there's a pony!). Instead of lugging the same bag everywhere, get yourself a great work bag, one that is just big enough for what you need for the office. No kid stuff allowed.

This CL by Laundry bag is perfect for work: big enough for everything you need for the office, but sleek enough to tuck under your arm -- and certainly NOT large enough for a sippy cup. The hobo styling and buckle detail give it a clean, professional look, and the shiny patent fabric makes it both easy to clean (wipe with a damp cloth) and a little bit dressy.

CL by Laundry buckle patent hobo, $38.00 at J. C. Penney. Also available in red and mustard.