School's a busy place these days. It's a long stretch between lunch and the day's last bell. School kids are hungry when they get home, and they need a snack to give them energy for extra-curricular activities, homework, and chores. If chips and cookies are what's in the cupboard, chances are that's what they'll reach for. But a healthy snack will not only satisfy their hunger, but give them the energy and nutrition they need.

Nutrition experts recommend that we all get at least 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. That's nearly impossible unless you incorporate these kinds of foods into every meal and snack. Sure, you may offer kids a cookie, but serve it up next to a heaping pile of blueberries or a sliced apple. That's just one tip I discovered in AOL Health's gallery about making the most of after-school snacks. Another tip: Skip the snack food altogether and serve a mini-meal instead.

My own kids love to help in the kitchen and are far more likely to eat something they've helped create. Since they were tiny, we've been baking sweet potato muffins, and they are now a favorite snack. But it's also easy to keep washed, fresh fruit or chopped veggies in a bowl on the bottom shelf of the fridge... perfect for self-serve.

What are your favorite healthy snack ideas?

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Remember when you used to care about fashion -- when you used to know who wore what to the Oscars and the Emmys, and when the arrival of the 25 pound September Vogue was an occasion to be celebrated? You know, back before you had kids and everything you owned had to be machine washable and playground appropriate.

Remember that?

You can still indulge your fashionable side, even if it's just vicariously -- and we've got a great place to do it. Our favorite lifestyle blog, StyleDash, has merged with AOL's style channel, StyleList, to create the Internet's go-to site for all things fashion.

If you're looking for the things you loved at StyleDash, they're all still there at the StyleList blog -- and more great things are coming!

Because even if you've been wearing that same t-shirt for three days (and nights) it's fun to see what's out there in the world of fashion. Hop on over and take a look! You might feel inspired to get dressed. Or at least change that t-shirt.

When I was growing up, just about every kid I knew had two siblings. My best friend, the kids I went to school with, and the neighbor kids were all growing up with two other kids in their house. I don't know where this three-kid quota came from, but every parent seemed to be happy to fill it, my own included.

For many families of my parent's generation, having just one kid was an idea that just never occurred to them. An only child is a lonely child, right? Maybe sometimes, but having siblings doesn't guarantee life-long friendship and happy times. In fact, for many it seems that all siblings guarantee is a life-long nemesis. Someone to argue with at holiday gatherings and avoid at all other times.

I got along well enough with my own siblings and still do. But my best childhood friend loathed her youngest sister and today, the two don't even speak. The kids that grew up across the street from me all left home and now live thousands of miles from each other with no communication. And they are the lucky ones. Several other friends live within spitting distance of their siblings and are in a constant state of distress over their rocky relationships.

Having raised an only child, I do know that loneliness can sometimes be an issue. But she's an adult now and I can see no ill effects as a result of being raised alone. On the other hand, my sister and I enjoy a close relationship and I am thankful that someone exists who knows me - and where I come from - as well as she does. What about you? If you have siblings, how's that working out for you?

Back in the day when the only birthing training available was Lamaze, my husband and I dutifully attended classes to prepare for our first child. It was never openly admitted in class, but I had ascertained from TV and movies that giving birth hurts very, very, very much and the silly-sounding breathing exercises (Hee! Hee! Hee! HAW!) were the best diversionary tactics available to distract one from the pain in her nether regions.

Then I had to have a C-section and all that training went to waste.

A recent study in Sydney, Australia queried mothers on their views on complications ranging as minor as prolonged birth and superficial tears to as major as anal and urinary incontinence, vaginal prolapse and severe tearing and compared these opinions with those of doctors and midwives. The results were that first time birthers were much more willing to take risks in order to have a natural birth than were the doctors or midwives.

One out of every 4 UK pregnancies results in a C-section due to potential complications like the baby lying in the wrong position for natural birth.

According to Philip Steer, editor of the journal where the study was published, the clinical responses may, "indicate that doctors are biased by their inevitable involvement in complex cases, or labors where things have gone wrong."

I think another word for that is "experience." Sure, women have given birth unassisted thousands of years on their own, but it's important to remember that many of them (and their babies) died in the process. Stuff can go wrong, doctors realize what that stuff is, and try to keep it from happening to their patients. I personally didn't have a problem with that when my birthing situation went awry, because at the end of the proceedings, I was alive and so was my baby.

In an era of malpractice lawsuits, it's understandable why a doctor may go ahead and suggest a C-section rather than take risks. As a society, we've essentially backed the medical field into this corner and the result is C-sections that may not all be necessary and even though the mom may be willing to give it the old college try.

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We've covered quite a few stories here where a kid climbs into the driver's seat of someone's car and takes it out for a spin. Sometimes the kid is looking for chocolate. Sometimes it's an Applebee's fix. Other times, there is no destination in mind, just a joyride. Usually the ride - and the story - ends when the kid crashes the car into something. This ride ends that way, too. But unfortunately, this is probably just the beginning of the story for this kid.

Unlike the car-thieving kids mentioned above, the Longmont, Colorado boy who took his mother's van in the wee hours of the night isn't a toddler. He's a 12-year-old who police say was trying to prove to his 14-year-old friend that he could drive. Long story short, he can't drive and proved that by crashing the van into someone's garage.

He managed to back out of the smashed garage and flee the scene. He returned mom's van to her driveway and went back to his 14-year-old friend's house, where he was having a sleepover. Except somebody should have told him that you can't actually smash a car into someone's garage and think you can get away with it. Police easily tracked him down using the clues he left behind - a license plate at the scene of the crash and a broken windshield with bits of fence in it on mom's van.

Mom, being the registered owner of the van, got a visit from the police and she was none too happy. She immediately said she wanted to press charges and the kid was arrested that afternoon. He's now in the Boulder County Juvenile Detention Center facing a whole slew of possible charges: aggravated motor vehicle theft, driving without a valid license, leaving the scene of an accident and failing to notify police, and reckless driving.

Pressing criminal charges against your 12-year-old child may seem harsh, but I think this woman is probably doing the only thing she could do under the circumstances. A non-family member certainly would have pressed charges and the boy could have seriously hurt or even killed someone. I feel bad for this mother, but applaud her for exercising some tough love on a clearly out of control child. What would you have done?

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Here's a tip for you -- if you have to call your wife to come pick you up from the bar, your best bet is to let her drive home too, especially if the kids are in the car. Or even halfway in the car. Dustin Purscell learned that (hopefully) the hard way recently. He's in jail, charged with two counts of child endangerment as well as a few other offenses.

He wanted a lift home after an evening drinking with his buddies, but when his wife Ashley arrived, she decided he was too drunk and too angry -- he couldn't find his lighter -- to ride with her and her two children. He apparently disagreed, jumped in the driver's seat, and started the car. Ashley tried to get her kids out of the vehicle, but was only able to extract her five-year-old daughter before Dustin took off. Her seven-year-old son was still in the car with his legs hanging out of the door.

Folks, I've got nothing against alcohol or even getting wasted once in a while, so long as you do it responsibly, but the first time someone pulled something like this would be the last. As far as I'm concerned, if you want to be around my kids, you need to put their welfare ahead of your own -- if you can't do that, you won't be getting near them. I certainly hope Mrs. Purscell feels the same way and dumps this guy like last week's trash.

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For me, the best part about going out to eat is the opportunity to enjoy food that I wouldn't (or couldn't) prepare for myself at home. I can whip up a decent batch of chicken enchiladas, but they don't compare to what I can get at my favorite Mexican restaurant. And I don't even know how to make anything Chinese. And Indian food tastes best when prepared by an expert who has all those wonderful spices on hand. In other words, when I go out to eat, I enjoy the food because it is usually something I can't get at home.

Which is why I find a new restaurant chain that serves just cereal quite curious. Cereality Cereal Bar and Cafe offers the same cereal you buy at the grocery store - Frosted Flakes, Cheerios and all the rest. The gimmick is the addition of toppings. Just like at some ice cream shops, you choose your toppings and they mix it in. Toppings include malted milk balls, fruit, nuts and all kinds of other things I've never considered putting in cereal. The cereal and toppings are mixed together and served in a Chinese take-out style box. You add your own milk from the milk fountain.

Granted, Cereality does serve a few non-cereal items (smoothies, parfaits, coffee and tea), but the main dish is cereal. And judging by the Web site, it is not geared towards those who love cereal the most - children. The site shows lots of happy adults chowing down on their custom-mixed boxes of cereal. And you know what? After looking at the site and the virtual tour, I am starting to think that I love this idea. What about you? Would you go out for cereal?

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When a spouse cheats, it's the ultimate betrayal. For most, it's a highly personal, private matter dealt with behind closed doors. For John and Elizabeth Edwards, it's been a media circus. But that wasn't always the case. Both John and Elizabeth say that he confessed the affair to her in 2006, two years before the news was made public. On the liberal blog Daily Kos, Elizabeth explained, "This was a private matter, and I frankly wanted it to be private because as painful as it was, I did not want to have to play it out on a public stage as well."

But a handful of former followers aren't satisfied with that position. They're blaming Elizabeth alongside John in the cover-up of the affair, and say that she should have never agreed to stay silent when he began his run for Democratic nominee. "I think she's complicit," said Brad Crone, "Obviously, she knew. While she's the victim, she clearly didn't stand in the way of the cover-up."

It's hard to imagine being in Elizabeth Edward's shoes, and I'm think that Brad Crone is too busy pointing fingers to try and put himself there. In reality, none of us know what happened behind closed doors when John broke that particular piece of news to Elizabeth, a blow that had to be utterly devastating. Blaming Elizabeth for actions that were mostly out of her control takes the focus off John, who is the one that let his family and his supporters down, but more importantly off the important issues that these people, perfect or not, so fervently support. I, for one, would like to see Elizabeth return to working on those issues, but it's unlikely she'll be allowed to while her personal life is still making headlines.

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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of about 10,000 Taggies Strollin' Along Stroller Activity Bars due to a choking hazard. The importer has received three reports of the shiny material on the ear of the elephant detaching and children putting it in their mouths. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported.

Made in Hong Kong and imported by International Playthings Inc., of Parsippany, N.J., the activity bars were sold in specialty stores nationwide and online from February 2007 through July 2008 for about $23 each.

The recall involves multicolored, fabric and plastic stroller activity bars featuring a yellow giraffe, a purple hippo and a blue elephant attached to a 12" long elliptical base with straps that attach to a stroller. The Taggies and Earlyears® logo labels can be found sewn into the seam on the lower left front of the activity bar.

If you have one of these stroller bars, you should immediately stop using it and contact International Playthings for a free replacement toy. You can reach them by calling (800) 445-8347 or by visiting their Web site.

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I really try to keep a positive attitude, but seriously, WHEN IS SWEATY, STICKY SUMMER GOING TO BE OVER? I AM SICK OF IT. Thanks to stargirlnyc for reminding us that the fall season is just around the corner.

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