Childbirth is no walk in the park, that's for sure. But for a majority of women, the experience is a positive one. We made need a little time to let the memory of painful contractions fade or for stitches to heal, but the rewards definitely outweigh the pain and stress.

But when complications arise, things might go a little differently. When a mother or child's life is threatened or heavy interventions are needed, the trauma of childbirth can linger long past Mom and baby going home. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a new study that found that post-traumatic stress disorder may be far more common in new mothers than previously thought, and some are wondering if screening new moms should be a regular part of post-partum recovery.

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Former model Carla Bruni has announced she wants kids. The new wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy is keen to begin a family soon. Bruni, who is 40, has a seven year old son from another relationship and wants to provide Aurelian with a sibling if she's "young enough." Bruni and Sarkozy have been married less than a year.

Bruni also has a burgeoning career as a pop star to consider in addition to her duties as the President's wife. How will the beauty ever find time to be a mommy (again)? She has sworn off using fertility treatments to find herself in the family way, referring the matter over to a nature. AS we've all had rammed down our throats for ages, a woman's fertility begins a downhill course at twenty-seven (or so current wisdom holds).

Many women are having children later and later in life, and are therefore turning to the very thing Bruni is eschewing (at least in print) to become mothers. Being a model, pop star, or politician's wife--or all three--doesn't seem to be interfering with Carla's desire to add to her family. Will she become pregnant? Will she turn to fertility treatments? Only Carla (and mother nature) knows. Good luck to Carla and Nicolas!

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Lately, my seven-year-old has shown an interest in playing a rather bloody video game. It's not exactly violent, but involves a skateboarder who bleeds profusely whenever he wipes out. I refuse to let her play because I don't like the way the bright red blood oozes realistically across the pavement. Of course it isn't real, but I am uncomfortable with the idea that she will become desensitized to the sight of massive amounts of flowing blood.

Clearly there are many parents who have no such qualms when it comes to blood, gore and assorted acts of violence. According to the journal Pediatrics, an estimated 2.5 million kids ages 10 to 14 watch R rated movies, often with parental permission.

The researchers gave 6,522 kids a list of movies, 40 if them rated R and chosen for their extreme graphic violence. When asked to list which ones they had seen, an average of 12.5% indicated that they had seen each of the R rated movies. The researchers didn't ask where they saw the films, but did include a question about whether or not their parents allowed them to watch R rated movies. One third said their parents were okay with it "sometimes" or "all the time". 22.6% of those who weren't allowed still managed to see at least one anyway.

Studies have shown that exposure to violent media can increase aggression and desensitize a person to real violence. For that reason, the researchers believe that violent movies should have an explicit warning that they "should not be seen by young adolescents" and they encourage pediatricians to talk to parents about the risks involved.

Of course, there are those who see no harm in exposing children to horror. Gerard Jones, author of Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Superheroes and Make-Believe Violence, says these experiences are "a classic, vital part of teen culture." I think the key phrase in the sentence is "teen culture". A ten-year-old is not a teen.

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When Janna Mintz wanted to become a mother, she turned to her friend Kevin Zoernig for help. Zoernig agreed to donate his sperm, and through artificial insemination, a boy was born shortly after. Zoernig found himself caught up in fatherhood and the two soon worked out a visitation schedule. It was all going so well, that he agreed to be a sperm donor for Mintz a second time, and a daughter was born.

But when Zoernig wanted a voice in their children's upbringing, including where Mintz could live, things started to go wrong. Eventually, Mintz took Zoernig to court for child support, and after an eight year battle, the court ruled in Mintz's favor.

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Thanks to Seth Goodling for such a sweet photo!

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For one thirteen-day-old baby, life is turning out to be no cake walk. A newborn brought into the world nearly two weeks ago by native Indian Priti Patel, who served as a surrogate mother, is stuck in India. Her would-be parents, Ikufumi Yamada and Yuki Yamada, divorced right before she was born.

Yuki no longer wants to adopt the child, but Ikufumi does. According to Indian law, however, children may not be adopted by single men. As a result, the newborn is living in India with Ikufumi 's mother, who is staying on to care for the newborn. The baby has yet to be adopted. Since she has no adoption papers, she cannot be issued a passport. And, because she can't get a passport, she can't leave the country.

Patel has also left the scene after serving as the surrogate. She is part of a process known as commercial surrogacy wherein couples who cannot have a child on their own provide the sperm and eggs to a surrogate mother, who carries the child to term and then is paid a fee for her services. The couple then generally adopt their child and are on their merry way. Not so much for the twelve-day-old, who at this point I don't think even has a name! What a sad state things are in when a little technical legality keeps a man from legitimately adopting his own child!

Pic by ayahthetiger.

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When Gardasil, the relatively new vaccine for the human papillomavirus, was announced, a lot of people worried that the effect of inoculating teenage girls against a sexually transmitted disease would be rampant sexual activity and that eliminating the possibility of getting certain types of cancer just wasn't worth it. Well, according to one news station, promiscuity may not be the biggest concern.

Close to nine thousand reports of side effects from the HPV vaccine have been made, ranging from nausea and light-headedness to paralysis. A handful of girls have become paralyzed after receiving the vaccine and their parents are placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of Gardasil. Given the low numbers of serious problems -- eight thousand cases out of eight million doses of the vaccine, and that includes the minor side effects -- I'm not sure that the vaccine needs to be recalled. I do think there should be -- and hopefully is -- ongoing testing and research, however. It would be nice to know whether or not the more serious issues really are linked to the vaccine or just a coincidence.

Of course, there is the alternative to Gardasil -- more than eleven thousand cases of cervical cancer each year, with four thousand women dying from the disease. It should be noted that pap tests are generally effective at identifying HPV and cervical cancer -- which, if caught early enough, can be prevented or treated. Having a daughter of my own, you can be certain I will be keeping a close eye on any findings of serious side effects to this vaccine.

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Since I posted a list of ways to make your child's teacher love you last week, I figured I'd follow up with a list of list of things I suggest you might avoid doing as a parent... if you want your child's teacher to like you.

Of course, this isn't to say that if you do something on the list, your kid's teacher will immediately despise you, because teachers are by nature and profession both forgiving and ridiculously patient and understanding. Still. It might be a good idea to take some mental notes-as all of these things have really happened. Some with surprising frequency. And they kind of make teachers nuts.

1) If you send a note or email, don't also call and leave a message about the content of the note. We'll get the note/email. Promise.

2) Unless it's school policy don't "stop by" first thing in the morning as the kids are just arriving to talk. In fact, even if your school allows this, it's not the best time. Usually your child's teacher wants to greet her students, and those precious 10 minutes of arrival time mean getting a last sip of coffee, reviewing lesson plans, and hearing little antecdotes from individual students. If you just want to "talk" about how things are going, write a note, email, or leave a message asking when is a good time to do so.

3) Don't say YOU DONT DO EMAIL. It's the twenty-first century. EMAIL. End of story.

4) Do not ask your child's teacher to remind your 1st grader (or older) to use the bathroom, blow her nose, use chapstick, etc. By first grade your kid should get the hang of this. Write him a note and stick it in his lunchbox if he really needs reminding.

5) If your child is doing well in school, don't harp on your teacher for the things she is not doing (i.e. if your kid is doing well in math, don't criticize the math program.)

6) Don't imply (without spending quality time in your child's classroom) that the teacher doesn't pay enough attention to your child. (Yes, parents really say this. My colleagues will attest.) Chances are, your kid is getting more than their fair share. Teachers love kids. THAT IS WHY WE TEACH. We have your kid's best interest in mind.

If you are concerned about your child, start by acknowledging the fact that your child's teacher has other kids to teach also. Don't imply that your child deserves more attention than any other kid; chances are this will make your child's teacher want to give your kid less attention. Not that she will. But it will certainly make her want to. (Yes, parents have really suggested this on more than one occasion.)

7) Even if your child is gifted, trust that your child's teacher is doing everything in her power to nurture your child as a well-rounded learner. Do not say things like, "what are you doing to prepare my child for the SAT's?" when your kid is in FIRST GRADE.

8) Don't belittle or berate your child's teacher in front of her students. It's obnoxious. And entirely inappropriate. (This has happened at least once to every teacher I know.)

9) Don't imply that it is your child's teacher's responsibility to remediate current flaws in the district curriculum. It isn't. We're contractually bound to teach the curriculum provided. But chances are, if there really is a problem with the curriculum, a committee is working on it. So be patient.

10) And most importantly, don't try to discuss your child's social, emotional, or academic needs or concerns in front of your child, or with other student's present. YOUR CHILD WILL HEAR YOU AND FEEL AWFUL. Also, it's just totally poor taste. So don't do it.

Does anyone have any other tips to add?

A remarkable thing happened, here in our little valley where nothing much seems to be going on most days, where the grasses have grown tall and the seed-heads keep them heavy and nodding, sleepy, especially in the late afternoons.

By then, the hot summer sun has slipped behind the ridge in back of the house; then, the light filters through the cottonwoods along the little creek and the sounds of the day seem to quiet, distilling to the essence of summer. The wind in the leaves, the occasional cry of a hawk, the faintest trickling of water from the spring.

A mood of tranquility, a spell of summer, until it's broken by the cries of my kids, "Mom! Mom! Mom! Come quick!"

I rush out the front gate, where I'm met by 3 out-of-breath boys. Carter, the oldest, holds in his right hand a butterfly net with a plastic orange handle. His left hand is squeezing the net closed. It's clear they've caught something and I peer through the mesh to see what it might be.

It's a frog.

Their excitement is contagious and my heart begins to race, too. I can't remember the last time I've seen such a thing, maybe never? My girlhood wasn't overly-full of frogs. I think about what a frog might need: a home, some food, rocks, water? Don't they eat flies?

I rush into the house and return with an empty plastic container, the kind that once held an enormous amount of lettuce. We poke holes in the top with a stick and Carter deposits the frog into the new, temporary home.

We form a semi-circle around the plastic container, regarding its contents. Even as we watch him (and I don't know why I think it's a him), he's watching back, 2 deep, brown froggy eyes trained on us.

He's not really green; he's more brown, but whitish underneath. There are large, black spots ringed with black circles on either side of his spine. His legs are thick with muscles and his toes are long and slender. He seems big to me, the size of my fist, or larger.

He tries to hop and the whole plastic container jumps with him. We all leap back. My middle son Avery raises his hands to his face, his mouth forming a wide, startled, Oh! And I have to agree: Oh!

It's amazing, to me, all of it: that we'd be here, the 4 of us, on this airy summer day; that Carter, who I remember so clearly as a tiny baby, has grown into this brave and confident frog-catcher of a boy; that his brothers are next to him, the babies I'd waited for and hoped for and even still, when they finally arrived, I was totally unprepared.

I remember everything--the days spent in and out of the NICU and my one wish, an unspoken prayer that was so simple, yet it seemed impossible: Please let my babies know this world. Please let them grow big enough to have a life outside this hospital air, these beeping machines. Please let them breath real air, let them feel the softness of a purple summer twilight.

Never once did I imagine we'd be here: it was a dream too big to hope for. And since then, there have been so many summer twilights, and I am greedy for them, my prayer now is like a child bumping 2 fists together, which is sign language for more. I want more--I want these days to last forever.

And the frog. Sometime back in the spring, when I was making scrambled eggs one morning, or buttering toast, he was there in the creek. When I fed the wood stove against the cold and the little boys practiced letters and numbers, he was there. When I swept the floor, or loaded the washing machine, or tucked the boys into bed, all the while he was there.

As my boys grew so did this frog, near us, touched by the light from the windows in the evenings, or the rumble of the Red Flyer wagon as we pulled it past the creek. Sharing the same sunshine when the spring turned to summer, and witnessing the same thunderstorms playing across the sky. And I'm reminded of how all things are connected. How even when we sometimes can't see it, wonders exist right outside the front door.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of about 1,300 Mother Hubbard's Cupboard cribs. The cribs fail to meet federal safety standards in that the distance between the mattress support bracket in the lowest position and the top of the side rail in the highest position is less than the required 26 inches. This poses a fall hazard to children.

The recall involves wooden full-sized cribs in the following models: Enchantment (model #210), Hush A Bye (model #215), Once Upon A Time (model #320) and Rock A Bye (model #1900-359). Only cribs with date codes from 0306 through 0308 are included in this recall. You can find the words "Mother Hubbard's Cupboards", the model number and date code printed on a label on the bottom inside of the right side of the crib.

The cribs were sold at juvenile product stores from March 2006 through March 2008 between $500 and $650 each. More pictures of the recalled cribs can be found here.

If you have one of these cribs, you should stop using it immediately and contact Mother Hubbard's Cupboards to receive instructions on how to reinstall the support brackets and eliminate the hazard. You can reach them by calling (888) 661-8201 between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday and between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. ET Friday and Saturday, or by visiting their Web site.

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