The leaves, the swing and the blurred child in motion make me feel incredibly nostalgic for my own childhood. Thanks to Xenub for a great way to end the week.

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Companies are starting to realize they have overlooked an untapped source of help for emergency projects: the stay at home mother.

Educated and professional women who have opted out of high profile careers are being broached by businesses through flexible staffing networks (like Momcorps or Flexibleexecutives) to take on temporary or emergency projects, some of which can be done at home.

The company gets workers who know what they are doing and are willing to do it for a fraction of the going rate, and the women keep their career skills sharp, get a taste of something besides the daily grind of home responsibilities, and some even use the temporary employment as a stepping stone to re-enter the workforce.

While it is fantastic that opportunities beside selling overpriced candles or makeup exist for SAHMs, it is a little disturbing that these jobs are offering rock bottom hourly wages and former executives are snatching them up. Is it a sign of hard economic times or because SAHMs get so accustomed to being overlooked that they'll accept anything?

I have always found Shania Twain's life story to be quite inspiring. Raised by her mother and stepfather, Shania and her siblings grew up poor in Timmins, Ontario. She was well on her way to a singing career when both parents were tragically killed in a car accident in 1987. 22-year-old Shania put her career on hold to care for her younger siblings and supported them by performing for audiences at a resort near Huntsville, Ontario. She got noticed there and eventually landed a recording contract. Her first album wasn't terribly successful, but it did catch the attention of producer Mutt Lange, who took her under his wing. Together, they made Shania a star.

Twain not only found success with Lange, she found a husband. The two married in 1993 and had a son, Eja, in 2001. Sadly, their 13-year marriage has hit a rough spot and yesterday Twain's record label announced that the couple is separating. "This is a private matter and there will be no further comment at this time," said Twain's spokesperson at Universal Music Group Nashville.

We all love fairy-tale endings and it sure looked like Shania had found hers. For Eja's sake, I hope these two can work out their differences and continue to make beautiful music together.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of about 7,000 Tumble Tower Infant Rattles due to the fact that the plastic end caps can break and small parts can fall out and pose a choking hazard to young children.

The rattles were made in China and manufactured by Manhattan Group LLC, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. They are 5 inches long and made of clear plastic with blue end cap pieces. The handles are clear and have multi-colored beads inside with colored rings on the outside. Also inside is a blue face that spins on a purple post when the rattle is turned.

These were sold at gift and specialty stores nationwide, mail order catalogs, and the Internet from September 2007 through April 2008 for about $15 each.

If you have one of these rattles, you are advised to immediately take it away from your child and return it to the store where purchased for a full refund. You may also contact Manhattan Group to exchange the rattle for another toy. You can reach them by calling (800) 541-1345 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT, Monday through Friday or by visiting their Web site.

The mother alleged to have come up with the juvenile plan of creating a fictional MySpace account to keep tabs on what another girl was saying about her daughter that resulted in the teen hanging herself has been indicted by a federal grand jury.

Lori Drew has been charged with on one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to get information used to inflict emotional distress on Megen Meier.

A 9-year-old girl in Greece entered a hospital with stomach pains and left grieving a twin she never even knew existed. The girl, whose name has not been revealed, had a swollen belly and abdominal pains that doctors at Larissa General Hospital attributed to a tumor. After the growth was surgically removed, they discovered that it was actually the girl's embryonic twin.

"They could see on the right side that her belly was swollen, but they couldn't suspect that this tumor would hide an embryo," hospital director Iakovos Brouskelis said.

The embryo was a formed fetus measuring more than two inches long. There was no brain or umbilical cord, but there was a head, hair and eyes.

While cases of one twin absorbing the other in the womb is unusual, it isn't completely unheard of. Andreas Markou, head of the hospital's pediatric department, says it happens in about one of every 500,000 live births.

The girl made a complete recovery, but not surprisingly, her family wishes to remain anonymous.

I am one of those people who thinks it's awful when parents dish out unwanted advice to other parents, or even worse, non-parents, and yet sometimes I can't help myself. The other day I was horrified to find myself telling someone "if there's ONE thing I've learned about parenthood, it's that nothing is predictable! So keep that in mind: just when you think you've got your kid figured out, he'll change EVERYTHING!". Which, god, shut up, self, because I should clarify that the person I was speaking to did not in fact request my One Most Useful Piece of Parenting Know-How, I just up and offered that all on my own, and also, ALSO? I can't even follow my own advice, because even though the whole business of unpredictability is in fact true, I fall into a DAILY trap of thinking I know what the hell is going on in my own household and guess WHAT, I NEVER DO.

Hoo, sorry to go all CAPS LOCK on you, I'm just still reeling from a challenging couple weeks with the kids, where there was illness and then there was crankiness and the baby's started slobberingly gnawing his hands (no teething! no teething allowed! You're only 3 months old!) and wildly gagging on his fingers and I keep thinking he's hungry when he's tired and vice versa and my toddler has been oscillating between extreme cuteness and downright putridness and I feel like I've been plunged into jungle warfare lately, like where are the next round of bullets coming from, NO ONE KNOWS.

I guess it's mainly the baby's presence that makes everything extra crazy, because although Riley's mood can greatly change depending on such intangible factors as the number of oxygen molecules in the room and the position of the planets, he at least sticks to a basic routine of napping/sleeping/eating. In comparison, Dylan's the real chaos factor. Will he nap in short, frustrating intervals, or will he lapse into a comalike state for three solid hours in the middle of the afternoon, causing me to worriedly hold mirrors in front of his sleeping mouth? Will he milk-bong about a thousand ounces at this feeding, or will he daintily sip a few swallows and then loll his tongue out, totally distracted by the beige wall paint? Truly, even when babies start to develop schedules they are still a (pooping) mystery wrapped in a (spitup-coated) enigma.

So even though I clearly need to STFU when it comes to offering Helpful Little Parenting Guidelines, here's the ONE thing I KNOW is true: I am totally winging it over here. Seriously. I've been at this job for two and a half years and I swear it just gets more humbling every day.

What about you? Do you feel pretty confident as a parent, like you've pretty much got your stuff together -- or are you winging it too?

I've been feeling kind of bad for my three-year-old lately. This year, my older kiddo picked up a lot of new activities, most of which toddlers are not invited to participate in. She started preschool, began a dance class, and this spring, started playing soccer. On Saturdays, my three-year-old whines, "I don't like soccer games." She's tired of being a tag-a-long.

But while I'm feeling sorry for my baby, Newsweek tells me that it's my firstborn that gets the short end of the stick. It's a commonly held tradition that firstborn kids have to "break in" their parents, and therefore have to live with stricter rules and harsher discipline than their younger siblings. Recent research backs up this folklore; older siblings are less likely to make mistakes because they are used to being held up to higher standards, while younger siblings are more likely to be risk takers.

Trying to apply these findings to the people I know, I can't really find a pattern. I know a lot of firstborns who are risk takers (and mistake-makers), and plenty of family "babies" who live comfortably inside their comfort zones. Yet, among my own children, I can see a hint of it. And looking at my parenting techniques, I just might recognize a little of this in myself.

What about you? Do you think you were treated differently by your parents because of your birth order? Do you see that in your own parenting?

The Federal Drug Administration has officially made a statement concerning their slant on BPA, the chemical found in much plastic and a lot of baby bottles. BPA, full name bisphenol A has been under fire for some time as being dangerous to young children.

The FDA on Wednesday said it saw no reason for consumers to stop purchasing baby bottles containing BPA, contending that there is a large body of evidence supporting the fact that products containing the chemical are safe. Although multiple studies have shown side effects in animals exposed to the chemical, the FDA cites two studies where no reason to use caution with regard to products containing the chemical. Both studies cited by the FDA were industry-funded.

Consumer groups and politicians alike have accused the FDA of failing to take action on this and other safety issues, contending they bend to industry interests. Polycarbonate plastic, what keeps plastic bottles shatter-resistant, is made of BPA. People consume the chemical along with liquid, water or food inside containers containing BPA.

Need another reason to feel inadequate? Well, here's another. USMagazine.com has posted nine pictures of Hollywood moms in their bikinis. Some of them look fabulous. Some of them (Lisa Rinna, anyone?) look scary. Some of them look so good it makes me want to throw up.

I never looked like that in a bikini before I had a baby! Of course, I don't have a personal trainer and work out seven hours a day or get paid to look that good (although my husband says I look that way anyway...I think I'll keep him).

Interestingly enough, some of the moms are younger and some are a little more mature. Poster child for hot mom Heather Locklear is 46 years old. Now, I'm not knocking 46, but that woman's body looks better than those of a lot of teenagers. Also of note is how the gals claim they keep in shape. Whether or not it's true it's nice to think some of them have to work for it too.

Perhaps if the snaps are a hit US will move on to hot celebrity moms in one-pieces. Those can be hot too, you know.

And, by the way? Tori Spelling looks smashing pregnant. She should be that way all the time. Maybe it's the self-tanner but that woman has a glow. Also by the way? That is EXACTLY how I look in my bikini. EXACTLY.