Here's a host of alarming research and news stories to shake you out of your parenting habits. After all, I'd hate for you to go the whole weekend only worrying about how you can fit a Chinese-style, 500-foot long LED screen in your living room:
This one's from last year, but since they just tricked me into crying at one of their commercials... Stanford did a taste test with 63 kids ages 3-5 at a Head Start center in San Mateo. Every single food was rated tastier when it was presented in a McDonald's wrapper. Every food except hamburgers. If you don't have wrappers, just put Mc in front of it. [via Oakland Tribune]
An NIH study of 1300 Norwegian mothers found that binge drinking in the first trimester doubled the likelihood of infants born with oral clefts. In Norway, a binge is defined as five or more drinks at a sitting. "Both animal and human data suggest that it is the dose of alcohol consumed at one time during pregnancy rather than the frequency or total amount over time that matters most." [niehs.nih.gov]
Outsourcing Surrogacy To India Has Complications
A Japanese couple divorced before their surrogate baby [donor egg, dad's sperm] was born in India, and now India won't let the kid out of the country. They say the dad has to adopt the kid, but single men are not permitted to adopt. Yet it's his biological kid. [AFP/Yahoo via dt freakout correspondent sara]
Holy crap, "hundreds" of kids in New York City didn't get accepted into any of the private kindergartens they applied to. We're going to start the kid's application process this fall, so we'll know her entire future in a few months. [nyt]
Don't know why NY Mag used a stock photo of Ellen DeGeneres for this story about Clay Aiken becoming a father, but no matter how you slice it, it's freaky. [nymag]