What I've been reading lately

Here's a random collection of things I've come across in the blogosphere that made me think.

Photo by voteprime on Flickr.

Kids & the News
Annie at PhD in Parenting always nails it & I'd repost everything she writes, but well, that's a bit excessive, isn't it? Couldn't resist this one, though, as I've been thinking lately about Sprout's exposure to things like the recent mailed-body-parts saga. Her recent post on how much DEATH! DESTRUCTION! MAYHEM! in the news that she exposes her kids to is thought-provoking. I think she's got a good point that sheltering children from what's going on in the world isn't necessarily a good idea. Has this come up for you? What news sources do you let your children watch/hear/read?

Are Drivers an Endangered Species?
A really interesting look into the possible reasons behind the decline in young drivers on MacLeans Magazine.

Dog Body Language
As the mother of a very friendly & dog-loving toddler, I am constantly worried he's going to get bitten. I'm hoping what I learned from this illustrated primer on when NOT to pet a dog will help avoid a potential injury. Thanks to Shihtzustaff for posting it on Twitter.

Etymology is Fun!
Focussing on words that came into the English language from books, this article goes over the origins of neologisms like galumphing, chortle & nerd as well as more established words like bump. Have you ever wondered where the word yahoo came from? Read the article to find out. :)

Behind the Time Cover
A bit late, I know, but if you haven't seen it yet, here's the great interview on Kellymom with the mothers in the sensationalistic Time Magazine article on Attachment Parenting. Unsurprisingly, they were mislead about the focus of the article & photo shoots. The media's exploitation of people for stories really irritates me: in my few dealings with the news media (TV & newspaper), I've found the same thing to happen. You're told that the article will focus on one thing & when published, the result is not at all what you agreed to participate in.