Willow Smith’s new song Summer Fling shows the 12-year-old canoodling with a boy and features the lyrics, “It’s just a couple months but we do it anyway.” Fans and parents alike are freaking out: Twelve’s young for a summer job let alone this business. Paging Uncle Phil.
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SICK TAT
Would you tattoo your toddler the way you'd microchip your dog? A company called Safety Tats makes temporary tattoos for children that parents can personalize any way they want, be it with general medical information, allergy alerts or a phone number for the principal should Johnny wander off during that field trip to the zoo. The company recommends its hypoallergenic, latex-free adhesives for fear-crippled parents at "amusement parks, water parks, stadium events, travelling, sightseeing, museums, shopping malls, first day of school, drop-off play dates and birthday parties." While it may not score your kid points with the tough crowd in Kindergarten, it could save his life. And when he's older, he might just repay Mom with some adult ink.
MAYDAY
Making babies in May could be a risky proposition, according to a new Princeton University study. Researchers discovered a 10-per-cent spike in prematurity among babies conceived that month. They surmise that women who get pregnant in May enter their third trimester during flu season. The flu, in turn, is linked with inflammation, which has been tied to early delivery. Preterm birth can increase the risk of acquiring developmental as well as learning disabilities. The study involved more than 1.4 million siblings born to 647,050 mothers, ruling out socioeconomic factors as a cause for this discrepancy. So wrap it up in May. Or just feign a really long headache.
QUOTED
"I didn't like being the only dad at the playground, getting cautiously eyed as moms pulled their kids a bit closer. It probably didn't help that I tried to lighten the mood the first time by saying, 'Don't worry, I'm not going to nab your kid, I already got this one.' " – Tom Stocky
A manager at Facebook describes the more awkward moments of his four-month parental leave in a Facebook-call-to-fathers gone viral.
Zosia Bielski