A lot of comments about breastfeeding are made by those who've never done it. Having nursed two kids, I found that using a blanket was cumbersome, hard to keep on and if it fell off, everything was exposed...plus it was like having a sign around your neck I'm Nursing A Baby. I also don't see how this is an issue of entitlement...am I not doing everyone more of a favor by not making them listen to a crying baby? (Oh, I forgot, I'm not supposed to leave the house with the baby until it's weaned! How realistic and kind is that?) And as for going to the bathroom...not only is that unsanitary and uncomfortable (a nursing mom needs something to rest her back on when she's sitting), but I think I'd much rather see a woman with a baby stuck under her shirt than tying up a bathroom stall at a restaurant or store.

As for those who go on and on about having to see a nursing mom....I have never seen a woman "whip it out" and I suspect those who have have seen it only once or twice. Hell, I've seen scarier sights once or twice but I don't whine about it. And if you don't want to see it, don't look. I've never seen a nursing mom go out of her way to sit on a stranger's lap while she's nursing.

Nursing in public is here to stay. Practice looking elsewhere.

I believe the article's main point was about the degree to which the Bush administration is willing to subvert science, even to the point of diluting information that would make babies healthier, to pressure of Big Business. The breastfeeding information was useful but secondary; selling out was the focus.

Somehow I bet that dads as well as moms would prefer to work part time; it's not a matter of having a uterus. In fact, now that I think of it, maybe everyone would prefer to work part time?

My son when very young went through a phase where he bit other kids, but the daycare people told us that certain "classmates" would take toys away from him or scare him (he was smaller than most of the other kids) and that's when he bit. They worked on keeping an eye on the other kids (there were several wild ones in that room) and it eventually stoppped. After he moved to an older kids room where the other kids were easier to handle and more mature, he never bit again.

While I wasn't entirely comfortable with the situation we decided to see it through for a while and make sure it was resolved. It helped that the daycare people were working with us. On the other hand, if your daycare workers aren't willing to take this seriously, that should be a danger sign. If your child is 2, he will probably be in daycare to some extent until kindergarten (and maybe in an afterschool program at a daycare to some extent). If you have reservations about the daycare, this is the time to change care...a two-year-old is pretty resilient. You don't want to go through the next three years worrying about the kid's welfare.

And I agree about opposition to the kindly grandmother thing. I chose a (locally owned) daycare deliberately because it was important that there be several people around to sort of keep an eye out for each other. It's harder to be cruel or neglectful when there are many potential adult witnesses. Interestingly, a colleague gave us such a guilt trip about sending my daughter to a daycare center...we shoulda sent her to the woman he knew, kids loved her, etc. But another colleague who had used that woman told us that when his son was older told his dad that "I always just hated to go to that house".

As someone who actually cooks and has a kid who prefers milk to soda, I can comment on a few things:

We keep the TV turned off a lot, in part because they generate a lot of the demand for junk food.

We don't forbid any foods but certain foods are very "once in a while". Other foods are always available but are eaten in small quantities after dinner (like cookies).

Avoid extremism...I think a lot of busy parents get the message that they are supposed to cook EVERYTHING from scratch 100% of the time and they should NEVER let kids have XYZ...in this thread, one might gather that pasta, bread, ranch dressing etc are the work of the devil. When people are faced with the message that you must do it perfectly, they don't do it at all.

Good luck!

In contrast to others, I am not a big fan of the live catch-and-release method. If the release is near the house, there is a good chance the mouse will return to the house promptly (a girlfriend of mine had a released mouse return within a few hours..it had some unique characteristic so she recognized it). If the release is in a rural area, the mouse is being dumped in totally unfamilar surroundings without established shelter and is likely to be promptly devoured by snakes, birds, etc. Which is quite natural, but if you want to reduce suffering there is something to be said for instant death after peanut butter rather than the trauma of being caught, travelling and released in an unfamilar setting to be grabbed by talons.

I suppose you could release the mouse near the home of someone you don't like.