Lucas & Lilian on my mind

That's us ;)

2012-01-18T12:13:00.000Z

(on gender differences)

"Many puzzled parents have wondered where this highly stereotyped behavior comes from, especially in households where Mom wouldn't be caught dead in a pink frilly dress and Dad would rather cook dinner than watch sports."

Welcome to Your Child's Brain - blog

Malawi wildlife

2012-01-10T11:04:00.000Z

From The Telegraph

Boas Festas!! ;)

2011-12-25T17:44:00.000Z

Oh noes!

2011-12-21T20:22:00.000Z

Gracias, dear Mox ;)

Sons and Daughters :)

2011-11-29T11:47:00.001Z

Welcome to Your Child's Brain ;)

2011-11-22T10:44:00.001Z

The blog, and now the book (soon to be translated into Portuguese by yours truly ;)

Brave

2011-11-17T14:01:00.001Z

Wasabi

2011-11-17T13:53:00.001Z

Wishlist: Oblo

2011-11-13T17:43:00.001Z

La Vie en Rose

2011-10-14T01:43:00.002+01:00

It's the colour of every little girl's dream bedroom, if not her entire wardrobe and all her toys. But is it the ultimate marketeer's magic trick, or are today's little princesses really hardwired for la vie en rose?

Here is my dirty little secret: as a journalist I have spent nearly two decades writing about girls, thinking about girls, talking about how girls should be raised. Yet, when I finally got pregnant myself, I was terrified at the thought of having a daughter. I was supposed to be an expert on girls' behaviour. What if, after all that, I was not up to the challenge myself?

Then I saw the incontrovertible proof on the sonogram (or what they said was incontrovertible proof; to me, it looked indistinguishable from, say, a nose) and I suddenly realised I had wanted a girl – desperately, passionately – all along. I had just been afraid to admit it. But I still fretted over how I would raise her, what kind of role model I would be, whether I would take my own smugly written advice on the complexities surrounding girls' beauty, body image, education, achievement. Would I embrace frilly dresses or ban Barbies? Push football shoes or tutus?

Shopping for her, I grumbled over the relentless colour coding of babies. Who cared whether the crib sheets were pink or tartan? During those months I must have started a million sentences with "My daughter will never..."

And then I became a mother.

Daisy was, of course, the most beautiful baby ever (if you don't believe me, ask my husband). I was committed to raising her without a sense of limits: I wanted her to believe neither that some behaviour or toy or profession was not for her sex nor that it was mandatory for her sex. I wanted her to be able to pick and choose the pieces of her identity freely – that was supposed to be the prerogative, the privilege, of her generation. For a while it looked as if I were succeeding. On her first day of nursery, at the age of two, she wore her favourite outfit – her "engineers" (a pair of pin-striped overalls) – and proudly toted her Thomas the Tank Engine lunchbox. My daughter had transcended typecasting.

Oh, how the mighty fall. All it took was one boy who, while whizzing past her in the playground, yelled, "Girls don't like trains!" and Thomas was shoved to the bottom of the toy chest. Within a month, Daisy threw a tantrum when I tried to wrestle her into trousers. As if by osmosis she had learned the names and gown colours of every Disney Princess – I didn't even know what a Disney Princess was. She gazed longingly into the tulle-draped windows of the local toy stores and for her third birthday begged for a "real princess dress" with matching plastic high heels. Meanwhile, one of her classmates, the one with two mummies, showed up to school every single day dressed in a Cinderella gown. With a bridal veil.

What was going on here? My fellow mothers, women who once swore they would never be dependent on a man, smiled indulgently at daughters who insisted on being addressed as Snow White. The supermarket checkout girl invariably greeted Daisy with, "Hi, Princess." The waitress at our local breakfast joint, a hipster with a pierced tongue and a skull tattooed on her neck, called Daisy's "funny-face pancakes" her "princess meal"; the nice lady at the pharmacist offered us a free balloon, then said, "I bet I know your favourite colour!" and handed Daisy a pink one rather than letting her choose for herself. Then, shortly after Daisy's third birthday, our high-priced paediatric dentist – the one whose practice was decked out with comic books, DVDs and arcade games – pointed to the exam chair and asked, "Would you like to sit in my special princess throne so I can sparkle your teeth?"

"Oh, for God's sake," I snapped. "Do you have a princess drill, too?"

She looked at me as if I were the wicked stepmother.

But honestly: since when did every little girl become a princess? It wasn't like this when I was a kid, and I was born back when feminism was still a mere twinkle in our mothers' eyes. We did not dress head to toe in pink. We did not have our own miniature high heels. As my little girl made her daily beeline for the dress-up corner of her classroom, I fretted over what playing Little Mermaid, a character who actually gives up her voice to get a man, was teaching her.

On the other hand, I thought, maybe I should see princess mania as a sign of progress, an indication that girls could celebrate their predilection for pink without compromising strength or ambition; that at long last they could "have it all": be feminist and feminine, pretty and powerful, earn independence and male approval. Then again, maybe I should just lighten up and not read so much into it – to mangle Freud, maybe sometimes a princess is just a princess.

The annual toy fair at New York's Javits Center is the industry's largest trade show, with 100,000 products spread over 350,000ft of exhibition space. And I swear, at least 75,000 of those items were pink. I lost count of the myriad pink wands and crowns (feathered, sequined and otherwise bedazzled) and infinite permutations of pink poodles in purses. The Disney Princesses reigned over a new pink royal interactive kitchen with accompanying pink royal appliances and pink royal pot-and-pan sets (though I would have thought one of the perks of monarchy would be that someone else did the cooking). There were pink dinnerware sets emblazoned with the word princess, pink fun-fur stoles and boas, pink golf clubs, sleds, tricycles, bicycles, scooters, and motorcycles and even a pink tractor. Oh, and one pink neon bar sign flashing "live nudes".

It's not that pink is intrinsically bad, but it is such a tiny slice of the rainbow and, though it may celebrate girlhood in one way, it also repeatedly and firmly fuses girls' identity to appearance. Then it presents that connection, even among two-year-olds, between girls as not only innocent but as evidence of innocence. Looking around, I despaired at the singular lack of imagination about girls' lives and interests, at the rows and rows of make-your-own jewellery/lip gloss/nail polish/fashion-show craft kits at the drumbeat of the consumer feminine.

"Is all this pink really necessary?" I asked a bored-looking sales rep hawking something called Cast and Paint Princess Party. "Only if you want to make money," he said, chuckling. Then he shrugged. "I guess girls are born loving pink."

Are they? Judging by today's girls, that would seem to be true – the colour draws them like heat-seeking missiles. Yet adult women I have asked do not remember being so obsessed with pink as children, nor do they recall it being so pervasively pimped to them. I remember thinking my fuchsia-and-white-striped dance shirt with its matching stirrup pants was totally bitchin', but I also loved the same outfit in purple, navy, green and red (yes, I had them all – there must have been a sale). My toys spanned the colour spectrum, as did my hair ribbons, school notebooks and lunchboxes. The original Easy-Bake oven, which I begged for (and never got), was turquoise, and the Suzy Homemaker line – I had the iron, which really worked – was teal. I can't imagine you would see that today. What happened? Why has girlhood become so monochromatic?

Girls' attraction to pink may seem unavoidable, somehow encoded in their DNA, but according to Jo Paoletti, an associate professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland, it's not. Children weren't colour-coded at all until the early 20th century: in the era before domestic washing machines all babies wore white as a practical matter, since the only way of getting clothes clean was to boil them. What's more, both boys and girls wore what were thought of as gender-neutral dresses. When nursery colours were introduced, pink was actually considered the more masculine hue, a pastel version of red, which was associated with strength. Blue, with its intimations of the Virgin Mary, constancy and faithfulness, symbolised femininity. (That may explain a portrait that has always befuddled me, of my father as an infant in 1926 wearing a pink dress.) Why or when that switched is not clear, but many of the early Disney heroines – Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Wendy, Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins's Jane Banks – were dressed in various shades of azure. (When the company introduced the Princess line, it deliberately changed Sleeping Beauty's gown to pink, supposedly to distinguish her from Cinderella.) It was not until the mid-1980s, when amplifying age and sex differences became a dominant children's marketing strategy, that pink fully came into its own, when it began to seem innately attractive to girls, part of what defined them as female, at least for the first few critical years.

I hadn't realised how profoundly marketing trends dictated our perception of what is natural to kids, including our core beliefs about their psychological development. Take the toddler. I assumed that phase was something experts – people with PhDs at the very least – developed after years of research into children's behaviour: wrong. Turns out, according to Daniel Cook, a historian of childhood consumerism, it was popularised as a marketing gimmick by clothing manufacturers in the 1930s.

Trade publications counselled department stores that, in order to increase sales, they should create a "third stepping stone" between infant wear and older kids' clothes. They also advised segregating girls' and boys' clothing no later than age two: parents whose sons were "treated like a little man" were thought to be looser with their purse strings. It was only after "toddler" became common shoppers' parlance that it evolved into a broadly accepted developmental stage. If that seems impossible to believe, consider the trajectory of "tween", which was also coined, in the mid-1980s, as a marketing contrivance (originally describing children aged eight to 15). Within 10 years it was considered a full-blown psychological, physical and emotional phase.

Splitting kids, or adults, into ever-tinier categories has proved a sure-fire way to boost profits. And one of the easiest ways to segment a market is to magnify gender differences – or invent them where they did not previously exist.

At one time, playthings were expressly intended to communicate parental values and expectations, to train children for their future adult roles. Because of that, they can serve as a Rorschach for cultural anxieties. Take baby dolls. In the late 19th century, industrialisation shifted the source of the family income outside the home. Without the need for free labour, middle-class couples no longer felt compelled to have more than one child. Baby dolls were seen as a way to revive the flagging maternal instinct of white girls, to remind them of their patriotic duty to conceive; within a few years dolls were ubiquitous, synonymous with girlhood itself.

I consulted Lise Eliot, a neuroscientist and the author of Pink Brain, Blue Brain, a fascinating book for which she sifted through more than 1,000 studies comparing males' and females' brains and behaviours. For the most part, at least in the beginning, the behaviour and interests of the two sexes are nearly indistinguishable. Both go gaga over the same toys: until they're about a year old, they are equally attracted to dolls; and until they're around three, they show the same interest in actual babies. Then the whole concept of labelling kicks in – sometime between the ages of two and three they realise that there is this thing called "boy" and this thing called "girl" and something important differentiates them.

The Big Kahuna of sex differences, according to Eliot, is toy choice. Boys push cars, girls push prams. You even see it in primates. In a 2002 study, researchers gave two stereotypically masculine toys (a police car and a ball), two stereotypically feminine toys (a doll and a cooking pot), and two neutral toys (a picture book and a stuffed animal) to 44 male and 44 female Vervet monkeys. The monkeys had never seen the items before and were (obviously) unaware of their connotations. The results? Though males and females were similarly drawn to the neutral items, the males gravitated toward the boy toys, while the females went for the doll and – grrr! – the cooking pot. A fluke? Maybe, but six years later, that finding was replicated by a second group of researchers studying Rhesus monkeys. Meanwhile, among us humans, girls who are born with a genetic disorder that causes them to produce high levels of male hormones are more physically active than other girls and favour traditional "boy" toys.

Toy choice turns out to be one of the largest differences between the sexes over the entire life span, bigger than anything except the preference (among most of us) for the other sex as romantic partners. But its timing and intensity shore up every assumption and stereo-type we adults hold. That blinds us to the larger truth of how deeply those inborn biases are reinforced by a child's environment.

Eliot's own research is in something called "neuroplasticity," the idea that our inborn tendencies and traits, gender-based or otherwise, are shaped by our experience. A child's brain, she explains, changes on a molecular level when she learns to walk, learns to talk, stores a memory, laughs, cries. So though kids may be the most rigid about gender during the princess years, their brains are also at their most malleable, the most open to long-term influence on the abilities and roles that go with their sex. In other words, Eliot says, nurture becomes nature. "Think about language. Babies are born ready to absorb the sounds and grammar and intonation of any language, but then the brain wires itself up to only perceive and produce a specific language. After puberty, it's possible to learn another language, but it's far more difficult. I think of gender differences similarly: the ones that exist become amplified by the two different cultures that boys and girls are immersed in from birth. That contributes to the way their emotional and cognitive circuits get wired."

Hormones, genes and chromosomes, then, aren't quite as powerful as we tend to believe. And that has implications for how we raise and educate our children.

"If you believe it's all immutable, then what is the harm in plunking girls in a pink ghetto or letting boys get by without doing art or singing or all the things they used to like to do before they got associated with girls?" Eliot asks. "But if you believe these disparities in adults are shaped by development and experience…"

I never expected, when I had a daughter, that one of my most important jobs would be to protect her childhood from becoming a marketers' land grab. I have begun to see myself as that hazel tree in the Grimm Brothers' version of Cinderella: my branches offering her shelter, my roots giving her strength. I refuse to believe that parents are helpless. We can provide alternatives, especially in the critical early years when children's brains are most malleable: choices that appeal to their desire to be girls yet reflect parents' values, worldview and dreams for them.

I wish I could tell you that I had reached my own goals: getting my daughter outside more, taking walks in the woods together, playing sports, making art. Occasionally I have – and I advocate all of that – but mostly I have just got a lot more canny about how we participate in the consumer culture. At bedtime we continue to read legends, mythology, and fairytales – all of which teem with complex female characters that fire a child's imagination. The path to womanhood is strewn with enchantment, but it is also rife with thickets and thorns and a Big Bad Culture that threatens to consume them even as they consume it. The good news is, the choices we make for our toddlers can influence how they navigate life as teens. I'm not saying we can, or will, do everything "right," only that there is power – magic – in awareness. If we start with that, with wanting girls to see themselves from the inside out rather than outside in, we will go a long way towards helping them find their true happily ever-afters.

Who was Art Clokey?

2011-10-12T11:59:00.000+01:00

Adorable Children, or the Art of Jason Lee

2011-09-30T11:29:00.000+01:00

Website, Sisters' blog

the How To Draw series from The Guardian

2011-09-12T13:40:00.000+01:00

Characters, Yetis, the whole series (and counting :)

Teddies are given to kids for a reason

2011-09-09T11:17:00.000+01:00

The Great Vaccination Debate

2011-07-07T15:55:00.002+01:00

Cars 2 premiere in La La Land

2011-06-20T18:56:00.000+01:00

Far Far Away Books

2011-06-06T11:21:00.000+01:00

Website Intro:

Books in English and Portuguese:

Feliz Dia da Criança! :)

2011-06-01T01:31:00.000+01:00

Eis o que acontece nesta casa, todos os dias, a todo o momento :»

2011-05-27T00:51:00.000+01:00

Gosto de Ler!

2011-05-26T11:39:00.000+01:00

Editorial Presença:

Como tantas outras meninas, a protagonista desta historiazinha adora ler - estendida no chão, sentada numa cadeira ou na cama - EM QUALQUER SÍTIO! Gosta de ler livros sobre animais, contos de fadas, cavaleiros, princesas, e muitas, muitas outras coisas. Um livro pop-up, que inclui três etiquetas e um marcador de livros destacáveis, para fazer as delícias de muitas meninas.

Rio!

2011-05-23T13:01:00.002+01:00

Five Things Every New Mom Should Know

2011-05-17T18:19:00.000+01:00

1. Know What's Normal
Question marks abound for new parents, so educate yourself about behaviors and traits that may seem unusual but are actually fairly common.

Here are a few examples:

Belly button popping out: This indicates an umbilical hernia; these usually resolve with no treatment.
Gooey eyes: These are due to blocked tears ducts and usually resolve around one year of age.
Back hair: Called "lanugo," this is shed soon after birth.
Shuddering and crossing eyes: These should go away by four to six months of age.
Hiccuping and sneezing: These don't necessarily indicate illness in newborns; they simply clear secretions.

2. How to Prevent Allergies and Obesity
If either parent has a history of asthma, allergies, or eczema, breastfeeding or feeding with a hypoallergenic formula may prevent or delay these conditions for the child. Recent findings also indicate increased risk of obesity when food is introduced before four months; Dr. Thebner recommends waiting four to six months to introduce food.

3. New Recommendations for Introducing New Foods
Be sure to read the latest research on introducing new foods to your child's diet, as recommendations have evolved over the years, in some cases dramatically. For example, conventional wisdom once dictated avoiding foods like eggs and peanuts during your baby's first few years of life, but it now appears that doing so will predispose your child to more food allergies.

4. Protect Baby from Disease
Get a flu shot before birth: It gives the baby some protection in utero and also reduces the risk that the baby will catch flu from you. In addition, you may want to consider the Tdap vaccine, a booster for tetanus and whooping cough, which can be fatal in babies.

5. Encourage Healthy Sleep Patterns
It's important to establish healthy sleep patterns early, so read up on sleep strategies before giving birth (while you still have the energy to read!). Dr. Thebner recommends "The Sleep Lady's Good Night, Sleep Tight" and "52 Sleep Secrets for Babies," both by Kim West.

Read more at Wholeliving.com: 5 Things Every New Mom Should Know

Mr. Men and Little Miss

2011-05-09T21:51:00.000+01:00

On the 75º Birthday of Roger Hargreaves,

who gave us

Mr. Men and Little Miss,

several

Google Doodles:

Impagável, a nossa Livreira Anarquista ;D

2011-05-01T16:16:00.000+01:00

A qual faz jus ao ofício, à variedade e ao ecletismo que os livros nos oferecem, pois até tem criatividade para ser lembrada e honrada num blogue "sobre crianças" :)

Livreira Anarquista conseguiu ter acesso a uma das imagens do novo livro da Anne Guedes, desta feita em parceria com a Nora Roberts.
A criança, apesar de ter sobrevivido, ainda está a receber acompanhamento psicológico.

Feliz Dia da Mãe ;)

2011-05-01T00:38:00.000+01:00

Science Bloggers on their fave Children's Books

2011-04-26T17:23:00.000+01:00

Julia Eccleshare is the Children's Book Doctor

2011-04-26T17:21:00.000+01:00

Click to access The Guardian

Childhood Glasses, by Incidental Comics :)

2011-04-26T17:11:00.000+01:00

Lilian Flor

2011-04-06T00:52:00.001+01:00

Airy, Fairy Lilian,

Flitting, fairy Lilian,

When I ask her if she love me,

Claps her tiny hands above me,

Laughing all she can;

(...)

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Dia Internacional do Livro Infantil 2011

2011-04-02T17:30:00.000+01:00

O nosso Cartaz:

O Cartaz do IBBY:

The Guardian launches its Children's Books site

2011-03-04T15:26:00.000Z

Launched on World Book Day, the brand new Guardian children's books site has been designed and curated with the help of a dedicated editorial panel of 100 children and teens from around the world. They told us what they wanted, and we did our best to make it happen. And that's how the site will work: by children, for children.

Take a look around: you can read reviews, follow discussions, and watch and listen to the questions our panel have put to top authors, fromJacqueline Wilson to Malorie Blackman, Michelle Paver to Charlie Higson. There's age-themed content, a monthly podcast, a book club, extracts,quizzes, competitions with amazing prizes (win your height in books!) and much more.

Discover the team by reading their 10-word profiles and watching the 'get involved' video. Inspired to get involved yourself? If you're under 18 and a booklover, we'd love to have you on board. Here's how.

This is just the start - there's loads more exciting stuff lined up for the future. So keep coming back to check out what's new, and get in touch at childrens.books@guardian.co.uk to tell us what you think and what you'd like to see.

The Gruffalo was a runner-up to the Oscars, and is a staple around here ;)

2011-03-04T11:54:00.000Z

Click to access The Gruffalo's website and check all the goodies :]

The Animated History of the Oscars: An Infographic

2011-03-04T11:27:00.000Z

From Border Stylo

Lost & Found, by Shaun Tan

2011-03-04T11:17:00.000Z

How to recognize a Wolf in a Forest

2011-02-23T10:40:00.002Z

Para desmontar a Árvore de Natal ;)

2011-01-08T23:20:00.000Z

Feliz Ano Novo - De Grávida a Mãe

2011-01-02T13:43:00.000Z

[De quem é esta bela ilustração?]

Notícias Magazine, do DN

O que acontece no corpo e na mente das mulheres desde o momento da concepção até ao primeiro fôlego do seu bebé. O determinismo dos genes, o poder do factores ambientais, dicas para viver uma gravidez tranquila e ter um bebé saudável. Uma obra para quem quer saber de amamentação, chuchas, fraldas e noites mal dormidas. O conhecimento é a melhor arma contra a insegurança, como explicam, com graça, Michael Roizen e Mehmet Oz.

Não tem nada que enganar. Basta um ovo, cem milhões de espermatozóides muito excitados e paixão q.b. para envolver o que ganhar a corrida. Depois, guarda-se no útero durante quarenta semanas e protege-se com uma boa dose de serenidade. Seguir estes passos é meio caminho andado para ter uma gravidez tranquila e um bebé saudável após o nascimento e durante toda a vida.

É mais ou menos assim que a famosa dupla Michael Roizen e Mehmet Oz começa o seu novo livro, YOU Vou Ter Um Bebé, o Manual de Instruções para Uma Gravidez Saudável e Feliz. Desta vez os médicos norte-americanos propõem-se ajudar as futuras mães a terem uma gravidez sem stress, um parto sem complicações e o bebé mais saudável do mundo. Desejos e anseios que dependem da informação e do conhecimento, da gestão do stress e da ansiedade e do apoio das pessoas que estão à volta das grávidas. O funcionamento do corpo, a alimentação, os enjoos e os apetites, a auto-imagem e o desejo sexual, a genética e a epigenética, enfim, tudo o que se passa na cabeça da mulher antes, durante e depois de trazer um bebé ao mundo: «Independentemente de ser a primeira ou a quarta, a gravidez é a coisa mais avassaladora do mundo. E a que gera maior conflito interno. Num momento está toda entusiasmada, completamente eufórica e impaciente pelo primeiro sorriso do seu bebé, o primeiro balbuciar, o primeiro abraço que lhe encherá a alma. No outro, sente-se ansiosa, cheia de incertezas perante o que se passa na sua barriga, se o pequenote está a crescer bem e se você vai conseguir viver sem dormir nada.» Para que nenhuma mãe «entre em parafuso», Roizen e Oz lembram que «o corpo da mulher está preparado para ter bebés de uma forma segura e eficaz. Não quer dizer que a viagem corra sempre às mil maravilhas, mas significa que tem tudo a seu favor. Se souber o que fazer para que a natureza siga o seu percurso natural, só aumenta as probabilidades de tudo correr bem». Ora vamos ver o que é que a espera, a si e ao seu bebé.

Post-its biológicos

Depois da batalha romântica, é a vez de os genes e o ambiente entrarem em acção. E ao facto de nascermos de «uma simples célula fertilizada e nos transformarmos nos milhares de milhões de células que compõem uma pessoa» Oz chama um grande milagre da natureza: «As células humanas contém 23 pares de cromossomas, as estruturas que contêm o nosso ADN, uma espécie de livro de instruções que diz ao corpo como se deve desenvolver.» Mas isto é só uma pequena parte da história, senão os gémeos idênticos, que têm exactamente o mesmo ADN, não desenvolviam traços diferentes, como acontece. O que está por detrás destas diferenças, explica a dupla médica, são os factores ambientais que, «muito provavelmente ainda no útero, influenciam a expressão dos genes». É a epigenética em acção.

E é a epigenética que nos torna únicos: «Os genes são como as receitas, são instruções para se criar uma coisa. Tanto a mãe como pai dão ao seu descendente uma cópia do enorme livro de receitas de cada um mas, no caso de muitos genes, só uma cópia de cada receita será usada pelo bebé. Por exemplo, os genes dos olhos são castanhos, azuis ou verdes e para esses genes só se expressa o gene do pai ou da mãe, ou seja, só uma cópia é activada, nunca as duas.»

O organismo humano é composto por cerca de 25 mil genes e contém cerca de duzentos tipos de células diferentes. Para que estas saibam quais os genes que lhes interessam - o da mãe ou o do pai -, «o corpo põe post-its biológicos, chamados etiquetas epigenéticas, em determinados genes para definir quais as receitas biológicas que vão ser usadas». Esta «rotulagem», explicam Oz e Roizen, «ocorre durante vários processos químicos mas, vejam só, «as acções da mãe durante a gravidez influenciam esses processos e determinam onde são colocados os post-its e quais os genes que serão expressos afectando, em última análise, a saúde do bebé».

Entendido porque é que os genes, só por si, não explicam a diversidade do nosso aspecto, comportamento e até a forma como nos desenvolvemos? «A forma como os genes são expressos tem um papel importantíssimo na imensa diferença que há entre nós e os macacos, com quem partilhamos 99,8 por cento do ADN, e nas óbvias e subtis diferenças entre dois seres humanos, embora tenhamos 99,9 por cento de ADN comum.»

Uma canção biológica

Agora que já sabe que os factores de stress do meio envolvente da mãe, incluindo a alimentação e o tabaco, provocam alterações nos padrões de expressão dos genes do feto, chegou a altura de explicitar os desafios que se colocam às mães. Sem culpabilidades, pois até há pouco tempo desconhecia-se o papel da epigenética antes do parto e, por outro lado, «podemos regular a actividade dos genes depois do nascimento - no caso da criança que vai ter, de crianças anteriores e até no seu caso». Como? «O segredo é parar e fazer uma inversão de marcha YOU e acabar com os comportamentos prejudiciais logo que possível. Até mesmo os efeitos nefastos do tabaco podem ser revertidos se deixar de fumar no princípio da gravidez.

O Dr. Oz usa uma metáfora musical para explicar melhor o funcionamento da epigenética: «O ADN é a composição que determina a individualidade do bebé, afinal existem milhares de formas de juntar as notas musicais. Mas a questão é que há muitas maneiras de interpretar uma canção. A mesma canção, diferentes interpretações, diferentes resultados. Ora, você e o seu parceiro têm, cada um, o respectivo ADN, e depois de se renderem a uma noite de boogie-woogie fizeram a vossa canção biológica na forma de um bebé. O código genético está definido, mas têm ainda a oportunidade de interpretar a canção e mudar a forma de os genes do seu filho se expressarem. E isto, caros amigos, é música para os vossos ouvidos.»

Dicas YOU

Estar grávida e ter um filho é talvez o maior desafio da nossa vida. Mas é um desafio bom. Agora que está preparada para o repto lembre-se de que durante os próximos meses o seu comportamento vai mudar: «Tal acontece devido às alterações dos níveis hormonais que podem levá-la a fazer coisas que nunca imaginaria. Não tem importância. O seu objectivo é proporcionar ao bebé um ambiente saudável mas não tem de se sentir mal se de vez em quando não cumprir essas recomendações.»

No que respeita à alimentação, o importante é comer bem a maior parte do tempo. «Já sabemos que os seus hábitos alimentares podem dar voltas de 180 graus de um momento para o outro. Por isso não deve estranhar os momentos em que lhe apetece comer tudo e mais alguma coisa nem os momentos em que parece que vai desfalecer. Deve é procurar comer nove ou mais doses (uma mão-cheia) de fruta e vegetais, três ou mais doses de cereais integrais, três ou mais doses de proteína magra (carne magra e aves sem pele, peixe, ovos, nozes, feijões, lentilhas, tofu).» Ter um momento de fraqueza e cair em tentações gastronómicas de vez em quando não é problema de maior. Desde que não se torne um habito, avisam os médicos Michael Roizen e Mehmet Oz.

Outra regra de ouro da alimentação é comer várias vezes por dia. Pelo menos seis. «Assim se evita a queda dos níveis de açúcar e os enjoos.» E para fazer face aos desejos a dica é comer alimentos que a deixem satisfeita e que não prejudicam nem a si nem ao seu bebe. Trocar batatas fritas por batatas assadas; gelados por iogurte; alimentos fritos por grelhados; bolachas com pepitas de chocolate por um quadradinho de chocolate preto; batatas fritas de pacote por pipocas rebentadas em ar quente e não em gordura são algumas sugestões. Segundo a dupla norte-americana, devem evitar-se os hidratos de carbono simples (açúcar refinado, massas e pão branco), gorduras transaturadas (gordura de animais de quatro patas, óleo de palma e de coco, óleos hidrogenados, alimentos fritos ou processados) e, claro, os demónios alimentares das grávidas - a cafeína (incluindo as bebidas carbonadas) e o peixe com alto teor em toxinas (peixe-espada, cavala, atum). Faça-o por si e pelo seu bebé, que precisa de nutrientes e não de calorias.

Do que o seu bebé também precisa é de ser estimulado. Ainda no útero, com a voz da mãe e com música, e depois do nascimento, mimando-o e dando-lhe a atenção, os cuidados e o tempo de que os recém-nascidos precisam. Até lá, informe-se, porque o conhecimento é a melhor arma contra a insegurança. Em YOU Vou Ter Um Bebé, o Manual de Instruções para Uma Gravidez Saudável e Feliz, Michael Roizen e Mehmet Oz explicam tintim-por-tintim o sentido do planeamento da gravidez, os exercícios durante a gestação, o sono, os medicamentos, o peso, o trabalho, a preparação para o parto, a escolha da parteira, do médico e do hospital, os cuidados com o recém-nascido, o regresso a casa, as vacinas, etc. A resposta a todas as dúvidas que a assolam numa linguagem clara, rica e muito divertida. Com dicas para exercícios, planos alimentares e pareceres muito sérios sobre o papel do homem, enquanto marido e pai.

E por falar em pai, é claro que este não vai festejar o nascimento do filho com charutos, mas sim com muitos beijinhos e abraços e, porque não, com uma simpática lista de desejos oferecida pela mãe. Para já, fique a saber que há três áreas em que o pai vai realmente fazer a diferença: na logística (a pintar paredes, a montar e a desmontar berços, cadeirinhas, carrinhos, etc.); no plano emocional (já não é o número um e as conversas sobre futebol, política ou música já não interessam, o que está na ordem do dia são enjoos, ecografias, birras e sogras) e, finalmente, a nível físico (vai gastar menos calorias a fazer amor, a não ser que passe a usar as duas mãos para fazer carícias e massagens). Preparados para o embate que vai mudar as vossas vidas? Com certeza que sim!

Grandes momentos da vida no útero

As etapas mais importantes do desenvolvimento do bebé, segundo a idade clínica.

6 semanas O coração está formado e a circulação estabelecida. Uma grande parte dos pulmões também está formada, bem como os dedos das mãos e dos pés e partes da face, nomeadamente os lábios.

7 semanas O feto consegue produzir urina. As «bolhas» na zona dos olhos colapsam formando estruturas côncavas.

9 semanas O sistema imunológico começa a desenvolver-se com a formação das células B, um tipo de glóbulos brancos que ajudam a combater as infecções. As fossas nasais estão formadas. O bebé é do tamanho de um feijão e tem a mesma forma.

10 semanas Os olhos movem-se para a frente da cara e formam-se as pálpebras, que se unem (separam-se mais tarde, no segundo trimestre). O feto começa a cerrar os olhos, abre a boca e faz pequenos movimentos com os dedos dos pés e das mãos.

11 semanas As bochechas, sobrancelhas e braços são sensíveis ao tacto.

12 semanas As papilas gustativas desenvolvem-se e amadurecem. Calma com as anchovas, mãe.

14 semanas O sistema imunológico desenvolve-se rapidamente, com a formação de células T. Já se detectam muitos químicos do sistema digestivo, como a bilirrubina do fígado e a insulina do pâncreas. O bebé começa a desenvolver a pele, o cabelo e as unhas. Começa a engolir. Toda a superfície do corpo é sensível ao tacto. Tamanho do feto: mais ou menos o de uma laranja.

16 semanas Os genitais são visíveis. Os cem milhões de neurónios que se formam no córtex visual primário começam a desenvolver-se a partir deste momento até às 28 semanas. A respiração desenvolve-se. Tamanho: mais ou menos o de uma toranja.

20 semanas As orelhas sobressaem da cabeça. Uma penugem cobre o corpo. Tamanho: 300 gramas, o peso de dois iPods.

25 semanas O feto reage aos sons. Cuidado com o que diz.

26 semanas O feto é capaz de sugar. É capaz de ouvir sons. Podem ver-se as sobrancelhas e as pestanas. Tamanho: 630 gramas (mais ou menos o peso de três laranjas). Quase metade dos bebés que atingem esta idade conseguem sobreviver a um parto prematuro.

29 semanas Os pulmões, já com fluidos no seu interior, começam a expandir-se e a comprimir-se simulando o movimento da respiração.

30 semanas Os olhos são sensíveis à luz e o olfacto começa a desenvolver-se. O feto consegue sugar e engolir, para ajudar a desenvolver o sistema gastrintestinal. Além disso, pode ter soluços e pode respirar, o que é muito bom caso venha a nascer nesta fase, uma vez que noventa por cento dos bebés sobrevivem. Tamanho: 1,100 quilogramas, ou o peso de um ananás.

34 semanas A pele é vermelha e engelhada. A gordura começa a depositar-se para cobrir o feto. Ganha reflexos como pestanejar e agarrar, e começa a ter padrões de sono perceptíveis. Tamanho: 1,800 quilogramas ou o tamanho de um chihuahua médio.

36 semanas Se ainda não o fez, o bebé começa a descer na direcção da pélvis para se preparar para o parto. As unhas cresceram e estão completamente formadas.

37 semanas Os pulmões desenvolvem-se e se o bebé nascer já não é considerado prematuro. Encara-se como uma gestação de termo.

38 semanas Com a formação de mais gordura, o corpo torna-se mais redondo, menos enrugado. Tamanho: 2,5 quilos ou o peso de um portátil levezinho.

40 semanas Termina o período normal de gestação. Todos os sistemas a funcionar.

Mistérios da maternidade

Tudo o que acontece dentro e fora da barriga ao longo de 280 dias de gravidez. As coisas mais incríveis sobre o corpo, da concepção ao nascimento. YOU Vou Ter Um Bebé, o Manual de Instruções para Uma Gravidez Saudável e Feliz é uma obra a ler por todas as mulheres que não querem entrar em parafuso antes e depois do nascimento dos filhos. «Estamos aqui para acabar com mitos, para desafiar a sua mente e preparar o seu corpo para a maior viagem que o ser humano pode fazer, desde o momento em que duas células se tornam uma até ao momento em que o seu pequeno rebento sai da concha confortável que é a sua barriga», referem os autores e médicos Michael F. Roizen e Mehmet C. Oz. O primeiro, especialista em medicina interna e presidente do Departamento de Anestesiologia da Universidade de Chicago, entrou no corredor da fama após a «invenção» do conceito Real Age. Já Mehmet Oz, um reputado cirurgião cardíaco, tornou-se célebre com a rubrica «Ask Dr. Oz», no programa The Oprah Winfrey Show, e desde há um ano é a estrela maior do seu próprio programa, The Dr. Oz Show, que passa de segunda a sexta-feira na SIC Mulher. Um verdadeiro comunicador.

YOU Vou Ter Um Bebé, a Manual de Instruções para Uma Gravidez Saudável e Feliz, de Michael F. Roizen e Mehmet C. Oz. Uma edição Lua de Papel.

The Playground, or the art of Grant Snider

2010-12-15T11:34:00.001Z

Pacing

2010-12-09T12:21:00.002Z

From All Creatures great and small ;D

Ai os Pequenitos! ;)

2010-12-02T11:42:00.002Z

How to get a seal to hug you ;)

2010-12-01T00:04:00.002Z

The 10 best illustrated children’s books, from The Observer

2010-11-28T19:44:00.000Z

The Lost Thing

Shaun Tan (2000)

At the end of this book, the narrator says: “I still think about that lost thing from time to time.” And so will Tan’s readers. The lost thing is strange: tomato red with grey tentacles. It is inert, friendly and nameless. Tan’s haunting story is about what it means to be lost and found – dropped off in a place of unclaimed objects. The Lost Thing is surreal and metaphysical. It makes you look – and think – twice. A modern Australian triumph – but much more forlorn than The Magic Pudding

Check them all

Ilustração para Publicidade - 2

2010-11-28T19:23:00.000Z

Healthy for Everyone - Colgate

Ilustração para Publicidade - 1

2010-11-28T19:22:00.000Z

Keep little Explorers High and Dry - Huggies

I mustache you a question... but I'll shave it for later.

2010-11-20T16:54:00.000Z

From I Love Charts ;-{)

Momento precioso - cavalo marinho a dar à luz

2010-11-08T16:59:00.000Z

Fotografia de Lazaro Ruda, Estados Unidos, momentos depois de o hipocampo dar à luz o primogénito - Melhor Fotografia subaquática de 2010 ;)

How Handwriting Trains the Brain

2010-11-08T14:16:00.000Z

Ask preschooler Zane Pike to write his name or the alphabet, then watch this 4-year-old's stubborn side kick in. He spurns practice at school and tosses aside workbooks at home. But Angie Pike, Zane's mom, persists, believing that handwriting is a building block to learning.

She's right. Using advanced tools such as magnetic resonance imaging, researchers are finding that writing by hand is more than just a way to communicate. The practice helps with learning letters and shapes, can improve idea composition and expression, and may aid fine motor-skill development.

It's not just children who benefit. Adults studying new symbols, such as Chinese characters, might enhance recognition by writing the characters by hand, researchers say. Some physicians say handwriting could be a good cognitive exercise for baby boomers working to keep their minds sharp as they age.

Studies suggest there's real value in learning and maintaining this ancient skill, even as we increasingly communicate electronically via keyboards big and small. Indeed, technology often gets blamed for handwriting's demise. But in an interesting twist, new software for touch-screen devices, such as the iPad, is starting to reinvigorate the practice.

Most schools still include conventional handwriting instruction in their primary-grade curriculum, but today that amounts to just over an hour a week, according to Zaner-Bloser Inc., one of the nation's largest handwriting-curriculum publishers. Even at institutions that make it a strong priority, such as the private Brearley School in New York City, "some parents say, 'I can't believe you are wasting a minute on this,'" says Linda Boldt, the school's head of learning skills.

Recent research illustrates how writing by hand engages the brain in learning. During one study at Indiana University published this year, researchers invited children to man a "spaceship," actually an MRI machine using a specialized scan called "functional" MRI that spots neural activity in the brain. The kids were shown letters before and after receiving different letter-learning instruction. In children who had practiced printing by hand, the neural activity was far more enhanced and "adult-like" than in those who had simply looked at letters.

"It seems there is something really important about manually manipulating and drawing out two-dimensional things we see all the time," says Karin Harman James, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Indiana University who led the study.

Adults may benefit similarly when learning a new graphically different language, such as Mandarin, or symbol systems for mathematics, music and chemistry, Dr. James says. For instance, in a 2008 study in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, adults were asked to distinguish between new characters and a mirror image of them after producing the characters using pen-and-paper writing and a computer keyboard. The result: For those writing by hand, there was stronger and longer-lasting recognition of the characters' proper orientation, suggesting that the specific movements memorized when learning how to write aided the visual identification of graphic shapes.

Other research highlights the hand's unique relationship with the brain when it comes to composing thoughts and ideas. Virginia Berninger, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington, says handwriting differs from typing because it requires executing sequential strokes to form a letter, whereas keyboarding involves selecting a whole letter by touching a key.

She says pictures of the brain have illustrated that sequential finger movements activated massive regions involved in thinking, language and working memory—the system for temporarily storing and managing information.

And one recent study of hers demonstrated that in grades two, four and six, children wrote more words, faster, and expressed more ideas when writing essays by hand versus with a keyboard.

Even in the digital age, people remain enthralled by handwriting for myriad reasons—the intimacy implied by a loved one's script, or what the slant and shape of letters might reveal about personality. During actress Lindsay Lohan's probation violation court appearance this summer, a swarm of handwriting experts proffered analysis of her blocky courtroom scribbling. "Projecting a false image" and "crossing boundaries," concluded two on celebrity news and entertainment site hollywoodlife.com. Beyond identifying personality traits through handwriting, called graphology, some doctors treating neurological disorders say handwriting can be an early diagnostic tool.

"Some patients bring in journals from the years, and you can see dramatic change from when they were 55 and doing fine and now at 70," says P. Murali Doraiswamy, a neuroscientist at Duke University. "As more people lose writing skills and migrate to the computer, retraining people in handwriting skills could be a useful cognitive exercise."

In high schools, where laptops are increasingly used, handwriting still matters. In the essay section of SAT college-entrance exams, scorers unable to read a student's writing can assign that portion an "illegible" score of 0.

Even legible handwriting that's messy can have its own ramifications, says Steve Graham, professor of education at Vanderbilt University. He cites several studies indicating that good handwriting can take a generic classroom test score from the 50th percentile to the 84th percentile, while bad penmanship could tank it to the 16th. "There is a reader effect that is insidious," Dr. Graham says. "People judge the quality of your ideas based on your handwriting."

Handwriting-curriculum creators say they're seeing renewed interest among parents looking to hone older children's skills—or even their own penmanship. Nan Barchowsky, who developed the Barchowsky Fluent Handwriting method to ease transition from print-script to joined cursive letters, says she's sold more than 1,500 copies of "Fix It … Write" in the past year.

Some high-tech allies also are giving the practice an unexpected boost through hand-held gadgets like smartphones and tablets. Dan Feather, a graphic designer and computer consultant in Nashville, Tenn., says he's "never adapted well to the keypads on little devices." Instead, he uses a $3.99 application called "WritePad" on his iPhone. It accepts handwriting input with a finger or stylus, then converts it to text for email, documents or Twitter updates.

And apps are helping Zane Pike—the 4-year-old who refused to practice his letters. The Cabot, Ark., boy won't put down his mom's iPhone, where she's downloaded a $1.99 app called "abc PocketPhonics." The program instructs Zane to draw letters with his finger or a stylus; correct movements earn him cheering pencils.

"He thinks it's a game," says Angie Pike.

Similarly, kindergartners at Harford Day School in Bel Air, Md., are taught to write on paper but recently also began tracing letter shapes on the screen of an iPad using a handwriting app.

"Children will be using technology unlike I did, and it's important for teachers to be familiar with it," says Kay Crocker, the school's lead kindergarten teacher. Regardless of the input method, she says, "You still need to be able to write, and someone needs to be able to read it."

From The WSJ

Multiple Intelligences - eight, no less ;)

2010-11-08T14:12:00.000Z

According to Howard Gardner, a child has not just one chance to be gifted, but eight! That's because, according to Gardner, there exist eight separable "intelligences"-verbal-linguistic (facility with words and languages), logical-mathematical (facility with logic, abstractions, reasoning, and numbers), spatial (facility with visualizing and mentally manipulating objects), musical (facility with rhythm, music, and hearing), bodily-kinesthetic (facility physical movement), interpersonal (facility interacting with other people), intrapersonal (facility with introspective and self-reflective thought), and naturalist (facility relating to nature) [5]. He is currently considering adding existential intelligence to the lineup (still not clear what that one is all about). He has excluded spiritual and moral intelligences as possibilities [6]. However, breakdancers rejoice! Under Gardner's framework, bodily/kinesthetic ability is considered a form of intelligence.

WICS Model

Robert J. Sternberg views giftedness as the synthesis of wisdom, intelligence (based on his theory of successful intelligence), and creativity [7, 8]. Sternberg argues that in life, people need creative skills and attitudes to produce new and original ideas; analytical skills and attitudes to evaluate the quality of these ideas; practical skills and attitudes to execute ideas and to persuade others of their value, and wisdom-related skills and attitudes in order to ensure that one's ideas help to foster a common good, rather than only the good of oneself and those closely associated with oneself. According to Dr. Sternberg, the child without the synthesis of these abilities does not deserve the label gifted.

So, is every child gifted?

As you can see, whether a child is considered by a particular school as gifted depends on which model of giftedness that that school adopts. Of course, there will be some "special" (I already admitted it, your child is special!) children who just don't possess at the moment any abilities that are at least in the top 20% relative to other children their age, and are simultaneously valued by the school system (forget about society- some abilities are valued by society, but schools just don't have the funding to pay much attention to them). So not every student at any given point in time will be eligible to receive the label "gifted". It stinks (I know!), but that's life for you.

This certainly doesn't mean though that as a parent you shouldn't keep exposing your child to varied experiences, make note of his or her particular interests, and encourage him or her to pursue them. That child just may develop a talent. This is why it's important that schools screen for gifted students repeatedly over the course of the education cycle.

It also certainly doesn't mean that you, as a parent, can't provide additional resources to the child if you can afford it (which, unfortunately, many parents can't). Just don't count on your school system to help out much.

At the end of the day, my suggestion for parents is this: if your child seems to have a particular gift that you think is valued in society, and you want your school to nurture it above and beyond the normal track at school, then research your schools very carefully and find one that values your child's gift and adopts the model of giftedness that best fits your child's ability. For some, just the IQ based model might work. For others, your child may be bursting with a slightly above average IQ, but a high level of creativity and task commitment. So find a school that likes Renzulli's model. Or better yet, go to your school administration and petition to change the system. Some schools, and even school psychologists who are indoctrinated in the IQ model of giftedness, might simply not be familiar with alternative methods of identifying children with extraordinary talent. You are now better informed that there is more than one conceptualization of giftedness.

In other words, if your child can yodel better than Justin Timberlake, then there may in fact be a place for him after all-consider sending him off to a school for the performing arts where he'll fit in quite nicely.

Psychology Today

It's a girl!!!

2010-10-28T14:04:00.001+01:00

Woo Hoo!!!

It’s a girl!!!

We haven’t decided on a name yet, but we’ll be using the same simple criteria we used for Daniel:
- Both of us in agreement
- A name that works in Portuguese and English
- No names from Mainstream media. Examples include: Movies (Lois Lane, Scarlett O'Hara); TV Shows (Elaine Benes, Lorelai Victoria Gilmore), songs, (Roxanne, Maggie May) bands (Alice Cooper, Björk) or books (Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Jude the Obscure).

So far we have:
Lilian
Lauren
Lori
Sylvie
Sara

Suggestions more than welcome!!!

The Wonderful World of Disney

2010-10-14T12:02:00.000+01:00

Thanx to I Love Charts!

Let Children Learn

2010-10-14T12:01:00.000+01:00

Thanx to Papel de Lustro ;)

things to learn from Matt Edgar on Vimeo.

Os Flintstones num Google Doodle

2010-09-30T22:46:00.000+01:00

Happy Anniversary ;)

Ora isto interessa-nos / Now you've got our attention ;)

2010-09-10T12:37:00.000+01:00

Planeta Tangerina + Tate Publishing = delirante, delicioso, a devorar já ;)

The Normal Newborn and Why Breastmilk is Not Just Food

2010-09-07T15:03:00.000+01:00

What is a normal, term human infant supposed to do?

First of all, a human baby is supposed to be born vaginally. Yes, I know that doesn't always happen, but we're just going to talk ideal, normal for now. We are supposed to be born vaginally because we need good bacteria. Human babies are sterile, without bacteria, at birth. It's no accident that we are born near the anus, an area that has lots of bacteria, most of which are good and necessary for normal gut health and development of the immune system. And the bacteria that are there are mom's bacteria, bacteria that she can provide antibodies against if the bacteria there aren't nice.

Then the baby is born and is supposed to go to mom. Right to her chest. The chest, right in between the breasts is the natural habitat of the newborn baby. (Fun fact: our cardiac output, how much blood we circulate in a given minute, is distributed to places that are important. Lots goes to the kidney every minute, like 10% or so, and 20% goes to your brain. In a new mom, 23% goes to her chest- more than her brain. The body thinks that place is important!)

That chest area gives heat. The baby has been using mom's body for temperature regulation for ages. Why would they stop? With all that blood flow, it's going to be warm. The baby can use mom to get warm. When I was in my residency, we would put a cold baby "under the warmer" which meant a heater thingy next to mom. Now, as I have matured, if a baby is "under the warmer," the kid is under mom. I wouldn't like that. I like the kids on top of mom, snuggled.

Now we have a brand new baby on the warmer. That child is not hungry. Bringing a hungry baby into the world is a bad plan. And really, if they were hungry, can you please explain to me why my kids sucked the life force out of me in those last few weeks of pregnancy? They better have been getting food, or well, that would have been annoying and painful for nothing.

Every species has instinctual behaviors that allow the little ones to grow up to be big ones and keep the species going. Our kids are born into the world needing protection. Protection from disease and from predators. Yes, predators. Our kids don't know they've been born into a loving family in the 21st century- for all they know it's the 2nd century and they are in a cave surrounded by tigers. Our instinctive behaviors as baby humans need to help us stay protected. Babies get both disease protection and tiger protection from being on mom's chest. Presumably, we gave the baby some good bacteria when they arrived through the birth canal. That's the first step in disease protection. The next step is getting colostrum.

A newborn baby on mom's chest will pick their head up, lick their hands, maybe nuzzle mom, lick their hands and start to slide towards the breast. The kids have a preference for contrasts between light and dark, and for circles over other shapes. Think about that...there's a dark circle not too far away.

Mom's sweat smells like amniotic fluid, and that smell is on the child's hands (because there's been no bath yet!) and the baby uses that taste on their hand to follow mom's smell. The secretions coming from the glands on the areola (that dark circle) smell familiar too and help the baby get to the breast to get the colostrum which is going to feed the good bacteria and keep them protected from infection. The kids can attach by themselves. Watch for yourself! And if you just need colostrum to feed bacteria and not yourself, well, there doesn't have to be much. And there isn't because the kids aren't hungry and because Breastmilk is not food!

We're talking normal babies. Breastfeeding is normal. It's what babies are hardwired to do. 2009 or 209, the kids would all do the same thing: try to find the breast. Breastfeeding isn't special sauce, a leg up or a magic potion. It's not "best. " It's normal. Just normal. Designed for the needs of a vulnerable human infant. And nothing else designed to replace it is normal.

Colostrum also activates things in the baby's gut that then goes on to make the thymus grow. The thymus is part of the immune system. Growing your thymus is important. Breastmilk= big thymus, good immune system. Colostrum also has a bunch of something called Secretory Immunoglobulin A (SIgA). SIgA is made in the first few days of life and is infection protection specifically from mom. Cells in mom's gut watch what's coming through and if there's an infectious cell, a special cell in mom's gut called a plasma cell heads to the breast and helps the breast make SIgA in the milk to protect the baby. If mom and baby are together, like on mom's chest, then the baby is protected from what the two of them may be exposed to. Babies should be with mom.

And the tigers. What about them? Define "tiger" however you want. But if you are baby with no skills in self-protection, staying with mom, having a grasp reflex, and a startle reflex that helps you grab onto your mom, especially if she's hairy, makes sense. Babies know the difference between a bassinette and a human chest. When infants are separated from their mothers, they have a "despair- withdrawal" response. The despair part comes when they alone, separated. The kids are vocally expressing their desire not to be tiger food. When they are picked up, they stop crying. They are protected, warm and safe. If that despair cry is not answered, they withdraw. They get cold, have massive amounts of stress hormones released, drop their heart rate and get quiet. That's not a good baby. That's one who, well, is beyond despair. Normal babies want to be held, all the time.

And when do tigers hunt? At night. It makes no sense at all for our kids to sleep at night. They may be eaten. There's nothing really all that great about kids sleeping through the night. They should wake up and find their body guard. Daytime, well, not so many threats. They sleep better during the day. (Think about our response to our tigers-- sleep problems are a huge part of stress, depression, anxiety).

I go on and on about sleep on this site, so maybe I'll gloss over it here. But everybody sleeps with their kids- whether they choose to or not and whether they admit to it or not. It's silly of us as healthcare providers to say "don't sleep with your baby" because we all do it. Sometimes accidentally. Sometimes intentionally. The kids are snuggly, it feels right and you are tired. So, normal babies breastfeed, stay at the breast, want to be held and sleep better when they are with their parents. Seems normal to me. But there is a difference between a normal baby and one that isn't. Safe sleep means that we are sober, in bed and not a couch or a recliner, breastfeeding, not smoking...being normal. If the circumstances are not normal, then sleeping with the baby is not safe.

That chest -to -chest contact is also brain development. Our kids had as many brain cells as they were ever going to have at 28 weeks of gestation. It's a jungle of waiting -to-be- connected cells. What we do as humans is create too much and then get rid of what we aren't using. We have like 8 nipples, a tail and webbed hands in the womb. If all goes well, we don't have those at birth. Create too much- get rid of what you aren't using. So, as you are snuggling, your child is hooking up happy brain cells and hopefully getting rid of the "eeeek" brain cells. Breastfeeding, skin-to-skin, is brain wiring. Not food.

Why go on and on about this? Because more and more mothers are choosing to breastfeed. But most women don't believe that the body that created that beautiful baby is capable of feeding that same child and we are supplementing more and more with infant formulas designed to be food. Why don't we trust our bodies post-partum? I don't know. But I hear over and over that the formula is because "I am just not satisfying him." Of course you are. Babies don't need to "eat" all the time- they need to be with you all the time- that's the ultimate satisfaction.

A baby at the breast is getting their immune system developed, activating their thymus, staying warm, feeling safe from predators, having normal sleep patterns and wiring their brain, and (oh by the way) getting some food in the process. They are not "hungry" --they are obeying instinct. The instinct that allows us to survive and make more of us.

Onda / Wave

2010-08-05T23:03:00.000+01:00

Edição Portuguesa - GATAfunho

Suzy Lee's website

How to apply sunscreen

2010-07-29T12:53:00.000+01:00

How much do I need?

At least six full teaspoons for an average adult. Anything less reduces protection.

How do you apply it?

Put it on 15 to 30 minutes before you go out in the sun, then 15 to 30 minutes afterwards – and every two hours after that. If you get sweaty or swim you need to reapply it even if it is water repellent. Don't rub it in too much – it should still look a bit white on your skin. Don't re-use last year's bottles – sunscreens can get damaged by heat and bacteria.
What SPF do I need?

Dermatologists recommend SPF 30. Children under six months should not be out in direct sun, but they need an SPF of 50. Sunscreen will also protect you from UV-A rays, which are also linked to skin cancer. Their protection is measured relative to the UVB protection given by a sunscreen and shown in stars – five gives 90% of the UVB protection.

Are clothes better protection?

Yes, if they are tightly woven and not light-coloured.

Dr. Luisa Dillner's How To... guides from The Guardian

Draw your own Robots, Monsters, Superheroes!

2010-07-27T10:31:00.000+01:00

From the wonderful mind of Jay Stephens ;)
Click to buy from Amazon

Ler é Crescer, diz-nos Gaturro

2010-07-24T21:48:00.000+01:00

Poetry for Children

2010-07-22T12:19:00.000+01:00

The best poems for kids aren't the soft and saccharine ones

As the most bodily of literary forms, poetry appeals to children. It also has a certain appeal for adults who read to children. For one thing, good writing in verse helps make one a more amusing or engaging reader vocally: The rhythms effectively coach us to read aloud well. Such bodily appeal should not entail hamminess or indicate intellectual or moral condescension; good verses don't need to be artificially sweetened. This month, I've compiled work by three poets whose writing meets those dual ideals of musicality and truthfulness.

I have heard the superb writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak say that he does not set out to make works for children: He tries to make good stories and pictures. As someone who has read aloud to children many times, I feel grateful to Sendak and to Margaret Wise Brown and Dr. Seuss and other writers who have rescued me from the shallow stuff marketed as "for children" that I sometimes have found myself reading aloud.

In poetry, Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" is often cited, correctly, as a masterpiece of the nonsense genre. I'm inclined to quibble with "nonsense" as a term: The nature of all language is to combine meaning with its opposite. Everything we say or write has a component of sense and a component of nonsense. It's the proportions that vary, the kinds of meaning and nonmeaning. When Shakespeare has King Lear say the word never five times to make a line of blank verse, part of the repetition's power comes from the arbitrary or accidental nature of a word's sounds: the nasal N at the beginning, the upper teeth at the lower lip on the V, the R lengthening the final vowel. These sounds are part of the meaning, and part of Lear's agony, not intrinsically but as a physical part of the word—a bodily, potentially inert accident made meaningful by the playwright's art, including the repetition that intensifies and conveys the word's "nonsense" along with its "sense."

Conversely, "Jabberwocky" conveys its narrative meaning—the "sense" of its adventure story—quite clearly. (Carroll first published a fragment of the poem as "A Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry.")

Worthy of presentation along with Carroll's famous poem are these by Edward Lear (1812-88), Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94), and Walter de la Mare (1873-1956).

Their poems are tough, not cloying. Stevenson's "The Land of Counterpane" associates illness with imagination in a way that's disturbing or mysterious as well as engaging. The change from past to present tense in the last stanza—"I was" the giant who "sees"—evokes the imaginative or delirious trance of an extended moment. De la Mare's grotesque "John Mouldy," "Miss T," and "Jim Jay" engagingly conjoin the comic and the sinister.

Edward Lear's "How Pleasant To Know Mr. Lear" inspired an adaptation by T.S. Eliot. The wildly playful, reckless, insouciant, and what-the-hell quality of Lear's limericks have also been widely adapted or imitated—but rarely matched.

All three of these poets do not approach the experiences and interests of childhood with a knowing chuckle or a tidy closure of reassurance. They respect the imagination, including its elements of mystery and dread.

From Slate, with audio

"The Land of Counterpane"
When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay
To keep me happy all the day.
And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;
And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.
I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.
.................—Robert Louis Stevenson

.
"Windy Nights"
Whenever the moon and stars are set,
….Whenever the wind is high,
All night long in the dark and wet,
….A man goes riding by.
Late in the night when the fires are out,
Why does he gallop and gallop about?
Whenever the trees are crying aloud,
….And ships are tossed at sea,
By, on the highway, low and loud,
….By at the gallop goes he.
By at the gallop he goes, and then
By he comes back at the gallop again.
.................—Robert Louis Stevenson

.
"John Mouldy"
I spied John Mouldy in his cellar,
Deep down twenty steps of stone;
In the dusk he sat a-smiling,
….Smiling there all alone.
He read no book, he snuffed no candle;
The rats ran in, the rats ran out,
And far and near, the drip of water
….Went whisp'ring about.
The dusk was still, with dew a-falling,
I saw the Dog-star bleak and grim,
I saw a slim brown rat of Norway
….Creep over him.
I spied John Mouldy in his cellar,
Deep down twenty steps of stone;
In the dusk he sat a-smiling
….Smiling there all alone.
.................—Walter de le Mare

.
"Miss T."
It's a very odd thing—
….As odd as can be—
That whatever Miss T. eats
….Turns into Miss T.;
Porridge and apples,
….Mince, muffins, and mutton,
Jam, junket, jumbles—
….Not a rap, not a button
It matters; the moment
….They're out of her plate,
Though shared by Miss Butcher
….And sour Mr. Bate,
Tiny and cheerful,
….And neat as can be,
Whatever Miss T. eats
….Turns into Miss T.
.................—Walter de le Mare

.
"Jim Jay"
Do diddle di do,
Poor Jim Jay
Got stuck fast
In Yesterday.
Squinting he was,
On cross-legs bent,
Never heeding
The wind was spent.
Round veered the weathercock,
The sun drew in—
And stuck was Jim
Like a rusty pin ...
We pulled and we pulled
From seven till twelve,
Jim, too frightened
To help himself.
But all in vain.
The clock struck one,
And there was Jim
A little bit gone.
At half-past five
You scarce could see
A glimpse of his flapping
Handkerchee.
And when came noon,
And we climbed sky-high,
Jim was a speck
Slip-slipping by.
Come to-morrow,
The neighbours say,
He'll be past crying for;
Poor Jim Jay.
.................—Walter de le Mare

.
"How Pleasant To Know Mr. Lear"
"How pleasant to know Mr. Lear!"
Who has written such volumes of stuff!
Some think him ill-tempered and queer,
But a few find him pleasant enough.
His mind is concrete and fastidious,
His nose is remarkably big;
His visage is more or less hideous,
His beard it resembles a wig.
He has ears, and two eyes, and ten fingers,
Leastways if you reckon two thumbs;
He used to be one of the singers,
But now he is one of the dumbs.
He sits in a beautiful parlour,
With hundreds of books on the wall;
He drinks a great deal of Marsala,
But never gets tipsy at all.
He has many friends, laymen and clerical,
Old Foss is the name of his cat;
His body is perfectly spherical,
He weareth a runcible hat.
When he walks in waterproof white,
The children run after him so!
Calling out, "He's gone out in his night-
Gown, that crazy old Englishman, oh!"
He weeps by the side of the ocean,
He weeps on the top of the hill;
He purchases pancakes and lotion,
And chocolate shrimps from the mill.
He reads, but he cannot speak, Spanish,
He cannot abide ginger beer:
Ere the days of his pilgrimage vanish,
How pleasant to know Mr. Lear!
.................—Edward Lear

There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, 'It is just as I feared!
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!'
.................—Edward Lear

O Sabor da Maçã

2010-07-22T11:25:00.000+01:00

I Love Charts, claro ;)

Gaturro, o gato argentino que destronou todos os outros ;)

2010-07-15T22:32:00.000+01:00

Aqui

The Future? ;) 100 Essential Skills for Geeks

2010-07-15T11:07:00.000+01:00

A GeekDad original, what else? My favourites in bold type ;)

1. Properly secure a wireless router.
2. Crack the WEP key on a wireless router.
3. Leech Wifi from your neighbor.
4. Screw with Wifi leeches.
5. Setup and use a VPN.
6. Work from home or a coffee shop as effectively as you do at the office.
7. Wire your own home with Ethernet cable.
8. Turn a web camera into security camera.
9. Use your 3G phone as a Wi-Fi access point.
10. Understand what “There’s no Place Like 127.0.0.1” means.

11. Identify key-loggers.
12. Properly connect a TV, Tivo, XBox, Wii, and Apple TV so they all work together with the one remote.
13. Program a universal remote.
14. Swap out the battery on your iPod/iPhone.
15. Benchmark Your Computer
16. Identify all computer components on sight.
17. Know which parts to order from NewEgg.com, and how to assemble them into a working PC.
18. Troubleshoot any computer/gadget problem, over the phone.
19. Use any piece of technology intuitively, without instruction or prior knowledge.
20. How to irrecoverably protect data.
21. Recover data from a dead hard drive.
22. Share a printer between a Mac and a PC on a network.
23. Install a Linux distribution. (Hint: Ubuntu 9.04 is easier than installing Windows)
24. Remove a virus from a computer.
25. Dual (or more) boot a computer.
26. Boot a computer off a thumb drive.
27. Boot a computer off a network drive.
28. Replace or repair a laptop keyboard.
29. Run more than two monitors on a single computer.
30. Successfully disassemble and reassemble a laptop.
31. Know at least 10 software easter eggs off the top of your head.
32. Bypass a computer password on all major operating systems. Windows, Mac, Linux
33. Carrying a computer cleaning arsenal on your USB drive.
34. Bypass content filters on public computers.
35. Protect your privacy when using a public computer.
36. Surf the web anonymously from home.
37. Buy a domain, configure bind, apache, MySQL, php, and Wordpress without Googling a how-to.
38. Basic *nix command shell knowledge with the ability to edit and save a file with vi.
39. Create a web site using vi.
40. Transcode a DVD to play on a portable device.
41. Hide a file in an image using steganography.
42. Knowing the answer to life, the universe and everything.
43. Share a single keyboard and mouse between multiple computers without a KVM switch.
44. Google obscure facts in under 3 searches. Bonus point if you can use I Feel Lucky.
45. Build amazing structures with LEGO and invent a compelling back story for the creation.
46. Understand that it is LEGO, not Lego, Legos, or Lego’s.
47. Build a two story house out of LEGO, in monochrome, with a balcony.
48. Construct a costume for you or your kid out of scraps, duct tape, paper mâché, and imagination.
49. Be able to pick a lock.
50. Determine the combination of a Master combination padlock in under 10 minutes.
51. Assemble IKEA furniture without looking at the instructions. Bonus point if you don’t have to backtrack.
52. Use a digital SLR in full manual mode.
53. Do cool things to Altoids tins.
54. Be able to construct paper craft versions of space ships.
55. Origami! Bonus point for duct tape origami. (Ductigami)
56. Fix anything with duct tape, chewing gum and wire.
57. Knowing how to avoid being eaten by a grue.
58. Know what a grue is.
59. Understand where XYZZY came from, and have used it.
60. Play any SNES game on your computer through an emulator.
61. Burn the rope.
62. Know the Konami code, and where to use it.
63. Whistle, hum, or play on an iPhone, the Cantina song.
64. Learning to play the theme songs to the kids favorite TV shows.
65. Solve a Rubik’s Cube.
66. Calculate THAC0.
67. Know the difference between skills and traits.
68. Explain special relativity in terms an eight-year-old can grasp.
69. Recite pi to 10 places or more.
70. Be able to calculate tip and split the check, all in your head.
71. Explain that the colours in a rainbow are roygbiv.
72. Understand the electromagnetic spectrum – xray, uv, visible, infrared, microwave, radio.
73. Know the difference between radiation and radioactive contamination.
74. Understand basic electronics components like resistors, capacitors, inductors and transistors.
75. Solder a circuit while bottle feeding an infant. (lead free solder please.)
76. The meaning of technical acronyms.
77. The coffee dash, blindfolded (or blurry eyed). Coffee [cream] [sugar]. In under a minute.
78. Build a fighting robot.
79. Program a fighting robot.
80. Build a failsafe into a fighting robot so it doesn’t kill you.
81. Be able to trace the Fellowship’s journey on a map of Middle Earth.
82. Know all the names of the Dwarves in The Hobbit.
83. Understand the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel.
84. Know where your towel is and why it is important.
85. Re-enact the parrot sketch.
86. Know the words to The Lumberjack Song.
87. Reciting key scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
88. Be able to recite at least one Geek Movie word for word.
89. Know what the 8th Chevron does on a Stargate and how much power is required to get a lock.
90. Be able to explain why it’s important that Han shot first.
91. Know why it is just wrong for Luke and Leia to kiss.
92. Stop talking Star Wars long enough to get laid.
93. The ability to name actors, characters and plotlines from the majority of sci-fi movies produced since 1968.
94. Cite Mythbusters when debunking a myth or urban legend.
95. Sleep with a Cricket bat next to your bed.
96. Have a documented plan on what to do during a zombie or robot uprising.
97. Identify evil alternate universe versions of friends, family, co-workers or self.
98. Be able to convince TSA that the electronic parts you are carrying are really not a threat to passengers.
99. Talk about things that aren’t tech related.
100. Get something on the front page of Digg.

Oeiras? Traquinas?

2010-07-14T17:23:00.000+01:00

11 Cartoons With Surprisingly Green Messages

2010-07-11T23:06:00.000+01:00

Octo Pi(e) - no way! E viva as cordas da roupa ;)

2010-07-02T23:28:00.000+01:00

The meanest t-shirt Ever!

2010-07-02T12:28:00.000+01:00

Obrigada à Canochinha ;)

Rango: a Chameleon with an Identity Crisis

2010-06-29T17:31:00.000+01:00

Joyeux Anniversaire, le Petit Prince ;)

2010-06-29T11:53:00.000+01:00

Should you have kids?

2010-06-25T11:10:00.000+01:00

Kiwi!

2010-06-14T12:03:00.002+01:00

E Viva a Colecção BORBOLETrAS ;)

2010-06-09T11:37:00.000+01:00

Livrinhos que o Lucas já tem:

Mais aqui ;)

Porquê Ler ao meu Bebé?

2010-06-09T11:03:00.000+01:00

PDF para descarregar

Happy International Children's Day!

2010-06-01T12:11:00.000+01:00

(this in 2007) (change much?)

One of the key events realized in the context of the International Day to Eradicate Poverty was a Childrens’ Art Competition themed “We Can End Poverty” organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in collaboration with the Department of Public Information and the United Nations Postal Administration.

In the context of the competition, over 12 thousand children from 124 countries designed United Nations stamps that illustrated many faces of poverty, concerns for the poor as well as children’s good wishes. The creative artwork of children depicted the existence of inequality and divisions of the world and emphasis was given to concepts of love and compassion. As a means to eradicate poverty, in their artwork, children suggested education, employment, peace and security. 15 year-old Sonja Mohr from Namibia said “Nobody should be imprisoned by poverty and violence. Education and reaching out to each other is the ladder to step out of poverty and into peace on a bright future”.

Following the decisions, 6 of the winning designs will be issued as United Nations stamps in 2008 while 20 designs were awarded Merit Certificates and another 24 designs received Certificates of Recognition. The 50 best designs on the other hand were displayed at the United Nations Headquarters in New York at a special exhibition on 17 October 2007. (To view the winning designs please click here)

At Play in the Field of the Mind

2010-05-31T22:34:00.000+01:00

A new book argues that play may be the primary means nature has found to develop our brains.

This monumental book—more than 900 pages long, 30 years in the making, at once grand and intricate, breathtakingly inclusive and painstakingly particular—exhaustively explores the biological evolution of human behavior and specifically the behavior of children. Melvin Konner, an anthropologist and neuroscientist at Emory, weaves a compelling web of theories and studies across a remarkable array of disciplines, from experimental genetics to ethnology. He ranges back to the earliest, egg-laying mammals, discusses topics as seemingly modern as cross-gender identity conflicts, and draws on scientific work examining all manner of species with which humans share distinct characteristics. (In the way we teach our young, for instance, Konner points out that we resemble cats large and small far more than we do our closer genetic relatives, the large primates.) The organization of these disparate puzzle pieces is itself a tour de force. Though the sheer volume of information and the not infrequent appearance of terms like synaptogenesis and N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptor can be daunting, Konner’s style is conversational (if sometimes occluded) and his tone is, well, kind. To read this book is to be in the company of a helpful and hopeful teacher who is eager to share what he’s found.

Dividing the book into four often overlapping “levels of observation”—the genome, the nervous system, society, and culture—Konner assesses the development of the brain from the first vertebrates through the hominins, with their slow-growing, enormous, super-energetic brains. This development depended on a high-quality diet of fruit and then cooked foods, both plant and animal, and particularly aquatic fauna—not to mention the grandmothers and other “helpers at the nest” who ensured that children were fed. In fact, human brains are so large that were they to reach full size in utero, women’s bodies would not be able to deliver them. Much of the brain’s growth occurs after birth: the human brain more than doubles in volume during the first 12 postnatal months, and nearly doubles again over the subsequent 12 months. This means that infants, with their far from fully developed brains, are extraordinarily helpless for a long period after birth. One reason humans evolved into creatures that walked upright may have been so that mothers could carry offspring who could not yet cling to them.

Konner then explores the genetic and neurological foundations of basic temperament and gender identity and of formative behaviors such as infant attachment and the acquisition of language, and he describes the interrelationship between the biology and psychology of puberty. Unlike animals that hurtle from infancy to puberty, the humans who have escaped the risks of infancy but not yet embarked on the risks of adulthood experience a sort of mini-transformation during the “five-to-seven shift,” and emerge with markedly enhanced powers of cognition into a period of slow growth. This prolonged halcyon phase, sandwiched between the confusion of early life and the intensity of adolescence, seems evolutionarily designed to imbue children with the culture that our enormous brains make possible—the culture that our species (almost) alone can claim.

The sine qua non of culture is socialization, a process we share with many other species. For mammals, it begins with an extreme bond between mother and offspring—a bond that has existed since early in the age of the dinosaurs, when even the infants of egg-laying mammals could feed directly from their mothers’ bodies and demand attention by crying. (Mammalian young cried at high pitches that their mothers could hear but reptilian predators could not.) Although the mother-child bond forms the core relationship, we are cooperative breeders. There is “ample evidence,” developed most prominently by the pathbreaking anthropologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, that “human mothers have always gotten help” from fathers, grandmothers, older siblings, and other relatives. Still, some evidence suggests that kinship is not the be-all and end-all it is often believed to be. Research on the !Kung hunter-gatherer society, for example, shows no particular advantage to having a full complement of parents and grandparents, and in cases in which children have few kin, other adults apparently take up the slack, supporting the idea that indeed, it takes a village. Crucially, the many years that human females live after menopause confer a unique advantage on the species, in that grandmothers are almost always involved in child care, allowing their children, particularly their daughters, to produce more and healthier children.

Konner is especially interested in play, which is not unique to humans and, indeed, seems to have been present, like the mother-offspring bond, from the dawn of mammals. The smartest mammals are the most playful, so these traits have apparently evolved together. Play, Konner says, “combining as it does great energy expenditure and risk with apparent pointlessness, is a central paradox of evolutionary biology.” It seems to have multiple functions—exercise, learning, sharpening skills—and the positive emotions it invokes may be an adaptation that encourages us to try new things and learn with more flexibility. In fact, it may be the primary means nature has found to develop our brains.

Finally, Konner argues that even if culture is as subject to the laws of evolution as other aspects of physiology and behavior, it is, in its complex forms, unique to our species. (He does emphasize, however, that humans share with other animals a host of qualities and emotions—love, grief, altruism, heroism, loyalty, shame, dignity, awe, thought—that have wrongly been ascribed to humans alone.) Humans may not be the only ones who teach, but we alone create and build in a cumulative way, and we alone suspend ourselves in “webs of significance we ourselves have spun,” as Konner, borrowing from Clifford Geertz, elegantly puts it.

Ultimately, Konner is attempting to construct a sort of theory that encompasses all of human life. The evolutionary processes he describes are the way in which at every level—the genome, the nervous system, society, and culture—we, who carry along information accumulated over billions of years, continually interact with the environment, and thereby learn and change in response to it. Children, who are shaping and organizing their very selves, experience this most powerfully. And it should not be surprising, he speculates, if children—in the midst of the most exploratory phase of human life, thanks to “their huge, fast-growing, thoroughly dynamic brains”—have throughout the history of the species often been at the vanguard of cultural innovation.

This book is the flower of an astoundingly productive and innovative period of scholarship on evolutionary behavior; it sums up a generation’s worth of thinking and research. But although a work of singular importance, it’s not flawless. Konner’s efforts sometimes flag: his writing fails to sustain a consistent precision and focus. Relatedly, at times Konner seems overwhelmed by the encyclopedic nature of his project. When he sifts and assesses evidence, he’s always judicious and often brilliantly imaginative. Too often, though, The Evolution of Childhood reads like a compilation of research and findings rather than a work that distills that material to create an elegant synthesis—this book hasn’t been subjected to the rigorous and comprehensive editing that a work of such significance demands. But only a book of such staggering ambition can be faulted for failing to achieve consistent greatness.

What Can We Do About PVC, indeed...

2010-05-28T13:06:00.000+01:00

(So cute. So filled with PVC)

Annie Leonard, director of The Story of Stuff Project, creator of the internet video sensation, and author of The Story of Stuff: The Book.

PG: Why is PVC at the top of your "worst offenders" toxins list? Why should we avoid it, and what are some better alternatives?

ANNIE SAYS: PVC is just one of many toxic materials in common use. But it makes me especially furious because so many safer alternatives exist! And it's the most toxic type of plastic at all stages of its life (production, use, disposal). Workers in vinyl chloride production factories have higher rates of liver cancer, brain cancer, lung cancer, lymphomas, leukemia and liver cirrhosis. Chemical additives in PVC, like phthalates (a group of suspected carcinogens and known reproductive toxins, which are put in PVC to make it more flexible) can leach out, migrating from toys into our children, from packaging into our food, and from our shower curtains into the air we breathe. Americans toss out up to 7 billion tons of PVC every year, with 2 to 4 billion tons of that going to landfills, where it leaches its toxic additives into the soil, water, and air.

There’s no need to keep using it. If it was some toxic but life-saving material, then we could have a debate. But it just isn’t needed. Already dozens of companies have phased it out of products. Even whole cities have placed restrictions on it in Europe but it still permeates our homes, schools and hospitals (although many hospitals are phasing it out; visit Healthcare Without Harm for more information).

Unlike other toxics that are added to a myriad of products, it is also easy to recognize PVC, so you can keep much – probably not all – of it out of your life. PVC containers are often labeled with a little 3 in a recycling logo on the bottom; get in the habit of checking. PVC is also readily identifiable by its horrible smell – think new shower curtain. Consider a fabric shower curtain instead of that plastic one. Store your leftovers in glass jars. Download Pass Up the Poison Plastic: The PVC-Free Guide for Your Family and Home.

Whenever I do accidentally buy something (a new extension cord or a raincoat for my daughter) without realizing it contains PVC, I pack up the product and send it back to the manufacturer with a letter explaining why the product is unacceptable. If I can't find the manufacturer, I send it to the Vinyl Institute, an industry trade group in Washington DC. These guys make big bucks to defend the producers of PVC, so I figure they can deal with it.

It’s toxic. It’s unnecessary. It shouldn’t be in our consumer products. You can help by joining the Poison Plastic Campaign led by the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice in New York City.

Planet Green

Ouriços Bebés

2010-05-18T10:46:00.002+01:00

Traduzir Literatura Infanto-Juvenil

2010-05-17T13:57:00.000+01:00

Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra

Cutest thing in a very long time

2010-05-13T13:13:00.002+01:00

Cats and kids (and Happy very belated Mother's Day)

2010-05-13T12:24:00.001+01:00

(This map shows Mother’s Day celebration dates around the world, from iLoveCharts ;)

We had this great 10 year old cat named Jack.

Jack was a great cat, and the kids would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever bothered him.

He used to hang out and nap all day long on an old mat in our bathroom.

Well we have three kids, and at the time of this story, they were 4-year-old, 3 years old and 1 year old. The middle one is Sam. Sam really loved chapstick. LOVED it! He kept asking to use my chapstick and then he'd lose it.

So finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom I kept my chapstick and how he could use it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right back in the drawer when he was finished.

Last year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush around, trying to get ready for Church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys were fighting over the toy in the
cereal box. I was trying to nurse my little one at the same time I was putting on my make-up. Everything was a mess and everyone had long forgotten that this was a wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is motherhood.

We finally had the older one and the baby loaded in the car and I started looking for Sam. I searched everywhere and I finally rounded the corner to go into the bathroom. And there was my boy.

He was applying my chapstick very carefully to Jack's . . . butt. Sam looked right into my eyes and said "Chapped."

Now if you have a cat, you know that he is right -- their little bottoms do look pretty chapped. And, frankly, Jack didn't seem to mind. And the only question to really ask at that point was whether it was the first or the hundredth time.

And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize they've been using your chapstick on the cat's ass.

FIMFA 2010

2010-05-11T11:59:00.002+01:00

Livros Infantis para a Casa das Mães de Tires

2010-05-07T10:42:00.000+01:00

Diz-nos Uma Janela para o Atelier:

Tenho agora este desafio enorme que é tentar que as reclusas da Casa das Mães de Tires, depois das celas se fecharem às 19 horas, se sentem com os filhos ao colo e lhes contem uma história.

Ao falarem comigo hoje, disseram que não sabem o que lhes hão de dizer ou contar. Provavelmente também nunca ninguém lhes pegou ao colo e contou uma história.

Pensei que, através da leitura de livros infantis, fosse mais fácil para elas estabelecer o contacto, intensificar os laços afectivos e estimular o desenvolvimento das crianças.

(...)

Lembrei-me então de lançar um apelo a quem puder divulgar este pedido, junto de escolas, pais, associações, etc.
O objectivo é angariar livros para crianças, filhas das reclusas, até aos 3 anos.
O meu email é paularamos@pessoascriativas.com . Se alguém estiver interessado em contribuir, poderá contactar comigo e eu farei chegar os livros à Casa das Mães.
Obrigada.

Big Catch

2010-05-05T15:52:00.002+01:00

BIG CATCH MOVIE from Moles Merlo on Vimeo.

Dot to Dot Wallpaper

2010-05-04T11:03:00.000+01:00

Any age of child, teenager or adult will love this unusual wall covering. Just paste this original wallpaper to your walls in the usual way, then use pencils or pens to join up the dots to their heart’s content. You’ll all be amazed as the pattern begins to emerge!

Cox and Cox

Claro que é um Pastor Alemão / Of course it's a German shepherd

2010-04-21T10:51:00.000+01:00

It was the dog trainer's honesty that won Lisa McMillan over.

When McMillan asked the trainer whether she was able to train a dog to assist with her autistic twin boys, the dog trainer said, "I don't know anything about autism."

The mother did. And Kelli Collins knew how to train dogs. Together, they would train and raise a puppy to be a companion to the then-3-year-olds, Eric and James. Collins would work with the puppy, Caleb, on learning the boys' scent so he could find them when they bolted. He soon would learn to comfort them, almost instinctively, when they needed a friend.

Autism, a developmental disorder, affects one of every 110 children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People with autism often have social, communication and behavioral challenges, but to varying degrees.

Collins is a trainer for the Georgia K9 National Training Center in Canton, Georgia. Collins, with her partner, Jeff Schettler, started as a trainer for law enforcement and search and rescue dogs. She also teaches obedience to family dogs. She's been training dogs for 15 years.

The pair trained Caleb at the center's indoor and outdoor facilities, the family's home and out in social settings. They fused their search and training techniques for finding missing people with handling a child who can bolt in an instant. They taught Jennifer Fair, who lives with the McMillans, how to give directions and encourage positive behavior with the puppy in the home and on outings.

"You can create physical disability in a training environment, you can't create autism. There's so many varying degrees of autism. Each child is a little different. Even between your own children, they are very different. We can't create that in a sterile training environment," Collins said.

The pair had to learn how autistic children thought and acted. This was their first service dog. They even made a tether for Eric, inscripted with his name and stars, because that personalized the belt and made it his. Soon the training became natural for the trainers, Schettler said.

"The first time we took Caleb out and he was tethered to [Eric], the sense of freedom that child had was amazing. He was happy," Collins said. "And he never tried to really even bolt. One time we were sitting outside at a café and he went to get up and run and Lisa's first instinct was to jump up and I'm like, 'Let the dog do his job,' and the dog stayed. Eric couldn't go. She's like, 'He would've been around the corner and down the street now.' "

The training of puppies -- environmental, obedience and service -- starts at 8 weeks old and continues on for the first 1½ years of the puppy's life, Schettler said. The puppies go with the trainers everywhere -- the grocery store, post office and restaurants. Georgia K9 places the puppies in homes when the puppies are between 10 and 16 weeks old.

"We find the bonding and everything that the dog does at this age becomes second nature to them. It's almost hard-wired in."

For families or individuals looking for a service dog for autism, Collins recommends finding a program that gives not only the training, but follow-ups and continuing guidance to help with the life transition of having a service dog. The training of service dogs for autism can cost anywhere between $15,000 and $25,000.

As an occupational therapist, Amy Johnson has been working with the brothers on their life skills and challenges. She said Eric and James at first wanted little to do with the puppy but soon grew to embrace him.

"One of the best things is seeing how Caleb helps the boys in terms of safety," Johnson said. "Whether they are tethered to Caleb or tied to him, they can take them out in the community and I think for the boys, Caleb is a sense of security and comfort and it helps keep them grounded, but at the same time it gives Mom and Dad the relief knowing that they are tied to Caleb and can't get away."

Johnson said traditional therapies are still necessary, but one of the most important things is carrying therapy over into the home. That's where the service dog helps, she said.

"I think families [dealing with autism] want to always try anything they can and try anything that might work when you don't have a cure and you don't have any answers. This way it's getting a pet for your family that's a safe pet and a pet that's there to really help with your child and grow with your child."

Toy Story 3

2010-04-20T16:41:00.000+01:00

Ai que já não há bacios, quanto mais penicos!

2010-04-19T01:17:00.000+01:00

A potes

Pergunto a mim próprio quantas crianças, de norte a sul do País, conhecem o bacio ou penico por pote. Avalio por mim, que, por uns breves instantes, fiquei perplexo perante o título Ruca Aprende a Usar o Pote, mais um título da infindável colecção referente a esta personagem da série televisiva. Tão perplexo como a personagem quando vê o objecto: «O Ruca pegou no pote e colocou-o na cabeça, para imitar um chapéu.»
A ficha técnica ajuda-nos a perceber tudo: o título original é Caillou — Le pot. A tradução e adaptação é de Sara Costa, a quem mando este recado: segundo certos estudos (Rice e Wexler, 1996, e Restrepo e Kruth, 2000, v. g.), a omissão do pronome possessivo é uma marca clínica de crianças com distúrbio específico da linguagem — mas de crianças falantes do inglês e do francês! Os tradutores portugueses devem desbastar, se querem escrever português de lei, os pronomes possessivos, marca sobretudo do inglês. Os revisores devem acompanhá-los ou substituí-los nesta nobre tarefa.
Assim Mesmo-

Animal eyes quiz: Can you work out which creatures these are from their eyes?

2010-04-16T16:20:00.001+01:00

........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Top row: 1 Bengal tiger. 2 Asian elephant. 3 Zebra. 4 Chimpanzee. 5 Flamingo.

Second row: 1 Domestic cat. 2 Hairless sphynx cat. 3 Grey wolf. 4 Booted eagle. 5 Iguana.

Third row: 1 Macaw. 2 Jaguar. 3 Rabbit. 4 Cheetah 5 Horse.

Fourth row: 1 Lioness. 2 Bearded dragon (a type of lizard). 3 Leaf-tailed gecko. 4 Macaroni penguin. 5 Alligator.

Fifth row: 1 Great horned owl. 2 Mountain lion. 3 Boa constrictor. 4 Pufferfish. 5 African crested crane.

Wanna Suck Face?

2010-04-16T13:11:00.002+01:00

The Art of Johan Thörnqvist

2010-04-16T11:07:00.000+01:00

Website, and this thanx to Papel de Lustro ;)

Light for Malawi

2010-04-14T17:41:00.000+01:00

and it's beautiful ;)

A solar-charged light might seem like just another green gadget to the average American, but for families in rural Africa, it could prove revolutionary.

Product design consultancy Plus Minus Design is vying to replace unsustainable and potentially dangerous lanterns in the homes of off-grid Africans with the Solar Pebble. Engineered with the economic constraints of developing-world citizens in mind, the Solar Pebble will provide one hour of LED light for every two hours of charge, and will cost only $2.70 to manufacture.

Plus Minus Design, based in Leeds, U.K., was founded by three undergraduate students at the University of Leeds. While studying product design and engineering, Adam Robinson, Henry James, and Tom Eales were given the opportunity to work with SolarAid, a charity in the U.K.

SolarAid, which works to fight poverty and climate change, worked with the students to develop a solar-powered alternative to kerosene lanterns. Those lanterns, commonly used in rural Africa, draw 20 percent of an average Malawian family's income, SolarAid said, and pose respiratory health problems, as well as create fire hazards.

The undergrads spent months researching life in Malawi to design a product that addressed the needs of rural families, but also took environmental, economic, and lifestyle factors into consideration. Local maintenance, potential for the development of children's education, and adaptability to charge other devices were the team's key requirements.

Though mobile phones and portable radios are common in rural Africa, individuals must travel to locations with mains power for charging. With this issue in mind, the engineers designed the Solar Pebble to charge phones and portable devices in addition to providing light.

Plus Minus Design was also able to address the need for local maintenance with a simply designed product assembled through snap-in parts and repairable with basic tools.

The Solar Pebble provides light and a means of portable charging, but its implications are even greater. The lamp will ship partially assembled, providing jobs for locals who would finish assembly. Furthermore, Plus Minus Design hopes the lamp will increase radio usage, providing rural African families with HIV/AIDS prevention information.

According to Robinson, the Solar Pebble will launch in Uganda and the U.K. by midsummer.

Solar Pebble could light the way for rural Africans

Little Kids rule ;)

2010-04-06T13:38:00.003+01:00

100 personagens da Pixar e respectivos tamanhos

2010-04-04T23:13:00.000+01:00

A Arte de Juan Pablo Bravo ;) Clicar para abrir!

Today is Autism Awareness Day

2010-04-02T20:51:00.000+01:00

Google doodle for Hans Christian Andersen's birthday

2010-04-02T16:19:00.003+01:00

Dia Internacional do Livro Infantil / International Children's Book Day

2010-04-02T00:10:00.000+01:00

Teatrinhos de Papel

2010-04-01T23:41:00.000+01:00

coleccionados por Lucía Contreras Flores
(graças ao Papel de Lustro, obrigatório ;)

Bebé ao Volante? ,)

2010-03-26T00:08:00.001Z

Booger!

2010-03-24T22:44:00.002Z

Via: Online Schools

a very important subject to any man who hopes to negotiate fatherhood with his sanity intact

2010-03-23T18:17:00.000Z

I took my 6-year-old daughter to a birthday party yesterday, and fell into conversation with another middle-aged dad (of a 5-year-old girl) about strategies of paternal self-defense in relation to our children’s DVD diets. This is a very important subject to any man who hopes to negotiate fatherhood with his sanity intact, for reasons I’ll explain. Anyway, it took us about five minutes to discover that our respective sprogs shared an abiding fascination with Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and that both had even given it the same alternate title : “The Space Movie.”

Chuck, the guy I was talking to, told me he’d had equally great results with Dr. Strangelove. I told him that just wasn’t going to work for me, because my daughter has zero patience for anything in black-and-white (on the grounds that it “looks too old”), but that I’d gotten a solid 6 weeks of protection from O Brother, Where Art Thou? which, a couple of mild cuss words aside, makes for topnotch, high-repetition kiddie fare, and that I’d found both Hello, Dolly! and Singin’ in the Rain to be both worth their weight in unobtanium.

Before I take this any further, I want to make clear that I’m not indulging myself in any Neal Pollack-style Alternadad bullshit here, nor crowing about how unbelievably brilliant my progeny is (although she is, of course, unbelievably brilliant). I’m talking about issues of stark survival, from a viewpoint of narrowest self-interest.

Under enhanced interrogation, I might even admit that the scene in 2001 where the one ape clubs the other to death might be construed as just a tad violent for a 4-year-old, which I think is how old my daughter was when I first showed her “The Space Movie.” But I’d also have an array of counterarguments at the ready.

First, she’d already been digging on Hellboy for a year by that age.

Second, the psychological impact of that one fatal beating is surely evened out by the ensuing, math score-enhancing sequence of the space shuttle docking with the space station to the uplifting strains of The Blue Danube.

Third, and most important, the deleterious effects of a single monkey murder (even if witnessed a few hundred times) is nothing compared to the potential negative impact of being raised by a father suffering from high-dose exposures to the likes of Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeaquel, Milo & Otis, Baby Geniuses and all the rest of the awful crap that it is my solemn duty to protect her from her interest in/affection for.

Mind you, the problem isn’t just shrill, cynical Hollywood Twinkie-filling like the aforementioned. Some of the most maddening programming aimed at kids today is actually to be found on nominally instructive and improving cable venues like Nick Jr and PBS Kids Sprout. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you are probably unfamiliar with the vocal stylings of Moose A. Moose and Laurie Berkner, the hushed, pious moralizing of animated series like Arthur and and Hey, Franklin, or the crazy-making Dadaist repetitions of Dora the Explorer and Blue’s Clues.

My point is, young-fathers-to be, it’s fucking jungle out there, and once Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed comes into your house, it’s going to be about as easy as bedbugs to get rid of. And unless you and your missus can afford to hire a full-time, Montessori-trained nanny/laundress/cook/masseuse, you will inevitably and routinely find yourself backsliding into that most unforgivable of parental sins, using the television as a babysitter.

But there’s no reason to pay for that sin here in this lifetime.

Remote Fatherhood

Dia Mundial da Poesia e da Árvore

2010-03-21T15:25:00.000Z

Quem planta uma floresta
planta uma festa.
Planta a música e os ninhos,
faz saltar os coelhinhos.

Planta o verde vertical,
verte o verde,
vário verde vegetal.

Planta o perfume
das seivas e flores,
solta borboletas de todas as cores.

Planta abelhas,planta pinhões
e os piqueniques das excursões.

Planta a cama mais a mesa,
planta o calor da lareira acesa.
Planta a folha de papel,
a girafa do carrocel.

Planta barcos para navegar
e a floresta flutua no mar.
Planta carroças para rodar,
muito a floresta vai transportar.
Planta bancos da avenida,
descansa a floresta de tanta corrida.

Planta um pião
na mão de uma criança:
a floresta ri, rodopia e avança.

Luísa Ducla Soares no FB ;)