Superstar songbird Celine Dion graces the latest issue of her native Canada's 7 Jours magazine, proudly displaying her round, pregnant tummy alongside her husband, Rene Angelil and son, Rene-Charles.

We touched on it briefly in a Crib notes post last week, but Kate and David Ogg sat down with Ann Curry this morning to tell their remarkable tale. After being informed that their newborn son had died during childbirth, mother Kate was given the infant’s body for a final cuddle. Amazingly, over the course of the next two hours, the warmth of Kate’s touch coaxed her little child back to life. Incredulous doctors warned the Oggs not to get their hopes up, but Kate’s special brand of "kangaroo care" (an Australian practice wherein a parent holds their infant directly against their skin, thereby generating heat for the newborn like a mother kangaroo cradling her young in her pouch) helped revive little Jamie, now being touted as a miracle baby.

Parents, do you believe in "kangaroo care"? Watch the video and share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Let’s face it, there are very few clear answers in parenting. Prior to conceiving, many might assume that along with parenthood comes a weapons-grade injection of wisdom and maturity that prepares newly-minted moms and dads for the trying dilemmas ahead, but it doesn’t really work that way. Certain parenting quandaries inspire a host of different opinions, and there are no universal solutions.

Matt Lauer sat down today with a panel of experts to discuss a series of polls that pose familiar parenting questions like “When is it OK for kids to swim alone?” and “When is it OK for kids to use social media?” The discrepancy in the poll results was striking.

Do you agree with these results? Watch the video below and share your thoughts in the comments section.

Amusing anecdotes, helpful hints and interesting items about parenting from around the Web.

Drink up: Wellness expert Dr. Maoshing Ni explains why your kids need to drink more water.

Need to give your baby a shot? Never mind the sugar, comfort them with a hug.

Home is where the hormones are: How oxytocin stimulates bonding behaviors in mothers and fathers.

“Too many conversations about pooping!” How one dad handled a solo-parenting weekend.

A parent’s dilemma: Pushing too hard versus giving up too soon.

Only in New York: A moment of dubious parenting caught on camera.

What about you? Spotted anything noteworthy on the Web that you’d like to share with TODAY Moms? Let us know in the comments below.

In OK! Magazine’s column, OK! Or Not OK!, Hoda and Kathie Lee were asked their opinion as to whether you should be "best friends forever" with your child. We also posed the question to the 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' this morning. But what do you think?

Getting children to eat their vegetables has never been an easy feat. Throughout the ages, parents have tried in vain to get their kids to consume veggies through myriad campaigns involving threats, subterfuge and camouflage. The bottom line, however, remains that your average kid would much rather devour a bag full of potato chips than willingly munch on a healthy, natural and delicious treat packed with essential vitamins and minerals. Junk food is a formidable adversary in the endless war to feed your kids right.

That scenario may be changing, however. By following the age-old military maxim, ‘if you want to defeat your enemy, learn to sing his song,’ baby carrot farmers have launched a subversive new effort to market their plucky orange product as a bold, new and even cool snack. By dressing their vegetables up in “crinkly, festive bags reminiscent of chip bags” and emphasizing their inherent propensity for maximum crunchiness, the campaign hopes to vault the baby carrot out of the long-neglected bottom of your fridge and into the pantheon of widely-consumed ersatz-junk food.

Will it work? Parents, do you think your kids will go for baby carrots when disguised as fun snacks? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

As if there weren’t enough conflicting messages out there in popular culture for our children to disseminate, The Huffington Post rounded up a gallery of the 14 worst toys for girls today, and some of the contenders are truly, truly astounding. Whatever your reservations might have been about stereotype-reinforcing playthings from years gone by like My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake, just wait until you get a load of the disquieting Baby Alive, My Cleanup Trolley and that old Christmas morning favorite, The Pole Dancer.

Parents, what do you think of these toys? Would you buy any of these for your little girls? What are some of the more disturbing toys you’ve seen? Share your stories with us in the comments section below.

By this stage of the proceedings, the social networking site Facebook has become a ubiquitous presence in our lives and, more tellingly, in the lives of our kids. As its place in the culture further solidifies, however, Facebook is posing a number of quandaries for parents concerned about the safety and health of their children who use the site. There have been debates about what age is appropriate for kids to have their own Facebook accounts through whether it’s prudent for parents to ‘friend’ their kids. In many instances, there are no clear answers.

Today, educational psychologist Michele Borba discussed some new research that highlights a link between social networking websites and anti-social, narcissistic behavior among its youngest users. Some of the findings are troubling.

Parents, are you concerned about your children’s Facebook use? How do you keep tabs on their social networking activity? Have you noticed it affecting their behavior? Watch the video and share your thoughts in the comment section below.

With thousands of America’s men and women in uniform on the threshold of being deployed to Afghanistan, many military families are bracing themselves for the hardship and worry that accompany the experience of a soldier parent being called to duty. It’s a difficult sacrifice that’s becoming all too familiar for many of these families, but no less painful.

We’d like to hear from you. Military families, how have you dealt with a parent being deployed overseas? How have your children adjusted to their absence? Has your community and employers offered their support? Watch the video and share your thoughts in the comment section below. And for more on this subject, check out Motherlode's latest entry and this blogging military mother's tips for dealing with deployment.

By Mir Kamin for BlogHer.com

For some families, back-to-school may not represent all that big of a schedule change -- maybe your work schedule and/or Junior's camp schedule mimic what the school year brings, or maybe as a homeschooling family you set your own hours -- but for lots of families, back-to-school means it's time to panic over scheduling. Every year I try to plan out a smooth transition, and every year I find myself wishing I'd done it a little differently. Now that back-to-school is here, I'm thinking about the various ways we've tackled this yearly challenge (and sometimes gotten back into the groove in spite of ourselves).

When my kids were little, schedule was king. They did better with consistency and plenty of sleep, and I never saw much of a reason to let them stay up late even though maybe they didn't have to get up as early as they would during the school year. But as my kids have gotten older, they 1) require less sleep, 2) have things they'd like to stay up for and 3) can enjoy a "summer schedule" without flipping out or melting down. Over the years I've loosened up over the summer, and this summer -- for the first time -- I occasionally found myself telling my daughter "Go to bed!" and when the inevitable "But why?" would come back, the answer would be, "Because we're about to go to bed! It's late!"

(In case you're wondering what keeps them up so late: This summer they were allowed to read as long as they wanted to at night. Those late nights were almost all spent reading. We are raising nerds, and I'm okay with that.)

Anyway, for my kids, transitioning back to a school schedule meant they needed to get back to reasonable bedtimes, and back to getting up to the alarm clock rather than rolling out of bed whenever. For me, I needed to get back to the alarm clock as well, but as someone whose commute involves walking down the hallway to my computer, I also needed to bid my slow, quiet mornings adieu. Over the summer I'd been able to get up around seven and work for a couple of hours before either of my kids would appear. With school in session, I need to get up a full two hours earlier to get just half that uninterrupted time before I need to wrangle breakfasts and lunch bags and bathroom squabbles. (Of course, on the up side, once the morning is navigated, I have nearly an entire day to work distraction-free.)

As a family, it means getting back to putting things on the calendar. Coordinating carpools. Slotting chores on specific days rather than letting everything go and then catching up all at once. Doing rigorous meal-planning rather than occasional meal-planning. It's just a completely different way of life than the lazy days of summer, that's for sure.

Two weeks before school started, lights out was enforced each night at about 45 minutes later than the usual school bedtime, though I still let the kids sleep as late as they wanted in the morning. One week before school started, we went to school-night bedtime, and I made the kids be up and ready (showered/dressed/fed) by an hour later than they'd have to do it for school. Those two week-long adjustments made the start of school and the very early mornings slightly less of a shock to all of our systems, but it was still a very long first week. That first weekend I made sure we had no commitments so that everyone could sleep in and lay around. Everyone was tired and cranky, but we survived. I think.

Related Links on BlogHer:

• Back to School With a Life-Threatening Peanut Allergy
• Beat the Bell: 10 Tips to Get Your School-Aged Kids Out the Door on Time
• Avoiding the Back-to-School Wallet Pinch

BlogHer Contributing Editor Mir drinks a lot of coffee during the week, and sleeps in on Saturdays. She blogs near-daily about issues parental and otherwise at Woulda Coulda Shoulda, and posts all day long about the joys of mindful retail therapy at Want Not.

Reaching more than 20 million women each month, BlogHer is the leading participatory news, entertainment and information network for women online with a publishing network of more than 2,500 blogs. BlogHer adds unique voices of women bloggers to the TODAY community. Read more at www.blogher.com -- and sign up for our newsletters to get the best of BlogHer in your inbox.

The British newspaper The Independent ran an article this week citing a poll alleging that 30 percent of UK parents consider playing with their children to be boring. While the survey itself was unscientific (and commissioned by Disneyland Paris) the article prompted an interesting discussion. As parents, do you find playing with your own children to be a bore?

Amusing anecdotes, helpful hints and interesting items about parenting from around the Web.

Cut from the same cloth: In defense of school uniforms.

Swede child o’ mine: Dads get 18 months of paid paternity leave in Sweden.

A dad alone: A blogger father learns to empathize with single parents.

‘You’re on my side!’: Back seat kids’ games before the era of portable DVD players.

Memories of mystery meat: How were elementary school lunches when you were a kid?

What about you? Spotted anything noteworthy on the Web that you’d like to share with TODAY Moms? Let us know in the comments below.

American father Colin Bower is waging a heartbreaking campaign to find and bring his two young sons, Ramsay and Noor, back to the United States after his ex-wife, Mirvat el Nady, lost custody and smuggled the boys to her native Egypt. Bower has since repeatedly traveled there for court-ordered visitation, although his wife has not complied and the whereabouts of the children remain unknown. Heads of state have been recruited to plead the father’s case and el Nady is now on an international wanted list, but Bower isn’t feeling especially optimistic given the Egyptian government’s reticence to act. In the interim, it has been more than a year since he last saw his sons.

Parents, what lengths would you go to reclaim your children? What else can Colin Bower do to be reunited with his sons? Watch the video and share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Seven years ago, Macey and Mackenzie Garrison were born as conjoined twins, bound at the pelvis and sharing a third leg as well as several internal organs. Successfully separated after an intense , 24-hour operation, the girls now lead active, happy lives at their family farm in Indianola, Iowa. Despite their strikingly adverse circumstances, the sisters – along with their triplet sister, Madeline -- live normal lives pursuing the same pursuits as virtually every other little girl their age.

Originally their foster parents, Darla and Jeff Garrison adopted the sisters as babies and have raised them in an environment of love and support. Click here to look at this family’s remarkable journey to separation and the lives they lead now.

The Garrison family’s story is a truly inspirational one. Have any of your families been similarly touched by adversity? How have you managed to thrive? Watch the video and share your stories in the comments below.

Jenifer Monroe for BlogHer.com

I'm not going to sugar-coat it: Getting four kids up and out the door for school is a royal pain. Especially so when I have to be at work in the morning, too, and can't do the drop-off in my pj pants, coat, and pontyail, coffee cup in my non-driving hand.

The cast of characters in my house are in second, fourth, sixth, and eighth grades this year, so I've been herding them in the mornings long enough to: a) have learned how to make things (almost) flow, and b) tell you that it can get easier the older they get. Not any less busy or loud our chaotic, but a little less hands-on.

I'll start with my list of lessons learned and then go over an idealized version of a school morning at my house. Every family is different, so of course your mileage will vary. Got excellent time and sanity saving tips? Please share them in the comments below!

The Night Before Stuff

1) Pack lunches and fill water bottles. Doing it when it's late and you (or the kids if they're able) are tired beats racing to do it when it's early and you or the kids are tired. Hot lunch family? Put notes in your calendar to check the balance on the lunch account a couple of times a month (if your school offers that service) or make sure you've got correct change, with reusable, labeled baggies or envelopes maybe for the littlest or less organized ones.

2) Choosing outfits ahead of time is a great idea, of course. It also never hurts to have them pick a back-up in case they are in a snit and have changed their mind when it's time to get dressed. That way, the potential ten-minute, "But I don't want to wear THAT today!" discussion can hopefully be tackled in two seconds with an, "Okay, here you go, then!" at-hand solution.

3) Check for any due library books, permission slips, homework to turn in, etc. and be sure they are all filed in the right kid's backpack.

4) Put the backpacks by the front door. You'd think they're too big to lose. You'd be wrong.

5) Have each kid put their shoes on top of their backpack. Put a sock in each shoe.

The Day-Of Stuff

6) No electronics until everyone is ready to go. One kid gets ready early and turns on YouTube or a video game, and you are such a goner. Kids ready early may read.

7) Stick to the either/or rule: "Red jacket or blue today?" "Pigtails or ponytails?" rather than, "Which jacket do you want?" or "How should we do your hair?"

8) If they take any medicines in the morning, make sure they get put out on the table so they can be taken with breakfast. If you sometimes have to serve them toast in the car while you drive to school because you missed that window for a sit-down breakfast, keep a bottle or two of water in the car to wash down the meds. Favorite breakfast or energy bars are already stashed in your glove box, right?

9) Monitor their overall progress and help them stay focused on the task at hand. Give them both a ten- and five-minute warning before it's time to go.

10) Set the mood. Be mellow even if you aren't feeling it! I discourage any competitive racing in the morning, especially at the breakfast table. If I stay as calm and relaxed as possible, we are less likely to have upsetting and time-consuming blow-ups. This is even more important if you are running late. Things take far longer when everyone is stresed out.

Bonus Tip! Check your watch, cell phone, or timepiece of choice against the school bell to see if it rings when your clock says it should. We once went through a phase during which the school clocks were set about three minutes ahead of my iPhone. We were a little bit late a lot of the time until I figured that out one day.

And now, here's how I attempt to weave all those tips into a fast-flying hour or so each morning:

Before it's time to get the kids up, I get up and get myself 100 percent ready to walk out the door. This is the same principle as when you fly and the attendant stresses the value of placing your own oxygen mask on before assisting others. I almost always get a few things done for work while my house is still quiet, so my cushion is about two hours.

One hour before we need to walk out the door comes number one of usually six or so visits to the boys' room to ask them to please get up. Now, here's a part sure to cause some consternation: I go into my girls' room (they're the second and fourth graders) and I get their clothes and bring everything over to their bed (they have bunk beds, but sleep together on the bottom like puppies all curled up). While I dress them (that's the part I get grief for), I say, "Good morning, Lovelies! Oatmeal or eggs?" or some variation on the this-or-that for breakfast question. I avoid at all costs the open-ended, "What do you want for breakfast?" Probably, they would want something I do not have and wouldn't have time to make if I did.

Going through all the possibilities would waste lots of time and make me cranky. It's important to have a default breakfast that they know they'll always get if they are too tired to choose. At our house it is cereal.

After I dress the girls, I wake the boys up again, figure out what they want to eat, and then get breakfast made. My kids are old enough to cook their own breakfasts, but I don't let them because they take too long, my kitchen is teeny, and I don't want to deal with the mess. They have other opportunities to prepare their own meals, and I get to be the doting mom. It works all around -- for us.

To get the girls out of bed, I tell them that their fish are starving, and they'd better come feed them quick. Some days they hop right up and others I let them have a couple more minutes in bed while I go feed the fish. Many times I have carried them to the table and put them in a chair while they were not quite awake. It's entertaining except when they end up with oatmeal in their hair.

While the girls eat, I bring their shoes to the table and help them put them on. I know. Shameful. But my coddling has a clear goal: It's all about being on time, and not about babying them. They have, despite me, successfully learned how to put on their own clothes and shoes. When they can do it fast as I can, we will revisit this one! Generally speaking, as soon as the food hits the table, my dressed sons will appear. Funny, that. Lots of times during breakfast I find myself saying (okay, barking), "If you are talking, you are not eating and it's time to eat!"

Nearly ready! After breakfast, everyone scrapes their plates and piles them in the sink to be washed later. We head to the kids' bathroom and jockey for position at the sink. They take turns milling about to the right spots to brush their teeth and hair. I stand by to fasten hairclips, break up fights, check for wannabe cheater toothpaste skippers, and (this is key) keep things moving along at a chipper pace. I make the kids floss every morning. It doesn't take that long, really.

And now we are done. Lunches and water bottles come out of the fridge and go into the backpacks. I try to remember one last check of the giant kitchen wall calendar for anything due I may have missed the night before. Then we talk about what's happening after school and in the evening for that day as we head out. If you can at all swing it, I totally recommend walking to school. Our elementary school is a half mile away, and that walk is an excellent transition, wake-up, and exercise all at once. I find that if we are fighting, or even just close to it, in the morning, it gets magnified once the minivan doors close. I've driven the whole way to school yelling at my children, feeling absolutely horrid. By the time we get to the drop-off, we're okay and kissing goodbye, but we never bicker when we walk.

For a long time, one of my sons hated school. When I woke him up, he'd tell me he wasn't ever going and that was that. My tactic was to say, "Okay, then," leave him in his bed under the covers and hold my breath as I went about my morning. Every day when it was time to leave, he'd silently appear at the door, dressed and with all his stuff. I'd hand him a couple pieces of toast and some beef jerky or something and we'd walk out the door. I don't know what I'd have done if he really did stay in bed, but I never had any time to spare arguing with him about it.

Related links on BlogHer:

• Transitioning Schedules for Back-to-School
• Great Lunchbox Ideas for the 2010-2011 School Year
• Simple Things You Can Do to Help Teachers
• When Your Kid Doesn't Like to Talk, Keep Talking
• Are Kids Overmedicated? Maybe Not

Okay, spill! What's your family like, and how do you find ways to streamline your morning routine? What are your challenges? Do you tend to beat the bell, or do you need help?

Reaching more than 20 million women each month, BlogHer is the leading participatory news, entertainment and information network for women online with a publishing network of more than 2,500 blogs. BlogHer adds unique voices of women bloggers to the TODAY community. Read more at www.blogher.com -- and sign up for our newsletters to get the best of BlogHer in your inbox.

On Sunday, 13-year-old motorcycle racer and rising star, Peter Lenz, was killed after he fell off his bike and was run over by a motorcycle driven by a 12-year-old. The tragedy has touched off a heated debate. Should children this young be driving vehicles that can top 120 miles per hour?

Parenting stories from around the Web.

Learning to love the perfect imperfect bunk bed.

The parent’s perspective: How having kids made one father a "movie wuss."

“Hola, mi nombre es Alejandro”: A handy list of Spanish names for boys.

Troubling trend: Scientists expect C-sections rate to keep rising.

Hair scare: Tweens clamor to replicate Justin Bieber’s signature haircut.

What about you? Spotted anything noteworthy on the Web that you’d like to share with TODAY Moms? Let us know in the comments below.

Obviously, Sandra Bullock has had quite a year. But in the wake of both her Oscar triumph and the very public unraveling of her marriage to Jesse James, Bullock has stayed true to her convictions and emerged stronger than ever. Earlier this month, she finalized the adoption of her son Louis as a single parent. Bullock sat down with Matt Lauer to candidly talk about her life, her passionate involvement with Warren Easton Charter High School in New Orleans and her life as a new mother to her little "Cajun cookie," 8-month-old baby Louis.

“No one understands the shift in priorities about having a child in your life,” says Bullock, “until you have a child in your life.” Do you agree? Watch the video and share your thoughts in the comment section below.

After a 500-pound Bengal tiger escaped its enclosure at Jungle Island zoo in Miami, mother Diana Barratt turned a corner to find her two-year-old daughter, Dianita, face to face with the hulking jungle cat. Employing a heroic reserve of nerve, Barratt calmly picked up her child and fled to safety. Mercifully, no one was injured.

Obviously, it’s not every day that one finds their child in worrying proximity to a giant, man-eating predator, but have you ever found yourself in a situation like this? Parents, what actions have you had to take to save your children? Do you think you’d have been able to be as calm as Diana Barratt in a similar situation? Watch the video and share your stories in the comments section below.

By TODAY show editor Sara Pines, a.k.a. Sandwich Mom

That is the simple wisdom delivered by our baby sitter today... as she came to take care of my 4-and-a-half-year-old daughter. I was on my way to work and we were telling her about our morning. We'd gone to visit my dad in a nursing home near us. He's in the final throes of dementia. He doesn't speak, can't feed himself, can't go to the bathroom or wash himself. It's heartbreaking.

But my daughter Isabelle and I over the two years have developed a little ritual as he's declined. We buy candy on the way to share with Gramps (today, popular choice, Gummi Bears.) On the bus uptown, she tells the lady sitting next to us that she's going to visit her grandpa -- "he's in a nursing home, in a wheelchair," she says very matter-of-factly -- with no sense of the heartache that would make it hard for me to get the words out... even to a stranger on the bus.

When we get there, Daddy is in his usual place, in his wheelchair in the day room on a locked floor with all the other dementia patients. He's quiet now... as opposed to what he was like even five years ago, when he was gregarious, warm, quick to laugh, generous with a hug or a handshake. Now, pretty much a blank stare... although if you bend down close to his face, he'll pucker his lips for a kiss. And if you take his hand, he'll hold on tight. The last vestiges of the social guy he once was.

So, we opened the candy and Isabelle checked out the color ratios ("Lots of reds today, Mama, Gramps likes the red ones.") The math is easy for her... one for him, two for her, give or take. We gently hold them up to his lips and he takes them. It's sad, but it's something. A shared experience.

The women who work there love to make a fuss over Isabelle and she obliges with smiles and twirls. They start making preparations for lunch and Isabelle decides we should stay and feed Gramps lunch. The last time we did this, I could barely cut the food through my tears... but if she was game, I was game.

So, the food came... she buttered the bread... I cut the chicken... he ate pretty well. I didn't cry, she was very sweet and encouraging... "That's good, Gramps"... mimicking my words, "Here you go, sweetie." That's what I would say when I was feeding her not too long ago, "here you go, sweetie." Full circle, I think.

As we were going down in the elevator, I told her how proud I was of how helpful and kind she was to Gramps. Does she understand what a gift it is, to hold his hand without any words? To feed someone who used to love to tuck into any meal? I'm glad she's really just grown up with the visits being a matter of course every couple of weeks. No big deal.

Of course, for me, it is. She is blossoming as my father is withering. He will never get to enjoy her the way I know he would have... reveling in her enthusiasm for life, her smile, her laughter, her accomplishments. All these thoughts and emotions are rattling around in my brain and heart on the way home.

And then our baby sitter... the ever-practical, warm and loving woman from the Caribbean... delivers her simple and comforting wisdom, "That's the way it is, Sara, once a man, twice a child."

Yes, I think, it is.
I know it.
I see it.
I feel it.

More posts from Sandwich Mom:

Considering kids? Say 'goodbye' to six months of sleep ... and that's just for starters
I am the 'Sandwich Mom'

In a recent article in The New York Times’ parenting blog, Motherlode, one mother expressed concern over her 14-year-old son’s desire to date a girl in his class. Should kids this young be having romantic relationships?

Veronica Daehn for BlogHer.com

My son starts kindergarten in less than two weeks.

I won't even get into how fast the time has gone, how I can't believe he'll be in school -- real school -- not just preschool or daycare.

Instead, I'm trying to focus on looking ahead and being excited about all the amazing things he has yet to experience.

This weekend, I plan to take him to buy school supplies. The school provided a list:

• 4 boxes of crayons
• 1 pack of Crayola markers
• 2 boxes of tissues
• 6 white glue sticks
• 1 plastic school box, no handle
• 12 #2 pencils, sharpened
• 1 bottle of Elmer's glue
• 1 pair of headphones
• 1 large backpack

We'll get those items, of course, and I'll help him fill his new backpack with them. Then, on the morning he leaves me for the first real time, I'll help him get that heavy backpack on his shoulders.

I'll walk with him into school. I'll make sure he finds his room, meets his teacher.

And then I'll leave.

I don't even like the way writing that sentence feels.

While his backpack will be full of crayons and glue sticks and markers and tissues -- the things we were supposed to send with our kids to school -- these are the things I really want to send with my first-born, my baby:

Confidence. The gift of believing in yourself is bigger than anything I could ever wrap and put under the tree.

A sense of humor. Things don't always go the way we want. This is hard to accept, especially for us first-borns. But it's good to be able to laugh them off.

Courage. My biggest fear is that my little boy will need help and will be too scared or too shy to ask.

At least one friend. Please, God, let him make him a friend. None of us deserves to be alone.

Love. If I could, I'd stuff all the love I have for him in a little Ziploc bag, seal it tight and put it in his pocket to carry forever.

His blankie. It's the best substitute for Mommy. And it actually would fit in his backpack, if he'd let me pack it.

Curiosity. I want him to know everything there is to know about this world. Not just reading and math, but about faraway places and great leaders and big ideas. I want him to ask questions. I want him to get excited about learning. I want him to be smarter than me.

Me. If I could, I'd smoosh Mommy up into a tiny action figure version, and I'd slip myself into his other pocket. I'd be there just to listen or give him a little hug when he needs it.

But I know as well as you: He won't need it. He'll be just fine.

Related links on BlogHer:

• The Magic Formula for a Box Lunch
• From Homeschool to Public School
• Jennie Garth Does NOT Like Silly Bandz

Veronica Daehn blogs at Meow Musings She is also editor of a social networking site for moms called momaha.com and is most importantly mom to Rye and Paige.

Reaching more than 20 million women each month, BlogHer is the leading participatory news, entertainment and information network for women online with a publishing network of more than 2,500 blogs. BlogHer adds unique voices of women bloggers to the TODAY community. Read more at www.blogher.com -- and sign up for our newsletters to get the best of BlogHer in your inbox.

Stories about parenting from around the Web.

The other side of summer: One blogging dad reminds his fellow fathers to savor the summer, as that time quality time with the kids won’t last forever.

Life without Barney: The struggles of raising pop-culture-illiterate kids.

My dog ate it: Methods of diffusing the stress your family feels about homework.

Battling back-to-school bacteria: Tips for keeping your child healthy in pre-school.

Dazzling dads: Celebrity fathers ruminate on the joys of fatherhood.

Boys will be boys: While the debate continues over whether little boys actively benefit from aggressive forms of play (some educators and psychologists assert that such activities as mock-fighting and role-playing bolster social and cognitive development), the gender politics involved in the remain a divisive issue. A key example of this came in the form of a recent, controversial advertisement for a martial arts school.

Little boy litany: A 3-year-old recites a poem by Poet Laureate, Billy Collins.

What about you? Spotted anything noteworthy on the Web that you’d like to share with TODAY Moms? Let us know in the comments below.

by Mark Adickes, M.D.

In an effort to provide full disclosure I must begin by telling a story. Five years ago, I was attending a little league football tryout as an athletic trainer for my sons’ teams. I had one son trying out for a 1st grade team and another for a 4th grade team. My wife was speaking with a sizable group of mothers who were all concerned for their children’s welfare. In an effort to assuage the women’s fears, my wife called me over to explain how safe youth football is to play. As I have published an article in a sports medicine journal on the subject, I was happy to oblige. While in the middle of my speech from behind came a shout, “Dr. Adickes, I think we have a broken arm!” Indeed an 8-year-old boy had fallen awkwardly in a non-contact drill and fractured his wrist. It is important to note that this event is the exception and not the rule. Trying to convince those mothers of that was next to impossible with my foot in my mouth.

Injuries in little league football are infrequent and when they do occur they are usually minor. Contusions, sprains and strains account for the bulk of all injuries. Prior to 4th grade very few injuries occur and, as you might expect, as kids grow and become stronger and faster, the incidence increases.

It is interesting to note that in a table of injuries for a group of 915 youth football players, ranging in age from 9-13, followed in one season, 5th, 6th and 7th graders are twice as likely to be injured as are 4th graders and that 8th graders are four times as likely to be hurt as the 9-year-old athletes. In 8th grade, kids have already begun to grow and mature and with size, speed and strength come the forces necessary to cause greater harm. Despite that fact, most injuries in this group, regardless of age, were minor and resulted in little loss of playing time. The number of injuries that occur in games is many times that found during practice sessions. This finding is not surprising to anyone who has played competitive team sports that involve collisions. With the adrenaline and emotion of game day comes an intensity and aggressiveness that result in more bumps and bruises.

Due to increased public concern over concussions The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) just released a 20-page review article on sport-related concussions in children and adolescents. The article is meant to provide guidance to physicians as they care for patients with concussions; 150 scientific and clinical papers on traumatic brain injury were reviewed in its preparation.

The take home information is as follows:

1) Concussions are common and do not require a loss of consciousness.
2) Some signs and symptoms overlap with depression, anxiety and ADHD.
3) Imaging is normal with concussion (not when bleeding occurs).
4) To recover athletes, must rest physically and cognitively (cognitive rest includes schoolwork, video games, computer usage, and watching TV).
5) In the vast majority of cases symptoms resolve in 7-10 days.
6) All pediatric patients who sustain a concussion should be evaluated by a doctor.
7) Athletes should never return to play in the same game after a concussion.
8) Athletes should never return to play while symptomatic at rest or with exertion.
9) Long-term concussion effects are unknown.
10) Benefits of medicines such as Tylenol and ibuprofen have not been established.
11) If symptoms persist, retirement from all contact/collision sports may be necessary.

The breaking article from the AAP also makes it clear when to bring your child in for imaging. If your child sustained a loss of consciousness for greater than 30 seconds, has a severe headache, seizures, neurologic deficits, repeated vomiting, significant drowsiness, difficulty awakening, slurred speech, significant irritability, poor orientation to person, place or time, or neck pain they should be seen in the ER for further evaluation, including imaging.

Youth football is a relatively safe sport prior to puberty. Injury incidence increases dramatically in high school, college and professional football. At each increasing level of competition the rate of injuries nearly doubles. If you want your son to experience the joy and camaraderie or football and remain free from serious injury, have him play youth football. It is not a good idea, from an injury perspective, to wait until high school to play for the first time, but if you decide to do so draw on the words of UCLA coach John Wooden, who said, “I'd rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent.”

Despite the injuries and surgeries that I endured during my 23 years of playing football, I wouldn’t change a thing. Football taught me lessons that make my journey though life so much easier. I credit football with teaching me about delayed gratification, teamwork, leadership, overcoming adversity, dealing with criticism and the benefits of preparation and goal setting. I would certainly have never survived medical school and residency if not for all I learned on the football field. My coaches had a monumental impact on my development as an athlete and as a person.

Dr. Mark Adickes played 9 years of professional football and is a Superbowl Champion turned Harvard-trained orthopedic surgeon. Also, he hosts "Athlete 360," a sports medicine television show on Fox Sports Net.

Dr. Mark Adickes met with Matt Lauer this morning on TODAY to discuss parents' concerns about the risks of concussion and other injuries related to playing football. Do you think your kids should be engaging in this sport? Watch the video and share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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