Search Results for: topic tag doesn’t

Three Common Breastfeeding Myths Explained

Part of getting yourself ready for the day when you welcome your new baby into the world involves thinking about how you plan to feed your baby. As is the case with many of the decisions that you will make regarding your baby, the best way to prepare yourself is with information. The more you know about infant feeding and nutrition in advance, the better prepared you will be to navigate the ins and outs of feeding your baby once he or she is born. One helpful type of information to have at the ready if you plan to breastfeed … Continue reading →

Benefits of Bartering

My 8-year-old cries poor like the Pentagon before commencing a $10 billion nuclear weapon upgrade. Granted, she doesn’t get a regular allowance, but with grandparents like these, she wants for very little. Actually, she wants a lot, but as the only granddaughter, she typically gets it all, which is why I don’t give her an allowance. This, of course, has led to many heated discussions on money, spending habits and budgeting.  However, thanks to a recently covered Social Studies unit on our country’s earliest settlers, we’ve added a new topic to our financial discussions:  bartering. Bartering is the exchange of … Continue reading →

Koshik the Talking Elephant

Could our next best friend be an elephant?  Maybe not for most of us here stateside, where we’re not exactly equipped to properly look after pachyderms.  But the news out of a zoo in South Korea, reported by BBC News, shows that an elephant has entered the next stage of the human-animal bond: talking. Before now, the only animals we could conceive of really being able to replicate our speech were parrots.  Now elephants are joining the list.  Koshik is a 12-year-old Asian elephant that lives at a zoo in South Korea.  When he started making sounds that his keepers thought … Continue reading →

The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World

Can you see the hidden Mickey in the ceiling of this Epcot store? The last of my books about Disney World, “The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World,” is for the park’s devotees. Its subtitle is, “Over 600 secrets of the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom,” and author Susan Veness makes good on that promise. If you’re a fan of Disney World, not just of its rides but of its whole experience, this is the book for you. If you’ve been to the park so many times that now you’re starting to notice all of its … Continue reading →

Captain America: The Noblest Avenger

“Avengers, Assemble!” With these words, Captain America calls together the many scattered members of Marvel Comics’ crime-fighting squad. It’s appropriate, then, that Captain America is the subject of Marvel Studios’ last superhero flick before next summer’s “Avengers” ensemble piece. When first perusing the list of this summer’s comic book films I figured I’d give “Captain America” a pass. The straight-laced always-been-a-do-gooder Steve Rogers (the Captain’s alter ego) has less character development than some of his more conflicted counterparts, and thanks to an overabundance of History Channel specials on the topic I’m currently experiencing a little of World War II-era ennui. … Continue reading →

Baby’s Animal Fur Allergies

Bringing a new baby home to a house with pets can be nerve-wracking. One might be concerned with how the pets will react to the child. Even if a pet doesn’t seem jealous of the baby, will it know to be gentle enough around the infant? Will exposing a newborn to a house with pets, and the many allergens they release, cause the child to grow up with sensitivity to that animal? Earlier this year I covered the former concerns in depth. Today I’m going to look at the latter: are children who grow up in a home with pets … Continue reading →

Are You a Ride or Die Woman?

Are you a ride or die woman? I watched an infuriating episode of Dr. Phil last week that was on this topic. A ride or die woman is basically one who stays by her man no matter what. While that sounds great and I am definitely all for keeping a marriage together, there are limits. The woman on this show was refusing to leave her husband who had cheated on her numerous times. There was also no indication that he would stop. Yet she wasn’t willing to leave him because she loves him and she didn’t want her son to … Continue reading →

Camera Phone Photos

My brother doesn’t own a traditional camera; rather he uses his cellphone to make the most of photo ops, and then he instantly shares the images with me and the rest of our family via email. He also tweets a bunch a photos, which I typically miss since I am anti-social media (little inside joke). With much of the world attached to their picture-taking PDAs it’s no wonder that photo apps are such a hot topic. Wander into photography forums these days and everyone and their brother (literally) is swapping stories about the latest and greatest apps that allow you … Continue reading →

How Often to Immunize Dogs and Cats

Now that both of my pets are two years old they don’t need annual immunizations anymore. However, because some veterinarians still push for yearly shots, it’s tricky to determine which your pets need and when. Although some states still require yearly rabies vaccinations (and you should check to see if that’s the case in your state), the truth is that as long as adult cats and dogs receive their rabies shots on a regular schedule, after their shot when they turn one year of age they only need the immunization, at most, once every three years. Cats and dogs need … Continue reading →

Pressure Treatment

The Thundershirt from my last pet blog made me start to wonder about pressure as a treatment for dog anxiety. As I said, I’d never heard of the practice before, so I’m curious as to whether or not it’s a legitimate calming method or something made up by Thundershirt salespeople. After spending a while researching the topic, I’m more inclined to believe the latter. Multiple searches using varied forms of the phrase “pet anxiety pressure treatment” resulted in page after page only talking about the subject specifically in relation to selling the Thundershirt. I’m ready to consider the “pressure as … Continue reading →