It is true that obesity can lead to lower fertility, and to combat obesity, a combination of diet and exercise is generally recommended. Regular exercise can also lower stress, which is important when you’re trying to cope with infertility. But even with exercise, too much of a good thing can be detrimental in certain situations. How much exercise is too much? And how might too much exercise decrease your fertility?...

Effort: Quick and easy — no sewing required Materials: Large sheet of cardboard (a refrigerator box or washer box works well) Foam Tablecloth Gory mask Bugs, spiders, fingers, mice, etc. Hot glue and glue gun Candleholders and creepy candles Plastic plates, silverware Instructions: Cut the cardboard into the shape of a table. Cut a hole in middle for the head to poke through. (You can add foam around the neck to make it more comfy....

Old magazines Scissors Construction paper Glue Clear contact paper Hole punch Ribbon Directions

All cards are dealt out to each player—at least four cards at a time. Each player should wind up with 20 cards. After the deal the bidding begins. Let’s Bid The bidding begins to the dealer’s left. Players bid the number of points that their team will attempt to win. Whoever wins the bid gets to choose the trump suit and leads the first trick. You score points by declaring and melding, and by winning Aces, 10s, and Kings during tricks....

When this news came out, many parents were understandably unsure about what this meant. Will their child be required to get the COVID vaccine in order to attend school? Will COVID boosters be an annual requirement for kids? As the CDC notes, these are simply recommendations—only states have the power to mandate vaccines for school or otherwise. Still, many questions still linger. We reached out to experts to help us unpack this news and to help us understand how child immunization schedules work and what the purpose is....

If your child is at high risk of developing food allergies, delay offering solid food until the child is at least six months old. At this time you can begin an iron-fortified infant cereal while continuing to breastfeed. Start with rice and oat cereals, and introduce wheat cereals later on. Next try introducing vegetables, but avoid legumes (dried beans and peas) at first. Next would come non-citrus fruits and juices....

ALERT! Only those measurements obtained in your child’s doctor’s office or taken by another health professional should be plotted. Many times home measurements are inaccurate and inconsistent, which can lead to incorrect data and unnecessary concern. During your child’s routine visits to the doctor, certain measurements will be taken and recorded in the child’s medical record. With an older child, a doctor may plot up to four numbers on the growth chart: height for age, weight for age, weight for height, and (a recent addition) body mass index (BMI)....

Egg carton Scissors Yarn, string, or ribbon Jingle bells Glue (optional) Glitter (optional) Paint (optional) Aluminum foil (optional) Directions

Effort: Quick and easy — no sewing required Materials: Clothesline Clothespins Items of clothing Safety pins Instructions: This is a group costume. Kids can dress as they want to, but it’s more fun if they’re wearing long johns or pajamas. Starting with the first child, attach the cord to one shoulder with a safety pin and to the other shoulder with another safety pin. Use a clothespin to attach a piece of underwear (or some other item of clothing) to the cord, about one foot from the first person’s shoulder....

Age group: 18-40 months Duration of activity: 15 minutes Materials: Nonmenthol shaving cream White craft glue Thick paintbrushes Your child will learn a bit about clouds and explore a unique texture with this project. Older toddlers can first color a landscape picture to use as a backdrop.

Finding Yourself in Bed Often confinement comes unexpectedly. Perhaps you visited your doctor for a routine checkup and were ordered to bed. Or, you rushed to the hospital with symptoms of preterm labor and were admitted. Once you’re assigned to bed, it may be too late to make arrangements and you’ll have to scramble to provide coverage for work, family, and other commitments. Usually bed rest becomes a reality later in the pregnancy, but don’t assume it only happens in the third trimester....

Pros Easy to fitWashableLooks similar to a thick headband worn for warmthKeeps ears warmAvailable in several colorsProtective inserts are removable Cons Can be itchy or uncomfortable to wear at firstSuitable for practice only (not competition) Basics The Crasche Middie is a stretchy fabric headband with pockets that hold protective inserts to surround the forehead, sides, and back of the head (the top of the head is exposed). The inserts are made from neoprene rubber surrounded by polycarbonate plastic....

15 to 30 minutes Materials Storybook Directions You can take a favorite story and make it even better when you put your heads together. Read a good book and, when you finish, think of other good ways that the story could end. Extensions Talk about a favorite movie and make up new endings.Choose an ending to the story that you both like best, sharing why.

If you are pregnant and learning about CMV, it’s understandable that you might feel concerned. While CMV in pregnancy should be taken seriously, severe CMV infections in newborns rarely happen, and there are measures you can take to reduce the likelihood that you will become infected with CMV while pregnant. Read on for what to know about CMV in general, how it affects pregnancy, and what you can do to reduce your risks....

I really think the entire issue of head lice is intended to keep mothers humble. There is no greater equalizer than head lice—they strike the nicest, cleanest families as well as all the others. Head lice are no indication of educational or economic status or of your house-cleaning prowess. Head lice are just one of those things that happen when they happen, and you can’t let them ruin your life....

To help mitigate some of the confusion, it’s helpful to understand where the term “gifted” first originated and the different perspectives that led to the myriad definitions we have today. Origin of the Term “Gifted” The phrase “gifted” was first used in 1869 by Francis Galton, who determined that giftedness was an inherited trait exhibited by adult achievement. Children could therefore inherit the potential to become a gifted adult, and Galton referred to these children as “gifted children....