Parents ran one of those guilt-inducing stories by a "been-there, done-that dad." (Because that hasn't been done before.)

But I did pause at a couple things he advised doing or not doing. They were:

DON'T follow the five-second rule.
You may have heard that it's okay to give your child a piece of food that falls on the floor as long as you pick it up, but this isn't a rule. It's a myth--and a disgusting one at that. Your floor is one big petri dish. It's coated with bacteria and germs and viruses and everything else the cat or your shoes dragged in. (Did you know that toilet seats are cleaner than floors?) Your child's dropped chicken fingers will come into contact with these contaminants instantly. So here's a better rule to follow: If it falls on the floor, it ain't food no more.

In my defense, I was following the three-second rule and not the five-second rule. Nonetheless, his description of my floor was enough to make this Cuban woman throw away food.

DO kiss your wife goodbye in the morning and hello when you get home.
It behooves you to find an extra .03 seconds in your busy schedule to perform this gesture twice a day. A quick smooch on the lips doesn't just reinforce the matrimonial bond. When your kids see Mommy and Daddy share this brief but tender moment, they learn how a husband should treat his wife. To you, it's a small gesture. To them, it's a major security boost. Bottom line: Get on the buss--and never step off.

That's a tough one for us as we both work from home. And since we spend so much time on our computers, it is easy to forget the other person is there. I will have to make it a point to be more affectionate with my husband in front of the kids.

I am wondering, is this something that comes naturally to you and your partner? Or, are you like us, too busy and distracted to pay attention? Note to myself: I will NOT feel guilty over this!

A massive earthquake hit central China today, at roughly 2:30 pm local time, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale. This is a very dangerous earthquake and would cause substantial damage and loss of life even in developed nations with advanced building codes. I'm not familiar with this area of China or its architecture, but I've been told it has a great mix of structure types - simple stone buildings to wood frame buildings to modern high rises. The earthquake was felt 1,000 miles away in Bejing and Shanghai - an astonishing distance of the sort seen in the US for the New Madrid region, but unheard of in California.

The earthquake was in the foothils of the Himalayas, within 50 miles of a major city, Chengdu, located in the basin below. A school has collapsed, killing some children and trapping many more. Thousands are reported dead.

USGS has recently upgraded this earthquake from the original 7.5 to 7.9 magnitude. The USGS link includes maps and other data.

What a terrible predicament for the families swindled in this story. At least 15 percent of international adoption agencies have shut down due to declining business and a tightening of federal regulations, according to the New York Times.

Even worse, some agencies that know they are in dire financial straits have swindled prospective adoptive families of tens of thousands of dollars, according to the Times.

For couples like Susan and Jim Paulson of Lafayette, Colo., what began as an aching desire to have another child turned quickly into a nightmare.

In 2006, with their son Quinn, 2, dying from a degenerative neurological disorder, the Paulsons decided to adopt a third child. Their first-born, a boy, now 6, would be lonely without his brother, they reasoned. And so would they.

After contacting Lisa Novak, the director, along with her husband, of the Claar Foundation, a Boulder adoption agency, the Paulsons paid roughly $11,000 in processing fees and waited for the arrival of a baby girl from Nepal.

But after the adoption collapsed amid political turmoil in Nepal last May, the Paulsons said they asked for some of their money back but never received a response from Ms. Novak. She was arrested on March 26 on charges of defrauding families of tens of thousands of dollars by promising adoptions but never completing them.

The story ends on a heartbreaking note: Quinn Paulson dies and his big brother is left wondering when his baby sister will come home.

As I mentioned in Dana's Mother's Day thread below, Markos and Eli have been in El Salvador with Markos's grandmother who is gravely ill. They spent this weekend with her and will be coming home tonight.

I was reminded how much I miss them when advance copies of Markos's new book, Taking On The System: Rules For Radical Change In A Digital Era, arrived in the mail. Please allow me a hokey moment. I've only read one chapter as I spent too much time reading the acknowledgements and telling people about it. He dedicated the book to me and the kids and gave us two whole paragraphs in the acknowledgements section! Completely unexpected. I love that man.

Thank you for letting me gush. Now onto the serious political stuff: We have six more contests left and Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are expected to win three each. Probably most importantly, the Democratic National Committee is meeting on May 31 to determine the fate of Michigan and Florida's pledged delegates. I am wondering if we want open threads for some or all of these events? I have noticed that they have died somewhat, so I will poll your preferences. Thanks!

What's up with you?

At 22 months, this was the first year Lucy could actually make me a gift for mother's day.  Her class painted flower pots, and hers was smeared with purple and green, which is coincidentally one of my favorite color combinations.  She and I stopped at the "flower store" (our favorite little nursery) on the way home and picked out a hot pink dahlia to plant in it.  Today, about 90 seconds after planting and admiring it, I dropped it on the concrete sidewalk and broke that adorable little pot into several pieces.  At which point I also fell to pieces.  DH promised that he would glue it together for me, but I'm doubtful.  

I'm fighting the "what a crappy mother I am" feelings, mostly successfully.  The "what a clumsy ass mother I am" feelings are still lingering...  So much for the "I'll have this pot when I'm 90" sentimentality I had been harboring.  

Did you know that Julia Ward Howe also wrote the Battle Hymn of the Republic?  Women of that era who suffered through the Civil War, knew just as we do today that matters of war and peace are never simple.  It's easy to read the Mother's Day Proclamation and think of it as a naive sentiment, but really looking back at Julia Ward Howe's life, I think she and her contemporaries well knew just how much they were asking.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers Who Talk, and to all the other moms out there.

Having preschool teachers who make sure your son brings home two handmade flowerpots for Mother’s Day?

Priceless.

Betty Crocker sponsors a yearly cookie recipe contest, called "Bake Life Sweeter".

Contestants were asked to use one of the nine Betty Crocker Cookie Mix flavors and to get creative using additional ingredients, decorations and serving ideas.  

I've included Lynette Spence's winning recipe for "Cinna-Spin" Cookies.

Cookies
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, mix cookie mix and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Stir in butter and egg until soft dough forms.

2. On piece of waxed paper, shape 1 tablespoon cinnamon into a line about 5 inches long. Using floured fingers, shape 1 tablespoon of dough into a rope 5 inches long. Press one side of dough rope into cinnamon.

3. On ungreased cookie sheet, coil dough rope tightly, cinnamon side facing center, into cinnamon-roll shape. Press end of rope into roll to seal. Repeat with remaining dough. Place cookies 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.

4. Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

5. In small bowl, mix glaze ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over cookies.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Decrease butter to 1/3 cup.
Prep time is 1 hr 10 min, and the recipe makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies!

The web site includes other fabulous recipes that received honorable mentions. I'm planning on making the winning cookies for Mother's Day.

Please, share YOUR recipes for baked goodness. Give this single mama options for baking! I just bought a new cookie sheet that I'm DYING to use!!

According to Perez Hilton, Beyonce's clothing line, House of Dereon, is introducing a new kids line.

To celebrate the launch, B has come out with this ad featuring young girls dress like.....and looking like.

Work the lipstick and blush, babies!

Hmmm...thoughts?

After winning a court case that changed a California law against men taking their wives' last name, Michael Buday picked up his new driver's license bearing his new name -- Michael Bijon, according to Reuters.

Two years ago, Michael and wife Diana Bijon were surprised to learn that for him to take her surname, he would have to pay $350 and face a barrage of bureaucracy, including court appearances and paper work usually not obstacles for women. The couple took their case to the American Civil Liberties Union -- and won.

"Women have fought for so long for equal rights and it feels like this is part of that fight," said Diana Bijon. "When we got married, the law basically said, 'Don't be silly, only a woman can change her name when she gets married."'

"I am really, really proud of him. Not many men would do this," she said.

A subsequent lawsuit led to a new California state law guaranteeing the rights of both married couples and registered domestic partners to choose whichever last name they prefer on their marriage and driving licences.

"This disposes of the rule in California that the male surname is the marital name to the same trash bin where dowries were once tossed out," said Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the Southern California chapter of the ACLU.

Michael said he decided to take his wife's last name because he is closer to his father-in-law than his own father.

I learned about this story through Salon's Broadsheet.

Jo Frost, "Supernanny from the hit ABC show, just answered Washington Post reader questions on everything from potty-training to discipline. Here is a sample:

Minneapolis, Minn.: Hi Jo -

I have a just-over-three-year-old boy who is not yet potty trained. I have tried everything I have read about in books ('potty prizes', encouragement, positive rewards, special underpants, praise, stickers...) to encourage him to use the potty but he is just not interested! I feel like he is ready and capable of using the potty - and we had a streak over Christmas when he actually was using it, but then stopped. Should we keep trying (and if so, what do we do next?) or should we back off for awhile?

Jo Frost: He's more than capable of being potty trained. However you have played and toyed with the idea and he has half-heartedly done so. You need to make up your mind one way or another (and the answer should be yes). Number one: take note of his fluid intake. 2: take him completely out of diapers, no half-measures. 3: Diapers only at bedtime. 4: you will need to spend a week doing this - stay local, no big trips. You can find a step by step guide in my first Supernanny book...

Arlington, Va.: Hi, Ms. Frost!

We are new parents to a 7-month old, and I am wondering about how best to incorporate a routine into our day. Specifically, our baby isn't a great sleeper and doesn't have set napping times. She'll usually take a 1 to 2 hour nap in the morning, but we have trouble getting her to sleep in the afternoon. And we always get her to sleep by walking her in the stroller, as she will cry if we put her down in her crib. Do you have any tips on starting a baby on a routine?

Jo Frost: She should be taking a midmorning nap and then one straight after lunch. Creating a framework is going to be key for her. She may doze off around 5 for half an hour. Not until her eating schedule is in hand should you implement the sleeping technique. In my new book I detail my "controlled crying" technique. In short - Put the baby in the crib, go out, the baby will cry, you go in and say shh and rub the tummy... repeat, doubling the time in between.

The death toll in Burma after a vicious cyclone hit the country this past weekend could reach 60,000, the number of people reported dead or missing, according to the Washington Post.

Because the country is headed by an incompetent, despotic regime, the people are not easily receiving aid. MoveOn.org passed around a link to donate to Burmese monks, who in turn, have been giving food and shelter to the country's poorest people.

These People Scare Me: I was recently perusing the responses to New York Times Magazine's green edition, when I came across this gem:

(Michael) Pollan asserts as self-evident that a small carbon footprint is always a moral good. But suppose a child is very sick and the nearest hospital is 50 miles away. You can ride a horse and the child might die, or take a helicopter and ensure the child lives. In that case, using more fossil fuel is clearly a moral good. Offering this same sort of choice, if played out less dramatically, is why the green movement may fail.

Pollan is asking for human beings to deliberately make their own lives harsher, duller, perhaps even shorter for the sake of an abstraction. Whatever your belief in the merits of cutting carbon emissions, it’s easy to see why this neo-Romantic argument may not win many converts.

Especially inane, though, is Wendell Berry’s suggestion that “specialization” has been bad for humanity. Division of labor has allowed man to rise from savannas and caves to cities, to feed multitudes and to cure deadly disease. Specialization is precisely what will produce the experts who will ultimately figure out how to make cheap energy without fossil fuels. That process, not some Arcadian fantasy that all humanity will voluntarily regress to a semi-industrial state, is the way to a cleaner world.

HAMPTON STEVENS

Kansas City, Kan.

Okay.

Other Strange Encounters: Here is another one of those quirky Berkeley Parents Network letters, although I bet this woman's situation is not as uncommon as we'd like to think:

My husband recently had a one night stand with a woman with whom he previously (about 2 years ago) had a longer-term affair. The one night stand resulted in a pregnancy, and they've decided to keep the baby. The woman lives in another city so he will be parenting from afar - we also have a child together. We started marriage counseling a couple of weeks ago and, at least right now, we both think we'd like to stay together. We definitely have issues outside of this one that we need to work on, and are both committed to doing so. I'm honestly not that hung up on the affair at this point - it's the realization that there will be another child in his life, with another woman, and that child will likely be incorporated into our family in some way, shape, and form in the future. Plus, the fact that the child will be in another city means he will probably spend time away from us, which is hard to handle. Has anyone dealt with a similar situation? This is all very fresh and new and I know my feelings will change over time (because they already have a million times in about 3 weeks!) but I need a little long-term perspective on how this situation might ever really work...thanks!
anon

Whew. This woman sounded remarkably calm for what her husband did. Can't wait for the responses...

Leaving Foster Care: The Washington Post followed around this remarkable young woman as she was leaving the foster care system. At 21-years-old, Marie Willis is learning to live on her own, and is handling it with such aplomb.

What else is in the news? What is on your minds today? Have a good weekend all!