Best Of The Web: October 26-November 1

Contributors: Briehn
Trumbauer

Here’s a weekly roundup of parenting articles that piqued
our interest. Enjoy! —

If you only read one parenting article this week, let this
be it: 12
ways to mess up your kids. It has some surprisingly counterintuitive ideas,
and some intuitive ones that we tend to forget. (The Atlantic)

A heavily
tattooed Barbie has sparked a fresh controversy on age-appropriate toys, but others weigh in on the
fact that Barbie shouldn’t be a role model at all. (Forbes)

This article
introduced us to Captain Dad, and we can’t get enough. New Yorker cartoonist Pat Byrnes pens a stay-at-home dad
blog—with awesome illustrations to boot. In his latest post, he un-schadenfreudely admits that the sound
of someone else’s child causing a ruckus is “pure music to a
parent’s ears.” (Captain Dad)

Are teenage “hook-ups” going to eventually
phase out dating entirely? As psychotherapist Fran Lasker so aptly puts it:
“Everyone misses out on developing intimacy if the currency is a ‘hook-up’ and
not a date.” (HuffPo)

Move over, Garfield and Snoopy. A new Macy’s Thanksgiving
Day Parade balloon is in town! Tim
Burton has designed a character called B. Boy to float down Seventh
Avenue for the annual turkey day celebration. (NY Times)

If you’re getting ready to name a baby, check out these Halloween-inspired
monikers–with options ranging from Jack to Jason. (Parents Connect)

A study
published in Pediatrics indicates that girls, but not boys, exposed
to high levels of the estrogen-like chemical BPA while in vitro are more likely
to be anxious, depressed and hyperactive. (USA
Today)

A real-life Grey’s
Anatomy-worthy situation: Two
girls who were switched at birth have decided to stay with the mothers who
raised them. (Babble)

One working
mom’s lament: having to actually work during her office’s Kids Day. Good
thing the babysitter was able to fill in so that face-painting, balloon
animals, art projects and fun could still be had! (Mom-101)

Starting next spring, the NYCDOE
requires one semester of sexual education in 6th or 7th grades and another
in 9th or 10th. But some parents are wary of the widely recommended HealthSmart
and Reducing the Risk curriculum, noting some pretty “outrageous” assignments. (MSNBC)

Do we really need an app that allows parents to track
their kids as they go trick or treating? Lenore Skenazy thinks not. (Free Range Kids)

Whatever happened to old-fashioned books and board games? A
recent study shows that kids 8 and younger are spending more
time than ever in front of screens. But it’s not because of the usual culprits,
video games and computers. Instead, parents are using iPads, iPhones and iPods
as a means of distraction. (NY
Times)