Our Favorite Parenting Stories Of The Week

Get ready to laugh: 35 hilarious vids that illustrate why having kids is so. totally. funny. (Buzzfeed)

Check out some hilarious Elf-On-The-Shelf ideas that will have your little believers giggling at Santa’s daring and mischievous little helpers this season. Situate your elf around your house to share a joke or two with your kids. (Parenting)

After all the rumors going around, Kate Middleton finally announces that she’s pregnant! Whether she has a boy or a girl, the baby will be third in line under the new gender-neutral rules of ascension. (New York Post)

Kate’s pregnancy became public because she’s been hospitalized due to hyperemesis gravidarium–a rare but serious prenatal sickness that causes sufferers to vomit and feel severely nauseous. Poor Kate! (Huffington Post)

One writer explains how she raises her daughter to be more than a pretty face, and take pride in qualities others seem to ignore, like her strength. (She Knows)

KJ Dell’Antonia attempts to buy gender-neutral toys this holiday season instead of the typical cars and Nerf guns for her son and crafts for her girl. It’s actually a task, she admits, that is hard to accomplish. (New York Times)

Of course we’re all thrilled to hear that Princess Kate and Prince William are expecting their first child. It even inspired one magazine to dig into the history of maternity fashion through the royal family. (People)

Writer Janelle Harris reflects on her daughter’s days as a newborn versus her present life as a teenager. Turns out things aren’t that much different, after all. (The Stir)

One of the most dangerous sports for kids, hockey, may be getting a rule makeover to up the safety factor of playing. (LA Times)

Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins has just completed a children’s book. Year of the Jungle–based on Collins’ memories of her father’s deployment in Vietnam in the ’60s–will be published next September. (New York Times)

Sure, mother knows best, but teachers know a lot too. Get a peek at what your toddler’s teacher knows but will never say to your face. (Time)

Tired of arguing? Here are some tips for successfully negotiating with your kids. (The Washington Post)

Parenting blogger Joel Yanofsky, explores the vast differences (and disappointments) in literature available on autism. That is, until he read Andrew Solomon’s Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity, an investigation of autism, Down syndrome, dwarfism, schizophrenia, and deafness. (New York Times)

Ever wonder how much gadget time is too much for your kids? Media consultant Manoush Zomorodi unpacks advice from pediatrician Dr. Ari Brown on ways to limit the use of tech devices and encourage activating little imaginations! (Huffington Post)