STUDY: Childcare exceeds College Tuition in Most States

Posted on October 8, 2015

And in “No Kidding, Sherlock” news, a recent report indicates that the cost of childcare exceeds college in most states.

An Economic Policy Institute analysis, “High Quality Child Care Is Out of Reach for Working Families,” found that child care is not affordable for 2-children median-income households in 10 major metropolitan areas — and is too expensive for minimum wage workers regardless of where they live in the United States.

Childcare costs exceeded rent in 500 out of 618 family budget areas, the study analyzed.

In San Francisco, for example, monthly rent on average is $1,956 for two adults and two children, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The average monthly cost of child care for two children in the city is $901. In Binghamton, N.Y., average monthly rent for the same size family is $692 while the average child care cost is $2,011 a month.

This expenditure impacts households of the nearly 11 million children under five in America in child care. These children spend an average of 35 hours a week in day care.

The Institute intends for the report to influence policy makers.

“As policymakers look for ways to improve living standards for the vast majority of Americans who have endured decades of stagnant wages, increasing child care affordability is an excellent place to start,” the report states.

Indeed, President Obama addressed child care in his State of the Union address this year.

“In today’s economy, when having both parents in the workforce is an economic necessity for many families, we need affordable, high-quality childcare more than eve,” he said. “It’s not a nice-to-have — it’s a must-have. So it’s time we stop treating childcare as a side issue, or as a women’s issue, and treat it like the national economic priority that it is for all of us.”

Read the entire report HERE!

h/t ABC News

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Teen Invents stroller for Wheelchair-bound New Moms (VIDEO)

Posted on October 5, 2015

A Detroit high school student has invented a stroller for wheelchair bound moms who want to take their babies for a walk.

Alden Kane, a student at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School, created a custom adaptable stroller as part of his STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) class.

The inventive teen said it took 6 months of planning and 6 months of construction to build a prototype. He gifted it to a local mother Sharina Jones, who had just had a baby and wanted to take her son out on nice days.

“A lot of my friends have babies and they are out, running with their babies in the stroller and I thought, ‘What am I going to do?'” she told FOX 2.

Kane consulted with Jones during her pregnancy and before she gave birth. He worked hard to complete the project before Jones’ July due date.

“The biggest priority is to make it safe for baby, of course,” Kane told the news outlet. “And then, also you really want to make it independent for the mother.”

In the end, Kane used lightweight metal tubing that easily clips onto the wheelchair and safely holds the weight of a baby in a car seat. Given the success of his prototype, Kane says he hopes to make the device accessible to more people.

Kane says he hopes to eventually apply for a patent for his invention.

h/t HuffPo

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The $132,000 Mini-Van rich Soccer Moms Pre-Ordered Years Ago is HERE!

Posted on October 5, 2015

Tesla unveiled its long-awaited crossover SUV aimed at the safety-conscious soccer mom…oh who has $132,000 in her back pocket to spare for this vehicle.

But wait…before Tesla unveiled its new Model X SUV last Tuesday, it had already secured at least 30,000 pre-orders, mainly from North America!

Wowza! Sight unseen. Test-drive undone. Yup!

Some won’t even get their SUVs delivered until 2016.

During a Tuesday exhibition in San Francisco before journalists, Tesla’s founder Elon Musk unveiled the Signature Model X and showed off all its fancy features like computer controlled “falcon wing” doors that open on the side. It has super ultrasonic sensors to prevent the doors from dinging nearby vehicles in the mall parking lot.

It boasts an ultra-thin profile and the rear seats can scoot forward by themselves — even with baby still strapped in his infant carrier, so other passengers can access the back of the SUV. Fancy.

Tesla founder Elon Musk unveils the Signature Model X

It has a dual-motor, all-wheel drive system, and will be the first EV-SUV of its kind to have towing ability.

And if you need speed, the Signature Model X line will go from 0 to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds with a top speed of 155 mph.

“This thing goes so fast it’s wrong,” Musk said at the event.

Tesla promised to release this model in 2013 and it has been delayed successively, perhaps because as Musk explained Tuesday, it was “the most difficult car in the world to build.”

Musk admitted that he could have sold the cars without the extra bells and whistles they added to it, like a panoramic windshield and an air-filtration system with a “bioweapon defense mode.” No Zombie apocalyptic germs will get in this puppy!

The Model X has a triple-layer-carbon air filter that can virtually eliminate all bacteria from the cabin.

In August, Tesla had received “22,538 reservations for the SUV in North America, which is its largest market. The figure represents 75% of the global reservations. 21,193 Americans and 1,346 Canadians are eagerly waiting for their Model X,” Business Finance News reported.

Designing and constructing Interior back rows were blamed for the delay in relesase

The company obtained 4,680 orders from Europe, which reflects 16% of the global orders. Asia Pacific only contributes 9% of the worldwide reservations with 2,809 orders. In Asia Pacific, Tesla has received 2,345 orders from China, 366 from Hong Kong, and 98 from Australia.

Don’t fret, lowly middle class families, Musk revealed that it will start work on its Model 3, a lower-cost sedan that could retail around $35,000. You just have to wait a little while longer given production on that version won’t begin until two years from now.

Whoa!

photos: Teslarati

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STUDY: Pregnancy is No Reason To Delay Cancer Treatment

Posted on October 4, 2015

Pregnant women who are diagnosed with cancer do not need to delay treatment or end their pregnancy, a new study found.

The study included 129 children in Europe whose mothers were diagnosed with cancer during pregnancy, as well as a control group of 129 children born to women without cancer. The children’s physical and mental health were assessed when they were 18 months and 3 years of age.

Among the children whose mothers were diagnosed with cancer during pregnancy, 69 percent were exposed to chemotherapy before birth, about 3 percent to radiation therapy and 5.4 percent to both chemotherapy and radiation. A small number were exposed to trastuzumab (Herceptin) or interferon (less than 1 percent each), while about 10 percent were exposed to surgery alone.

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VIRAL: After 17 Years Trying to Conceive, Wife Delivers Shocking News to Husband (VIDEO)

Posted on October 3, 2015

After 17 years of trying to have a baby including one stillborn at six months and four miscarriages, Dana Griffin-Graves and her husband Arkell had given up hope of ever having a baby on their own.

“It just didn’t work out, so we kind of gave up,” Dana told Buzzfeed about her and her husband’s repeated unsuccessful attempts.

But after going to the doctor to inquire about suspicious weight gain, Dana learned she was 5 months pregnant with a son but never knew.

In this video, which has since gone viral with over 6 million views on YouTube, watch Arkell’s tearful response when he learns the news.

She placed a photo of the ultrasound next to a pack of buns in the oven and set it up for her husband to open the oven. Creative.

Grab your tissues. This is a tear jerker.

>photos: Facebook

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Policing Women’s Ovaries: Olympic Committee to Release Recommendations for Pregnant Elite Athletes

Posted on October 3, 2015

When Talysia Montano competed in the 800 meters race at the U.S. Track & Field Championship last year at 34 weeks pregnant, she not only amazed global audiences, she also opened up new concerns about other elite athletes who may want to compete whilst pregnant.

This week, medical experts gathered at the request of the International Olympic Committee to discuss recommendations for elite athletes during and after pregnancy.

Given the fact that Montano will not be the last elite level athlete to attempt to compete while pregnant, the IOC’s medical and scientific commission said it is hoping to gather research so “sportswomen can make informed choices for their futures and those of their children.”

H/t LA Times

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News

STUDY: Wife Ability To Calm Down During Fights affects Marriage Longevity

Posted on October 2, 2015

Marriage can be a battlefield. But a new study conducted at UC Berkeley has found that, when it comes to keeping the peace, it’s more important for wives than for husbands to calm down after a heated argument.

While both spouses were equally able to cool down during conflicts, the husbands’ emotional regulation had little or no bearing on long-term marital satisfaction, according to the study’s findings published online Nov. 4 in the journal Emotion.

“When it comes to managing negative emotion during conflict, wives really matter,” said psychologist Lian Bloch, lead author of the study, which she conducted during doctoral and postdoctoral studies at Berkeley and Stanford. She is currently an assistant professor at the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology in a joint doctoral program taught by faculty at Stanford University and Palo Alto University.

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News

VIRAL: Another Professor Scoops Up a Student’s Toddler and Keeps on Lecturing

Posted on September 29, 2015

When I was about 5 years old, my dad was in college earning his Bachelor’s Degree and on the days my mom had to work and they didn’t have a sitter, my dad would take me to class with him. I would sit in the back of the class and color or keep myself busy with puzzles.

That is why I could relate to the second viral photo, this time in America, of a professor holding a child.

This time, Amanda Osbon, a single mom at DeVry University in Nashville, Tennessee couldn’t secure childcare. She balances caring for her son and still earns a 4.0 GPA so she was not interested in skipping class. She took her toddler to class and in the middle of the lecture, the little tyke waddled over to Professor Joel Bunkowske, who has his own toddler at home.

Bunkowske scooped up the kid and continued teaching without breaking his stride. So sweet!

Oshbon couldn’t help but take a snapshot with her smartphone of the moment and the photo has since gone viral and even Hillary Clinton re-tweeted it and turned it into a policy message about the need for support for students with families.

It is reminiscent of Professor Sydney Engelberg, a social psychologist at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. The native of South Africa, Engelberg has five grandchildren and adores children so it was only natural thing to do.

Awesome!

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All National Parks are FREE Today

Posted on September 26, 2015

Today, admission is free to all National Parks!

And to celebrate the upcoming centennial of the National Park Service in 2016, the National Park Foundation (NPF) launched to its Find Your Park campaign to encourage everyone to get up, get out there and #FindYourPark.

You can check out all the ways for you and your family to participate in National Public Lands Day, in order to help preserve and protect our national parks, by clicking here.

When you’re out there, grab your camera and when share your favorite park with your family and friends on social media add the hashtag #FindYourPark.

Get inspired for fun outdoor activities and learn more info at FindYourPark.com.

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Arizona Family Claims Pope Francis Cured Their Baby’s Heart Problems

Posted on September 25, 2015

This week, many in America on the East Coast are scrambling about for a chance to see or touch the Pope Francis during the pontif’s first official visit to the United States as the head of the Catholic Church

And now Reuters is reporting that a family in Phoenix, Arizona believes the Pope cured their ill baby with multiple health problems.

“The Pope healed our baby’s heart,” Lynn Cassidy told the service, explaining how her then 3-month old daughter, Ave, got better right after meeting the Pope.

She called the incident “as close to a miracle as we’ll ever see, I’m sure.”

Ave has Down syndrome and was born with eye problems, hearing complications and two holes in her heart.

During an Easter of 2014 family trip to Rome to see Francis in person during the canonization of John Paul II and John XXIII, they got in a rope line for a chance to meet him.

“It was raining,” Cassidy said, she tells USA Today. “We were told that if we stood on a barricade in St. Peter’s Square, the metal fences in front, the Pope would come by in his ‘Pope’-mobile.”

They waited long before the motorcade turned into union square and Ave’s dad held her up in the air, reports say.

“It was like the Lion King,” Cassidy said of the encounter. “The secret service person, Johnny, stopped and took her from Scott and held her up to the Pope. The Pope asked my husband, ‘How old is she?

What’s her name?’ He told [the Pope] she has two holes in her heart. When we got home in May, we went back to the cardiologist for a check-up. One of the holes was completely closed and one was half the size.”

The family has a photo of the moment in their living room.

“I mean it’s possible that it closes just over time,” she said. “But when you see the picture that the professional photographer took, his hand is here and he’s a servant of God.”

After two eye surgeries, Ave now has two hearing aids, but her heart is healthy.

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