Why does it take lawsuits for companies to listen?

I'm not a fan of lawsuits and often read about people suing companies and shake my head at the visible signs of the decay of our society. Generally they seem to be frivolous or a result of adults being unable to take responsibility for their own actions (for example, the lawsuits that caused the company that made "lawn darts" to take their product off the market, or the more recent boat towing toy that behaves dangerously at speeds far higher than recommended. Since someone got hurt for using the toy outside of operating parameters, the company just pulled it from the shelves).

I'm pretty sure that this recent case against In Zone Beverages and Talking Rain Beverages falls into the same category (see the AP story Beverage Makers Settle Lawsuit for more details), but if you read about the case, you can't help wonder why the companies didn't just reformulate their popular drinks without a lawsuit to motivate them.

Got a cute book about breastfeeding

We're such slackers, busy with the actual day-to-day of parenting rather than dealing with our professional responsibilities. Oh well. We've had the most delightful children's book sitting on our desk for months now, sent to us by the author to review, and we're only now getting to it. You'd think that it's a busy life being parents to three active children, three dogs, a cat and miscellaneous friends and neighbors! :-)

Anyway, Near Mama's Heart is a sweet little children's book about breastfeeding and a good addition to your library if you do have little ones who are nursing. Here's a typical verse from the book: "I love when we cuddle / with my Daddy, too. / My sister was breastfed / and look how she grew!"

I don't entirely agree with the perspective of the author, Colleen Newman, who says that she believes breastfeeding still carries a social stigma as we've seen such an overwhelmingly positive, supportive reaction when we're breastfeeding (well, when Linda's breastfeeding, at least. People look at us oddly when I try :-), but otherwise the story of how she decided to write the book is interesting...

How to avoid overscheduling your children

I was recently interviewed for a national parenting magazine about ways to avoid overscheduling your children, a sort of counterpoint to the "soccer mom" crowd, and thought it would be fun to also share the Q&A here on our blog too. Note that while this represents my - Dave's - view, it doesn't necessarily exactly represent Linda's view. But I'll let her speak for herself. :-)

Q: Tell me about your family.

Three kids, A- (9), G- (6) and K- (2). Happy, fun, and almost completely media free, which gives us plenty of time for music, handwork, crafts, sports and games, both indoor and outdoor.

Q: How do you decide as parents what activities you let your kids participate in and what activities you'll say no to?

We really try to minimize organized events and activities partially because we want to avoid the "soccer mom" syndrome and partially because we aren't trying to prepare our children for college applications or their adult life, we're trying to simply let them have a relaxed, carefree childhood. Indeed, my wife Linda and I both believe that overscheduling children is one of the ways that we as a society are robbing our children of their childhood. I am now unsurprised to meet 14 or 15yo children who have become mini-adults with their laptops, cellphones, daytimers, and tightly managed schedules. They also seem to have adult hangups and preoccupations like drugs, sex, social status, physical appearance, and so on. Not the typical teen stuff, but much more adult issues.