When she brought it back to the store, workers reportedly "giggled" and joked about how "cool" it would be to find a scorpion. The ASDA manager offered the not-amused mother of a 6-month old toddler a "double refund." The type of scorpion is not deadly, but has a very painful sting.

Scorpion found in bananas [The Sun] (Thanks to Matthew!)

According to some of the vocal feedback, particularly on Twitter (just search #motrinmoms), babywearing is neither fashion statement, nor does it cause any particular pain. In fact, a number of women say they do it because it is a less painful way to carry around your baby. In response to the uproar, Motrin posted an apology on its website and has pledged to excise the universe of any and all brand material associated with the campaign. Good luck with that, Tornado Girls, because the shit is already in magazines on newsstands. The controversial ad surely soon to be removed from YouTube, inside...

Motrin Mania Ignited on Twitter, Mad Moms Mobilize [AdRants]

Can't remember the last Coca-Cola ad targeted at children? There's a reason...Parents tell us they prefer to be the ones teaching their children about beverage choices. That's why for over 50 years we've adhered to a company policy that prohibits advertising soft drinks to children.

When he sent a letter to the editor of the medical journal, it got published, along with a response from Coke. Now the CanWest newswire service has picked up the story and Coke remains steadfast, calling their drinks "wholesome.":

But Coca-Cola Canada stands by the position that it does not advertise soft drinks to children. "Absolutely, because it is true," spokeswoman Amy Laski said in a statement.

Coke is "wholesome and suitable" for kids, but "we understand that children are impressionable, and we respect the role of parents and caregivers in making food and beverage choices with their children. Therefore, we are committed not to directly market messages for any of our beverages to children under 12."

Oh, how soon we forget those New Kids On The Block branding partnerships of yesteryear!

Coca-Cola Lies to Doctors? [Weighty Matters]
Vetting journal advertisements [CMAJ]
Coca-Cola Canada responds [CMAJ]
Santa, animated animal ads not aimed at kids, Coke says [CanWest]

[US News & World Report] (Thanks to Alex!) (Photo: robinryan)

Camp Millionaire
Ages 10-12, $279-$300, Santa Barbara, CA, 5 days
YoungBiz Smart Start To Money Camp
Ages 13-18, $100-$300, Sarasota, FL, 3 days.
Camp Challenge
Ages 10-14, $350, Westfield, NC, 1 week.
Young Americans Center for Financial Education
Grades 4-5, $185, Denver, CO, 1 week.

It's obvious that schools not teaching how to be a savvy consumer isn't working so hot.

Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh, My Portfolio Is in the Gutter [WSJ]

(Photo: Getty)

Other tips are a little more traditional, like have your kid write down everything he spends money on, or save his allowance for a special purchase, or—and this is probably the biggest stumbling block—lead by example:

Parents can help with the basics, but a lot of them also lack financial education, Levine said. She added that where parents can be very helpful is in giving their kids their first lesson about money.
 
There are concerns that parents aren't setting a good example for kids. The national savings rate has declined since 2001.
 
"Today's kids, just like their parents, are coming up in a spending culture," Levine said.
 
The most important thing for a parent is to make sure that their child's first savings experience is a successful one, she said. Too many people try to get their kids to save for things that are too far into the future or too big. For a young child, saving for next year is an eternity, she said. If the goal is intangible, the money will seem lost to the child.

• "Let's say you give your kids $5 a week in pocket money. When it's next time to fork over their allowance, offer them a choice: They can have the usual $5 right away — or they can have $7, equal to a whopping 40% more, if they're willing to wait a week."
• "Try varying the form of their pocket money. One week, give them five singles. The next week, give them a $5 bill. You will likely find your children are slower to spend the $5 bill."

The fourth graders squirmed in their seats, waiting for their prizes. In a few minutes, they would learn how much money they had earned for their scores on recent reading and math exams. Some would receive nearly $50 for acing the standardized tests, a small fortune for many at this school, P.S. 188 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

The children were unaware that their teacher, Ruth Lopez, also stood to gain financially from their achievement. If students show marked improvement on state tests during the school year, each teacher at Public School 188 could receive a bonus of as much as $3,000.

Critics of these efforts say that children should be inspired to learn for knowledge's sake, not to earn money, and question whether prizes will ultimately lift achievement. Anticipating this kind of argument, New York City was careful to start the student experiment with private donations, not taxpayer money, avoiding some of the controversy that has followed the Baltimore program, which uses public money.

* Net worth is how you keep score.
* It pays to get a college education/the career you pick has a big impact on your life.
* College doesn't always make a difference in your pay.
* Lose your job and you take a big financial hit.
* The more you make, the more you're taxed.
* Kids are costly.
* Don't get sued.
* Don't get into debt.
* It pays to invest.
* Luck has a role in how well you do.
* Consumer spending can kill you.

Alas, the game is not always an accurate reflection of the real world. So I'm also listing lists a few ways the game reinforces some money-related ideas that simply aren't true. That said, you can always explain to your kids what's correct and what isn't. Besides, can you think of a better way to teach financial principles than by playing a game?

Ok, so playing Life is a good way to teach your kids about personal finance. Now, what's a good way to teach your parents the same thing?
How The Game of Life Teaches Personal Finance [Free Money Finance]

— FREE MONEY FINANCE

The ad said,

"Totally uncool parents who obviously don't love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for 3 weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet."

"The ad cost a fortune, but you know what? I'm telling people what happened here. I'm not just going to put the car for resale when there's nothing wrong with it, except the driver made a dumb decision," Hambleton said.

Steven Hambleton, a freshman business major at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, obviously was not one of the callers. And he didn't feel much like talking when contacted Tuesday.

"I don't think you can print" his response to the ad, his mother said. "He's very, very unhappy."

"'Meanest mom on the planet' sells son's car — after finding booze in it" [Des Moines Register]

RELATED
"'Mean Mom' Gives Son Public Lesson on Drinking" [ABC] (includes video interview)
"'Mean Mom' Sells Son's Car After Misdeed" [Associated Press]
(Photo: Good Morning America)

1. Open a custodial account using your state's Uniform Gift to Minors Act (UGMA) or Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA).
2. Put some dollars in it.
3. Contribute a certain amount in lieu of gifts.
4. Sit down and explain the basics—you need to understand what a share is, why dividends are paid, what unrealized and realized gains and losses are. If you don't understand these terms, study.
5. Don't just buy a "how to" book, though—read about investing, not "how to" invest.
6. Choose investments together; involve them.
7. Go over it every month or quarter or year to review what went right and wrong.
8. If your teen makes some money, ask them to reinvest at least 10% of it, even it's a single dollar.
9. Teach them not to touch principal.
10. Consider alternative ways of investing.

They're all less cost-effective than talking to your kids and listening to what's going on, but we guess that's too hard to package and sell that.

[via The Morning Show with Mike and Juilet]

Here are a couple of examples of how poorly we participate. Last year, Target recalled nearly 200,000 units of lead-tainted Kool Toyz. They received only 766, less than 1%. And this year, they recalled 5,000 Anima Bamboo Collector Games—and none were returned. Mattel averages a 6% return rate. (The one exception in the article is RC2, which says it managed to get 70% of their defective train products returned by September.)

A lot of parents simply throw out the products, which is a lot less work than returning them to the store or manufacturer, especially when current recall announcements make the effort for busy parents seem like too much of a hassle. The CPSC says the problem with that is it doesn't provide them with data they need to fine-tune future recalls.

But because most industries rely on the media to get the word out about recalls, there's no guarantee the right people will hear the right information before it's swallowed up by the next cycle of stories. In fact, the new bill is named after 16-month-old who smothered in a defective crib that was recalled five years previously, but his parents and the caretakers at the daycare center where the accident occurred had never heard about the recall.

According to some safety advocates, the best solution would be to piggy-back on motor vehicle registration:

Consumers would be better served if the registration required when they buy a car or truck were extended to other products. That way, they would get a letter when an item was recalled. Vehicle recall response rates are among the highest, at about 72% in recent years, said Eric Bolton, spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

"Many recalled, few returned" [LA Times]

RELATED
Online Form for CPSC Email Alerts [CPSC]
(Photo: Getty)

We can't find a copy of the commercial online (can anyone send in a link?), but according to posts all around the web, it features a little girl crying out, "And you never run out of money!"

[Update: thanks to readers Wesa and Pda_tech_guy, here's a low-quality YouTube clip of the commercial.]

We think Mattel should introduce the "Dang, I Grew Up" Barbie playset, where Barbie spends her entire paycheck on Rent-a-Center furniture while trying to make the minimum payments on her dozen or so 30% interest rate cards. But then again, since this is Barbie, once her credit score hit 300 or so the playset would probably just bump it back up to 800. Responsibility is so for nerds and foster children.

(Thanks to David!)

"Barbie Fashion Fever Shopping Boutique Playset" [Amazon]

One of the authors behind the study says that babies sometimes get tangled in the padding and can't squirm free:

Many infants lack the motor development needed to free themselves when they become wedged between the bumper pad and another surface. If the pads are too soft, the baby's nose or face can get pressed up against it, and the baby suffocates. If they are too firm, the baby can climb up on the pads and fall out of the crib.

"Crib bumpers can do more harm than good: U.S. study" [Reuters]
(Photo: Getty)

"Any person looking at the published literature about these programs would have to conclude that they are generally not working," said Dr. Tom Baranowski, a pediatrics professor at Houston's Baylor College of Medicine who studies behavioral nutrition.

The results have been disappointing, to say the least:

• Last year, a federal pilot program offering free fruits and vegetables to schoolchildren showed fifth-graders became less willing to eat them than they had been at the start. Apparently, they didn't like the taste.

• In Pennsylvania, researchers gave prizes to schoolchildren who ate fruits and vegetables. That worked. But when the researchers came back seven months later, the kids had reverted to their original eating habits: soda and chips.

• In studies where children tell researchers they are eating better or exercising more, there is usually no change in blood pressure, body size or cholesterol measures. They want to eat better and might even think they are, but they're not.

It's too bad parents have so much to fight against. Unhealthy food is cheaper than fruits and veggies. Unhealthy food is marketed to children, healthy food is not. Heck, unhealthy food tastes better than a lot of healthy food, particularly if you don't know how to cook.

Let's hear from parents in the comments. How are you coping? What are you feeding your kids?

Big-money battle on child obesity shows little success [Freep via Freakonomics]
(Photo:Clearly Ambiguous)

As if the injury weren't bad enough, he soon found himself under the fell gaze of Child Protective Services after the workers of the Hospital Corporation of America mistook his Asian wife's stoicism for not "being comforting enough."

Because of the inquiry by CPS, the setting of AppTechie's son's arm was delayed by two excruciating days.

AppTechie has inquired with malpractice lawyers but they have told him that, "because of riders on the new laws regarding a cap on what a person can win i a medical malpractice case, doctors, and especially ER doctors, are practically bulletproof for engaging in dangerous practices with patients and that we have no way to win a case like this one without extraordinary expenditure for experts and the like."

Do you agree? Does AppTechie have a case? Or should he just try and get on with his life? Read his story inside.

AppTechie writes:

Her excellent letter, inside.

Jennifer writes:

"I'm not sure if what to call this story...I'm not sure if it's an actual consumer story, but it does involve one government agency, an HMO, Walmart, and a killing spree- so it should be interesting if nothing else. It was originally just a cool moment of customer insurrection at the Post Office, but it gets better (or worse.) .

Today was the last "errand day" before the first day of school, so we got up extra early to run through our list of chores. The first stop is the post office, which is so notoriously busy we showed up at opening time to avoid the rush. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself when I got in there- three clerks and only two people ahead of me. The first was a mail carrier who was finished pretty quickly but apparently had some chatting to catch up on. The second came to pick up a letter which was apparently very, very heavy, because it took them fifteen minutes to ring up..

By this time, there were about twenty people in line behind me, which was okay, because it was my turn. Alas, it was not to be. Two of the three clerks seemed very occupied with things out of sight, and the one I expected to call me up seemed to have forgotten how to make eye contact. After about five minutes of fiddling about, while customers behind me in line started sighing and twitching, she picked up a tray of rubber stamps and left the room. Almost immediately afterward, the other two followed, leaving the desk empty for a good ten minutes. Not once did any of them speak to, acknowledge, or even make eye contact with anyone in the line, which by now stretched out the door and was beginning to get grumbly. The postmaster poked his head out briefly and then ducked back out of sight. The clerks began to return, one by one, but still failed to notice the twenty-odd people milling about making snarky comments about the postal Service. I decided it was a now or never moment, and waved at one of the clerks who seemed to be walking off again. She looked sort of surprised that I was speaking to her, mumbled something about 'being right back,' and started off again. I made some sort of protest, and she waved me over- and still, no eye contact.

One of the louder grumblers just sort of lost it and started demanding some attention. After his third, very audible, "excuse me," one of the other clerks actually looked at him- and then walked away. My clerk grabs my box and rings me up- for what, I'm really n ot sure, because she never asked me how I wanted to send this box. Mr. Grumbly is now demanding she go fetch the postmaster, but she can't do it, because she's "helping a customer." I t ake my box back and tell her no problem, go ahead and get him, I'll wait, and I'd like to see him too. She waves Mr Grumbly to the Passport Office for "customer service," but he's not having it. So the boss lady comes charging out from the back and starts ordering the guy to "Calm down, sir, you're causing a disturbance," at which time all hell breaks loose as about twenty people announce their support of "sir" and his commotion. Mr Postmaster sticks his head out briefly and retreats, and boss lady tells us that the postmaster is not in today. Dumb looks all around.

When left, customers were gathering outside , planning a group complainathon. (BTW- Fremont main PO at Dusterberry) A partial victory for the People, not a complete disaster.

So this is where I planned this to end, but the saga continues- next stop, Walmart. The Fremont Walmart is a particularly dank, crowded, scary place to which I never willingly go, except that today I have to exchange grandma's gift of dockers an d yellow t-shirts to my punk rock seventh grader. Follows the long line at customer service, which requires I surrender my Driver's license number (?) I take my little plastic card, grab a cart, and head for the boy's department- or at least I try, but my cart won't let me- every few steps, it lurches hard to the right and nearly whacks a passer-by in the butt. I turn a corner and a display of 'sauce pitchers' explodes off the shelf all over me, and of course everyone is looking right at me as if I'd pulled a Uri Geller. I find my stuff and lurch to the checkout, where one of the biggest Walmarts in California has TWO checkers on the day before school. The wait is an hour, and I have no book and the only available reading is Angelina & Brad, Jon Benet, and forty-one quick n easy crockpot recipes. When I finally get to the front, I have half a dozen items which refuse to scan...and of course, every single cranky person in line is glaring at me, because I must have intentionally chosen the only package of Batman underwear in the store that won't scan. A complete disaster, made even worse by the discovery (back home) that a pair of jeans is defective and needs to be returned.

Next up is good old Kaiser, where my five year old is going for his fourth immunization shot this week. Not that he needs any, but they have mysteriously 'lost' all of his immunization records from two separate branches. He's back again because four times they have told me he has what he needs to start Kindergarten but each time I present the new record, the school sends me back, where Kaiser gives him another 'replacement' shot and sends us back. (the one flower in this heap of cow pie is Monica, the tireless employee who hunts down records, calls doctors for me, and gives me secret back-door phone numbers, we LOVE Monica!.) Two days before school starts, they called to tell us the records are gone, and the appointment they deemed unnecessary is now necessary- and unavailable. I am directed to call a special number to beg for an emergency appointment, because my son cannot go to school without these shots, and if he is not in school by day two, he will be sent to an 'overflow school' a mile away. I make the call on my cell while running errands, and use up ALL of my minutes while on hold for three hours, after which I give up, leave an 'urgent message' which is of course never returned. The next day I call the pediatric unit to beg interference and they tell me there has never been any appointment necessary for injections. Skip a few more annoyances, and we're getting the last shot. I stop by the pharmacy to pick up my older son's medications "while I'm here," where they want to charge me a hundred bucks because they are not generics. Skip three hours of me trying to explain exception codes (and even producing my checkbook to show three months of sixty-dollar payments) to Kaiser pharmacists , and I'm out of luck because the one person who has any idea what's going on is gone for the day. I cough up the hundred bucks, but I can't have the medicine until I sign a form, where I am asked to print my name and Driver's license number. the clipboard containing about a half-dozen other people's numbers is left on the counter for about twenty minutes. I complain to the pharmacist, who tells me the info is 'confidential,' and I point out that can hardly be the case if I have access to six stranger's vital statistics. He shoots me a worried look and takes off, and at the end of all my haggling over co-pays, he tells me that his manager agrees and as of today they have a new policy. So Kaiser, seventy-eight, People, one. I think.

In between Walmart and Kaiser, we witnessed the tail-end of an "accident" on the road near our house; we later discovered our neighbor a block over went batshit and spent the afternoon running people over. Not really relevant but I guess it put things in perspective."

The center bar on the Farm Teether Rattle could break, releasing small beads and animal figures.

If you're abused by overpriced baubles as a child, you're more likely to abuse other's Puritan-derived sense of modesty as an adult.

Why then Tiffany keeps insisting on trying to kill its future clientele, we have no idea.

(Thanks to Bernard!)

Tiffany is being forced to recall the Paloma Rattle, a $195 2.5 inch ring consisting of nine interlocking silver beads. Testing shows that the circlet's seams can split and spill the beads. Donny and Muffy might then gobble up the shiny balls like unwatched pension plans and asphyxiate. If that doesn't get them, the breakage also produces "ragged" edges.

Unfortunately, no reports of infant choking or laceration have been reported, yet another setback in our fight to smash the oligarchy.

"Paloma Rattles Recalled" [CPSC]

These chemicals can remain in the tissue long enough to pass the chemicals onto their own children.

The report was published in 2004 but how much you wanna bet the results are as valid, if not more, today?

Don't switch to the Similac yet, the EWG advises that breastfeeding is still the best.

Thank goodness. Those packets can be a little chalky.

Read more: Mother's Milk [via]

Features:

* Removable soft deflector shield, also known as a "misguided stream guard."
* Angled seat to catch any overspill.
* Wide base and slip-resistant surface for stability.
* Built-in toilet paper roll.
* Built-in wipe storage.
* Bench supports up to 300 lbs.

mod*mom says it's available at Target starting April 15th.

The ingenious design almost makes it worth forgetting how to ascend the porcelain throne and starting all over again.

[via Apt Broadcast]

Last November the online superstore did the same, except the minimum order was $79.

Which, as Greg Allen of Daddytypes.com pointed out to us, makes one feel like Pavlov's dog, being conditioned to order a garageful of diapers one month, then a $31 stack of DVD's the next.

Yes, back in Pavlov s day before Amazon.com little Fido sure ran up a high Blockbuster bill.

Qualifying Products, Details, N -Dad-Stuff [Daddytypes]