The American Heart Association has just updated its guidelines for CPR, making the process easier to learn and do, even for those with minimal training. It’s my opinion that anyone with kids, or anyone with childcare responsibilities, should be certified in CPR. If you took a course in preparation for your child’s birth, and your child is no longer an infant, you should consider doing a refresher course to focus on the toddler/child instructions. You can find out more about the CPR guidelines on the American Heart Association Web site, or go to the Red Cross site to find your nearest chapter (most of which offer CPR instruction).

Blogging Baby reports today on some new statistics about lesbian and gay couples in the Netherlands. The number of such couples either married or in a registered partnership is on the rise, although they comprise just over 1% of all cohabiting couples in the country. While about 9% of such couples have children, this represents 18% of lesbian couples and only 1% of gay male couples. The lesbian majority isn’t so surprising, I suppose, given the (relative) ease of conception (even with a sperm donor) vs. adoption or surrogacy, but I wouldn’t have expected quite so large a gap. At least gay male couples in the Netherlands are allowed to adopt children, which is more than gay or lesbian couples can do in many U. S. states.

Of course, the same people who say same-sex couples shouldn’t have marriage rights because the purpose of marriage is to raise children are the same people who say we shouldn’t raise children. That’s like saying “You can have dessert if you finish your vegetables, but I’m not going to let you have any vegetables.” A different solution, of course, is for any married couple, gay, lesbian, or straight, that hasn’t had children after, say, five years, to have their marriage automatically dissolved. Sigh. Think I’ll go buy some tulips and pretend I’m in Amsterdam.

One of the advantages of hosting Thanksgiving this year was that my parents stayed for a few days to help babysit. My partner and I were able to run some errands, including a trip to IKEA, our favorite home-furnishing store. IKEA is fun with kids, too–in fact, it’s one of the most kid-friendly stores that’s not specifically a “kids’ store.” (More on this in another post.) This time, however, we were buying bookshelves. Big bookshelves, that tested the limits of our car and meant I had to drive, since my taller partner couldn’t drive with the seat pulled all the way forward. Going without our son gave us that much more room. When we got home, our son’s delight in playing with Grandma and Grandpa meant we also had time to assemble everything.

IKEA is one of the best in the business when it comes to cleverly packaged, easy-to-assemble items. Still, not everything goes together without a hitch. Here are some tips to help your IKEA assembly experience go as smoothly as possible–you can use most of them with other brands as well.

1. Open the boxes and lay everything out on the floor. Sort the screws, fasteners, and other small parts into bowls.
2. Count the parts to make sure you aren’t missing anything.
3. Take note of any parts that are similar but not identical. Note the patterns of holes in the boards, and determine if certain pieces have differing top and bottom or left and right sides.
4. Read through the directions once before you start.
5. Unless the instructions tell you otherwise, don’t fully tighten the screws until the end. A small bit of “play”can help you fit parts together. At the end, go around and tighten up everything. (Remember that IKEA pressboard doesn’t take to being over-tightened, though.)
6. Most IKEA furniture can be put together with nothing more than the included “IKEA tool,” a small Allen wrench. You may, however, find it helpful to have the following tools as well:
• An electric screwdriver with an Allen-wrench (hex) bit. Works the same as the IKEA tool, but faster.
• A rubber mallet for gently but firmly tapping boards together, or for pounding in the little wooden pegs used to fasten certain items. Even if your aim is off, there’s less likelihood you’ll gouge your board than with a metal hammer.
• A medium-sized Phillips screwdriver. The one that comes on many pocket knives will do. Occasionally, IKEA throws in a few Phillips-head screws.
• A measuring tape. Make sure your finished item will fit the space you have in mind.
• A level. Especially useful if you’re hanging shelves on a wall.
• A bottle opener. To help celebrate when you finish.
7. Never assemble furniture with your partner when either of you is PMS’ing. Just don’t.

A bit of quick fun for the holiday: Take a moment to participate in the poll on the right and help me solve the age-old question: Is it “Itsy-Bitsy Spider” or “Eensy-Weensy Spider”?

Posts here will be sporadic the rest of the week until my extended family has departed. Have a great Thanksgiving, if you’re observing it!

Those of you cooking turkeys this holiday season may want to read these tips from Catherine Cutter of Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, on how to avoid Salmonella, Campylobacter, and other bacteria-borne illnesses while preparing and serving the big bird and associated trimmings.

If you’re of the vegetarian persuasion, or are hosting vegetarians or vegans, take a look at In a Vegetarian Kitchen and VegWeb (among many other sites) for a bunch of yummy-looking recipes. Both sites also have a number of great side dishes that would go well even with turkey.

An Arkansas state appellate court is now reviewing a law that bans foster parents from having “adult homosexuals” in their households. The law was struck down last year, but the state is appealing the decision.

What amuses me here is the attached definition of a “homosexual” as “any person who voluntarily and knowingly engages in or submits to any sexual contact involving the genitals of one persona and the mouth or anus of another person of the same gender.” Off the top of my head, I can think of about a dozen ways to exempt myself from this definition and still keep the sheets warm at night. The fact of the matter is, of course, what we do in bed has nothing to do with our abilities as parents. Besides, as parents, we rarely have time for sex anymore, anyway. What is Arkansas so worried about?

World Against Toys Causing Harm (W.A.T.C.H.) yesterday issued its annual 10 Worst Toys list for 2005. The list contains expected items, like paintball shooters, but also stuffed ponies and baby dolls of certain brands. Take a look, just in case.

Ever wonder why there are no colored bubbles? If you have kids, chances are you’ve played with bubble solutions that shimmer and shine, but which are basically clear. Bubbles in a solid hue, however, are a non-trivial problem in chemistry. Until recently, no one had created one. This didn’t deter inventor Tim Kehoe, however, and he spent eleven years, largely in his kitchen, perfecting a method for creating colored bubbles. Not only that, but his recipe uses a dye that leaves no mark on clothing or skin when the bubble pops. Popular Science has a long article on Kehoe’s quest. It’s worth a read, but it’s also worth just taking a look to see the photo of the bubbles. They’re going to be on the market soon under the brand name “Zubbles.” Imagine your kid’s next birthday party.

What I find almost as interesting are some of the additional products Kehoe is testing that use the same disappearing dye. They include a finger paint that only leaves color on a special paper, a hair dye that only lasts a few hours, and a toothpaste and soap that turn mouths and skin a bright color until used for 30 seconds. Household applications include a Swiffer that leaves a temporary mark showing where you’ve mopped and a wall paint that disappears after a few hours so you can see what a color will look like before you commit. Kehoe is an inspiration to those of us who dream of inventing something world-changing or fortune-making in our homes. (In my case, I suspect this is a variant of my mother’s syndrome, “Hoping something I’ve saved in the back of a closet is worth thousands on Antiques Roadshow.”)

Some of you may be interested in a post on Children and Technology that I wrote for my Salty Snack blog. It looks at the recent trend towards technology-based kids’ toys as well as educational uses of technology.

After the last post, I thought you might want something uplifting: Research presented last week at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting indicates that sweets relieve stress. This may not be news to many of us, but now we know why it works: sweets cause the body to produce lower levels of glucocorticoid stress hormones. While these hormones have some protective qualities, they have also been linked to a weakened immune system and increased abdominal fat. Does that mean that if you eat a donut to relieve stress, the decrease in glucocorticoids will prevent the increase in abdominal fat, and balance out the weight gain from the donut? Hmm. Probably not, and scientists warn that further research may show fruits or vegetables to be just as effective at reducing glucocorticoids. Still, it makes a good argument, in the same way that one can claim chocolate is a vegetable since it’s made from cocoa beans.