I often wonder at the human mentality. There is a video that shows the people from an area in India dropping babies from the second floor of a building. The babies are caught in a blanket, pretty much the same way that firemen used to catch people jumping from buildings.

The video is pretty amateurish, and the event itself is supposed to be popular. I wont comment on the actual practice - after all, who am I to comment on the custom of another country. What I do want to comment on is the fascination that humans have with anything that is different. I say macabre, you can guarantee there are many hoping to see something go wrong. Some of those would be just waiting to point the finger and say how wrong the practice is.

There is a popular misconception amongst parents that reward charts are tools that are only useful for children with behavioral problems. In fact, all children can benefit from the use of a reward chart since it teaches so many values.

The philosophy behind a rewards chart is fairly straightforward. You draw up a chart with say 10 squares in it. You give the child as star as a reward to place on that chart whenever they complete a task or behavior in an agreed on way. When all 10 squares have been filled the child receives the agreed on reward.

I am beginning to wonder if we are now producing a generation of namby-pambies. We are sanitizing their lives to the point that I fear for the future of the human race. Perhaps I am over reacting - but think about it.

We sterilize our houses to kill every known germ - good and bad. We stop our kids getting dirty to the point that some parents will not allow their children to play outside at all.

Moving outside, the playgrounds that kids now use are so 'safe' they are almost boring and kids really don't want to go to them. More importantly, most of them are taking away challenges. Our kids are no longer experiencing one of the most important lessons in early life - risk taking and consequences.

Two Australian umbilical cord stem cell storage facilities have merged to form the largest storage business in Australia. I cannot help but wonder if it is all for the best in the long run.

Umbilical cord stem cell collection and storage is very expensive here in Australia - more than three times what it costs in the US. Of course, the US have a good handful of companies offering the service. This makes for competition and we all know what strong competition does to prices - it drives them down. If there is no competition then consumers are left to the mercy of the respective companies.

What do you do if your child comes down with the flu, or just a common cold? In fact, do you know the difference between a cold and the flu? More importantly, should you keep them at home or send them to school or day care?

Most day carers have a policy you can follow when it comes to attendance and sickness. Many schools leave it up to the parents to decide. That's not much help if you don't know what to do.

Although I am reluctant to promote any brand when it comes to cough and cold medications, I am always happy to pass on anything that may help other parents. In this case, Triaminic, an American supplier of cough and cold medications, have published a fact sheet titled: "Sick Day Guidelines: Making the Right Call When Your Child Has a Cold."

This fact sheet is produced in conjunction with the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) so you know it is fact based and not a commercial push for their own products.

Coughs and cold can be a worrying time for parents - they can also be very distressing for both the parent and the child. You can never have too much information - in fact, the US has recently modified its dosage guidelines for children, especially those under four. Do you know what the new dosage guidelines are?

I will give them one commercial plug however. If you visit their homepage there is a down loadable coupon to save you a little off the sales price. What I want to know is when are we going to get cough medicine as a soluble strip here in Australia - if you don't know what they are, check out their pages. They look like a neat idea to me.

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If you are a new parent or if you expect to be one sometime soon, check out Planning Family. It costs you nothing, costs nothing to join if you think you can benefit. The worst thing that can happen is that you receive a free diaper - for baby that is. Unfortunately, the offer is only good for the US or Canada.

This is old but still fun to read - probably true as well.

10. You’re guaranteed to get at least a little something in the sack.

9. If you get tired, wait 10 minutes and go at it again.

8. The uglier you look, the easier it is to get some.

7. You don’t have to compliment the person who gave you candy.

6. The person you’re with doesn’t fantasize you’re someone else.

5. If you get a stomach ache, it won’t last 9 months.

4. If you wear your Batman mask, no one thinks you’re kinky.

3. It doesn’t matter if kids hear you moaning and groaning.

2. You have less guilt the next morning.

1. If you don’t get what you want, you can always go next door!

All parents want the best for their children and when it comes to education, we all want to see our kids doing well. There are many factors that play their roles in learning - one of these is diet.

Diet or nutrition has been in the news a lot lately, mainly related to claims our children are overweight. Nutrition plays an important role in learning - we have heard of brain food - does it exist?

Umbilical cord blood preservation makes the news yet again. The Brisbane Courier Mail has published an article that claims that many Australians are wasting their money through umbilical cord preservation using private companies. They cite the lack of use of preserved umbilical cord blood as their rationale.

I am not in a position to dispute their facts. Umbilical cord preservation has been available privately for since 2002. The fact that no request has been made to 'withdraw' the preserved blood for medical use does not necessarily mean that Australians have 'wasted' their money. I am sure the parents of these children are happy in the knowledge they are healthy and have not needed to use the preserved umbilical cord blood to treat any serious illnesses.

What does concern me is the cost associated with the collection and preservation of umbilical cord blood and the lack of cooperation by some public hospitals. In Australia, parents are charged between $3000 and $5700. This is a lot of money when you consider that other countries, such as the US, only charge around $1000-$1500 for the same service.

The trouble with boys - I thought the trouble with boys was that they were - boys. In fact, when you listen to what women say, we will always be 'boys'. Buy a fast car - boys and their toys. Buy and new drill or sander - boys and their toys. Get a younger wife - boys and their toys.

Perhaps there is some truth in it all. According to award winning journalist Peg Tyre, there is more afoot regarding boys than meets the eye. Her book, The Trouble with Boys, takes a good hard look at boys and the effect that society, and in particular, the education system, is having on our boys.

The statistics are quite startling when you read them. Girls now outperform boys across the board scholastically. In the past, boys always excelled at mathematics; now the situation has been reversed. Boys are three to four times more likely to be suspended from school - and that is from pre-school onwards - pre-school!

You would expect a well written book from a professional journalist and you wont be disappointed here. Not only is it well written, it has been well researched with the book reporting on the progress of boys from pre-school through to college and the effect the education system is having on them, academically.