Blog Posts by Redbook

By Charlotte Hilton Andersen, REDBOOK

vaccine 'Firing' your family's pediatrician is one thing, but a new trend finds pediatricians 'firing' patients. It isn't for failing to pay their bills, being overbearing, or even tearing out recipe clips from magazines in the waiting room. These days, the Wall Street Journal reports that up to 30% of pediatricians have admitted they ask some families to leave their practice for refusing to vaccinate their children.

Related: 25 Snacks Under 150 Calories

These doctors, who are greatly in demand thanks to a shortage of pediatricians, cite concerns ranging from financial pressures to no time to deal with "recalcitrant" parents. Many doctors are bringing up another concern in the latest survey: "A major factor [in asking the families to leave] was the concern that unimmunized children could pose a danger in the waiting room to infants or sick children who haven't yet been fully vaccinated."

This is a very real fear, as my sister recently found out. Read More »from Doctors Refuse Care to Kids Without Vaccinations

By Amy Shearn, REDBOOK

The blogosphere's been buzzing lately about Michelle Duggar and her retrograde, submission-heavy "Seven Basic Needs of a Husband." I admit her advice was making me squirm, but then I started thinking: Wait, what about my basic needs? I mean, I kind of think my family's needs are pretty well-considered these days-but as the decorative potholder says, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." Thus, I present you with the Seven Basic Needs of a Wife.

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1. A wife needs a husband who respects her as a woman. This means never, ever saying things like "Is it PMS?," "You bought another sundress?," or "When you're done breastfeeding the baby, can I have a turn?"

2. A wife needs a husband who believes in and respects her god-given responsibilities. After all, Mad Men is not going to pour a glass of wine and watch itself.

3. A wife needs a husband who will continue to find her beautiful no matter how

Read More »from The 7 Basic Needs of a Wife

By Charlotte Hilton Andersen, REDBOOK

The first time it happened, we giggled. But this weekend when yet another little girl tittered and asked my 8-year-old son Jonas if he was named after the Jonas Brothers, the only sound was my son's sigh. "Couldn't you have named me Bob?" For the record, we named our son after his dad and it also happens to be a Bible name-no boy bands were invoked in the birth of our baby. And while I still love his name, I can understand why he gets tired of the jokes. At this age the girls are mostly reverential but if Nick, Joe and That Other One I Can Never Remember stick around the scene, by high school my son might have a legitimate complaint.

Related: Easy Ways to Burn 100 Calories

It turns out we're not the only ones having second thoughts about a child's name. In a recent survey done by Gurgle.com, 54 percent of British parents had some regrets about their chosen moniker. Wondering if the same held true for my American friends, I did a quick

Read More »from Moms Confess: I Regret My Baby's Name

By Farnoosh Torabi, REDBOOK

Women around the country are fed up with the snail's pace of economic recovery, and they're refusing to wait politely with their hands folded, hoping that a presidential candidate or a Powerball ticket will solve their money issues. Instead, they're answering the challenge with side hustles-many of which can be done from home or on a flexible schedule. Why is the extra work worth it? The thousands in added income can make the down payment on a house possible, erase credit card debt, provide little luxuries, and, perhaps most importantly, give you back a sense of financial control.

In the words of Hannah*, 30, a single mom of a 5-year-old who added a few waitressing shifts to her full-time job as a school psychologist: "I'm doing what I have to do to keep a roof over my son's head. It almost feels noble."

Related: 75 Most Iconic Hairstyles of All Time

She's right: There is something heroic about swooping in with a talent or a former job

Read More »from 5 Ways to Make Easy Money

By Karen Karbo, REDBOOK

Q: "I work in a small, cramped office with only six people. I don't mind that; what I object to is one gal who is always singing. No one else seems to care, and I don't want to come off as a total grump, but isn't that unprofessional?" -J.C., 60, California

Related: 23 Power Foods to Eat More, More, More Of

A: Singing? Like, along with the radio, or just randomly breaking into "You Give Love a Bad Name"? I can't say whether her behavior is inappropriate-one office's lack of professionalism is another office's free-spirited creative vibe-but if it's affecting your work, it's got to stop. The next time Julie Andrews starts up, take her aside and say that her habit makes it hard for you to focus. Then add that you just can't help but listen to her since she's so good. While you'd much rather hear her belt out those tunes than do the weekly report, alas, the work needs to get done. Everybody's a winner this way: You don't look like a grouch, and her

Read More »from My Coworker Won't Stop Singing

By Jessica Girdwain, REDBOOK

We triple-checked the calories on these diet-y foods and discovered they're no better than the "real" versions. Lesson: Go with what tastes good, in reasonable portions.

1. Nonfat frozen yogurt (Red Mango)

LABEL SAYS: 80 calories, 0 g fat per serving

THE REALITY: Fro-yo may be rich in healthy bacteria and protein, but calorie-free it ain't. Red Mango advertises calorie counts for half-cup servings-a small yogurt, however, contains 1.4 servings and 112 calories. A regular size has 2.3 servings and 184 calories. Sounds more like ice cream!

Related: 20 Ways to Speed Up Your Metabolism

2. Fat-free powdered creamer (Coffee-Mate)

LABEL SAYS: 10 calories, 0 g fat per tsp

THE REALITY: One teaspoon would be plenty if you drank coffee out of a Dixie cup. But stir a couple of tablespoons into your mug and you're looking at 60 calories and 3 grams of saturated fat, "about what you'd get if you used half-and-half," says

Read More »from 3 Misleading 'Diet' Foods

By Lauren Le Vine, REDBOOK

Mariah, 30, and Greg, 28, have been dating for four years and living together for one. They leave one shared laptop in the living room, and they each have their own computers in addition to that one. Mariah always logs out of her Facebook account after using any of the three computers, which makes Greg think she may have something to hide. She says it's a force-of-habit privacy thing. Who's right?

Related: 17 5-Minute Marriage Makeovers

He says: "We've been together for four years and now that we live together, I assumed we shared everything. When Mariah makes a point of logging out of Facebook on any of our computers, it makes me think she has something to hide. It's not like we're still in college using shared computers in the library, and someone can stir up some drama or change your profile if you leave Facebook logged in to your account. There are only two of us in our house, and all I would do if I needed to use FB after Mariah is log her

Read More »from Settle an Argument: Should Your Partner Know Your Facebook Password?

By REDBOOK

Regular life often feels like a workout-but does it count toward the 30 minutes of physical activity you're supposed to get each day? Sometimes. The facts, from Robert Stoner, president of the American Health and Fitness Association:

1. Carrying your baby: It's not exercise.

It may leave your arms sore, but hoisting a baby or even a toddler doesn't rate as a workout in the health sense because it doesn't engage your cardiovascular system. What's more, studies show that women carrying things slow down, which prevents you from burning as many fat calories as you would walking solo or pushing a stroller briskly for 20 minutes.

Related: 23 Power Foods to Eat More, More, More Of

2. Dashing up and down the stairs: It's exercise!

Stair workouts slash more calories than walking does - up to 100 calories in 15 minutes. So making 10 trips up and down between floors of your house counts as at least part of your daily workout requirement.

3. Shopping at the mall: It's exercise!

Read More »from Does This Count as Exercise?