Blog Posts by Charlene Prince Birkeland, Shine staff

When I'm looking for gifts for the preschool crowd, I'm always hesitant to buy toys because one, most kids already have tons of toys and two, I know that most parents are trying to reduce the amount of kid clutter in their homes.

There are times, however, when you have to break your personal rules.

My 3-year-old had a chance to play with the Quadrino Arranging Game (pictured at left) today and I'm convinced it's one of the best educational products for preschoolers.

The Quadrino is a 9-inch by 9-inch square filled with colored "tiles" that can be assembled into several different patterns. There are six examples on the back of the box to help guide kids as they work to complete a puzzle.

It's targeted at kids in the two to four age bracket but I think two is a little young for actually putting the puzzles together. And I could easily see a toddler mouthing the smaller red pieces. But for the preschool and up crowd? It's awesome. My preschooler played with it for an hour (which

Photo Credit: Getty ImagesWhen a woman gets pregnant, her age is an important factor as her doctor puts together a care plan to monitor the pregnancy. The older the expectant mom, the higher the risk her baby will be born with an abnormality. Women who are interested in having kids know this information by rote.

And even though a few studies have linked older dads to autism and mental illness, we don't talk as much about any health risks to a baby based on a father's age. A new study may start opening up that discussion.

A research team at Sweden's Karolinska Institute recently determined that kids born to older dads face a higher chance of developing bipolar disorder. According to the study, the risk of bipolar disorder starts to show when the dad is 40 (when the child is conceived). The risk increases in the 55-plus crowd.

Kids with dads in the 55 and older age bracket were 37 percent more likely to develop bipolar disorder than children who were born to twenty-something men. And the risk doubles that they

Photo Credit: fraskedesigns.blogspot.comIf you're into making inspired, homemade birthday cakes for your kids, this idea is for you. Especially if your children love video games. And most especially if they favor the classic, Tetris.

Brownies, colored frosting and a little attention to video game detail will make little gamers swoon over this cake. Yes, swoon because let's face it -- do you think they've ever seen a Tetris birthday cake before? Nope.

In fact, I'm starting to think this would be an awesome idea for those school birthday parties where you have to bring cake into class. Super easy to hand out to kids.

Very simple to make and it'll cost you less than 15 bucks to make. You'll need one box of brownie mix, 2 containers of white frosting and some food coloring. And please, don't feel the need to match specific colors. Mix shades that make this project easiest. (Also, you can probably use any other flavored cake mix. Brownies are just easier to cut.) You can get more details here.

[Via Craftzine]

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Photo Credit: Gareth Cattermole/Getty ImagesMy musical tastes wild and varied so I'm not sure anyone can pinpoint my personality based on what tunes make me groove. While my kids are young (6 and 3), they're still listening to Laurie Berkner, Dora the Explore and mixes I've made that include pop songs I think are kid-friendly (read: I won't be too embarrassed if they sing them in public). They have no idea who the Jonas Brothers are and quite frankly, I've never really listened all that much to the band other than what I hear on satellite radio. But I happened to catch the Jonas Brothers on the Ellen Show yesterday and now? I fully adore them.

Ellen asked them how they stay grounded given all of their fame at such young ages. Nick Jonas, the youngest of the bunch, replied, "We're living every day as it comes and we're trying to do our our best to make our mom proud."

Hey, even I was proud when I heard that statement. And Ellen was nearly speechless. Check it out at the 2:40 mark. And big bro Joe gave Nick a very sincere pat on

Photo Credit: www.oncewed.comYes, cupcakes are all the rage, which means you may need a sassy cupcake stand to display those delish treats.

I'm not a big fan of wire cupcake stands (though I can't pinpoint why!). As for the more traditional tiered stands? They lack a little design zing.

I'm smitten with this very simple idea of creating a cupcake stand out of terracotta planters. Over at the wedding blog, Once Wed, they've pulled together an easy-to-follow tutorial to make this centerpiece.

The instructions call for you to hot glue the terracotta planters to the saucers. But I'd give it a go without gluing them because then you could reuse your prettied up flower pots in the garden.

Full instructions here.

[via Craftzine]

Photo Credit: Getty ImagesI will never forget the first time our first kid flashed his pearly whites and bit a person. It was a normal Saturday morning at home and we were cleaning up our pad. My husband was moving something on the mantel. Our then-18-month-old son walked up behind his pops, who was wearing shorts, and planted his little teeth on dad's calve.

The resulting howl from dad was met by our son being modestly freaked out. And then he laughed and tried it again.

I wasn't the victim and I admit, my kid's antics were slightly funny. But I didn't show it. I picked him up with a firm "No bite," plopped him on his bed and left him there for a minute. And then I freaked out and prayed, "For the love of pete, please don't let our kid be the biter." You know, that kid in daycare that all the parents know about because their kids have his or her teethmarks on their arms? (Thankfully, he never bit another kid. Okay fine, only his older cousin. And it was only once!)

At Yahoo!, we have an internal parents

Photo Credit: www.dailymail.co.ukI have two young boys so I'm used to the sight of bugs and little kids doing things that make me say, "Eww. Gross." Even so, this photo of this 9-year-old girl with 25 snails on her face just creeps me out.

Tiana Walton recently broke a record for keeping the most snails on her face for at least 10 seconds. The previous world record was 15 snails.

If you want to see what she looks like with 25 snails on her face, check out this story. But be warned: you will have bad dreams.

I'm really hoping my kids stick to baseball.

[via Boing Boing]

Photo Credit: Getty ImagesI think I was about 12 when I starting taking on the phone with a boy or two from my school class (Hi Dad! I know the rule was that I had to wait until I was 13 but you know how it goes! Love you!).

But Shine user Teresa A. is facing her own parenting dilemma. Besides being overwhelmed by how fast her kids are growing up, her daughter has found some new admirers. Teresa A writes: "Help! The boys have started calling my teenage daughter."
Teresa A. doesn't say how old her daughter is but I'm guessing that she's in her first or second year of high school.

She wants to know if it's okay for her daughter to chat with boys on the phone yet. If she has a cell phone than the it's a moot topic. But if she doesn't? Her parents can set some boundaries.

So Shine parents, help this mama out. Did you have a rule for when your teen daughters could talk to boys? Did they have to be a certain age? When could they call? For how long? How young is too young to chat with boys on the phone? (And yes,