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Last week I clicked over from Facebook to a NYT essay asking whether city life is really good for children. Predictably, the comments section was full of passionate debate over the relative benefits and drawbacks of cities vs. suburbs when it comes to raising kids.

And, just as predictably, an entire category was left out of the alleged options: small towns.

I've moved a lot during my adult life, and have had the opportunity to experience parenthood in a variety of locations. I've raised kids in two big cities (Minneapolis and Chicago) and two economically depressed medium-sized cities (South Bend, Indiana and Lansing, MI). I toted babies around a strip-mall suburb outside of Minneapolis and in an apartment complex on the edge of a well-to-do suburb outside of Nashville, TN.

But I'd also lived in small towns throughout my childhood, and when my husband and I were tired of moving around and decided to settle in somewhere, it was small town life we chose.

Image credit: Time.com

For most bloggers, a press mention is exciting. A quote in a well-known magazine or newspaper confers a stamp of legitimacy to writers who work primary online. A feature can open up new audiences and even start the dominoes falling toward new opportunities.

But with every press mention there comes a risk. Interviewers can be friendly enough, but when the article goes to print, the "spin" calculated to grab attention (and, in some cases, stir a pot that doesn't exist) can misrepresent people in painful ways. Nuanced stories fade into the background while out-of-context details - the more controversial the better - take center stage.

Earlier this week well-respected blogger Katherine Stone of Postpartum Progress got burned by Katherine Rosman in a Wall Street Journal article that twisted her interview as part of a condescending ridicule of women-focused conferences. Katherine posted her own apology to her family and

5 things I actually worried about (that I wish I hadn't)My husband likes to tease me about my worry wart tendencies, and I always reply with a simple statement; "I worry because I care." I think nothing could be more true when it comes to motherhood and wanting to do the best you can at the most important job you'll ever have. But now that I've been doing this parenting thing for 8 years, I look back and realize that there were some things I worried about so much, and wasted so much energy on that if I could go back in time and change things, I would definitely worry less. Thinking back to my first year as a new mom, here are the top 5 things I worried about the most, and wish I hadn't, because when it comes to these subjects, it all worked out in the end.

1. Sleeping Through The Night
The most common question I get from other moms about all 3 of my babies was and is, "how is (s)he sleeping?" From the beginning I put so much pressure on myself to establish a sleep routine, and get my baby to sleep through the night that I missed

Image: Sarah FernandezShy is not a word that I would use to describe my four-year-old daughter. "Look at me! Look what I can do!" is what is typically coming out of her mouth. So when it was observation day at her ballet class a few months ago I couldn't figure out why she froze. She started out participating and then suddenly she wouldn't move other than to hold the teacher's hand and hide behind her leg while gazing at the floor.

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Afterwards I discovered that she didn't want anybody except for me and the mothers of her good friends, who are also in the class, watching her. She had stage fright and didn't want all those other parents watching her too. I totally get it as I don't like speaking in front of large crowds either (ironic since my audience is the Internet!), but I wanted her to feel confident and be able to perform the ballet moves that she's been working so hard all year to learn.

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Kalli Atteya (left), Niko Atteya (right) (photos: courtesy Kalli Atteya)

Khalil Mohamed "Niko" Atteya,12, must have been terrified when a woman in a burka grabbed his arm as he stepped off a school bus in Alexandria, Egypt and hauled him toward a motorized cart—until he saw her bright blue eyes through the slit in the dark fabric. "My first reaction was…[wondering] if that was my mom or not, and then I saw her eyes," Niko told Fox News. "I thought, 'Thank God. I'm going to finally get out of here. I'm going to be free.'"

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It's a parent's worst nightmare. In August 2011, Kalliope "Kalli" Atteya of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, agreed to travel to Egypt with her ex-husband, Mohamed, and only child, Niko. A few days later, her son was gone.

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Mohammed had abandoned the family in 2000, only three months after Niko was born. "Basically he married me for a visa," Kalli told Fox. They divorced in 2005.

In late July 2011, at the height of

This 4th grader's essay on marriage equality gets right to the point. (Photo: raffa3l2 via Reddit)There was a time when a great school essay earned a place on mom and dad's fridge. Today, it can spark a national political conversation and land a place in internet history.

That's what happened when an anonymous fourth-grade student opted to tackle the complicated issue of marriage equality -- and managed to boil it down to its most basic point.

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"Why gay people should be able to get married is you can't stop two adult's [sic] from getting married because there [sic] grown and it doesn't matter if it creeps you out just get over it," the student wrote.

The teacher was so impressed that he posted it on Reddit on Wednesday, saying that the student shows "More sense than some adults."

"He chose his topic," the teacher, who goes by "rafa3l2," wrote. "I am following the school's curriculum for writing. We attempt to write in a different style every week."

After gaining more than 400 comments on Reddit, the essay caught the attention

I love being pregnant (when I'm not sick and being constantly poked and prodded). So much so that there are things I'll really miss after it's over. A lot. Being pregnant tends to give you a free pass to do/say/act in ways that might never be acceptable outside of your obvious pregnancy state. Many of us start to enjoy these little "freedoms" while we're given the chance. At 19 weeks, I'm finding myself getting used to this pregnant way of life, and it's going to be hard to change back to normal. The majority of them seem to put a bit of a - damper - on the rest of life. When you're back to your post pregnancy state, you might start to wonder why anyone would willingly go back or long for the days of no cravings, regular jeans, and dull hair. These are my (and I know many others) experiences during pregnancy that *ruin* the rest of an un-pregnant life. Enjoy! - By Diana Stone

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By Sasha Emmons for Parenting.com

"What's that on her head?"

It was my daughter Chloe's second day on Earth, and already the mom anxiety had kicked in over what looked like a bruise just above her forehead. "That's just a hemangioma birthmark. It might get a little bigger, but it will go away by the time she's 2," the pediatrician told me. Google gave me more details: A hemangioma, often called a strawberry, is a benign blood-vessel tumor. One in 10 babies (usually girls) will develop one.

My husband, Justin, and I tried to laugh it off as we fell madly in love with our Baby Gorbachev. But as Chloe grew, the hemangioma showed no signs of shrinking. In fact, it had ballooned to the diameter of a golf ball, and was puffed ominously full of blood. People who knew Chloe saw a spunky, smiley, and beautiful kid; strangers just stared at that thing on her head. The pediatrician brushed off my concerns, saying it was just a cosmetic issue. But I couldn't help the nagging feeling