11 Random Things Parents Googled for Their Kids’ Homework

Britney Spears recently revealed she’s going to be taking math classes so she can keep up when her older son learns pre-Algebra … and it’s not just celebs like Spears who need some extra help when it comes to understanding their kids’ school work. Of course, most of us non-famous folk don’t go so far as to return to school just for that reason. (Way to go the extra mile, Brit!) Instead, we turn to everyone’s favorite resource: Google.

I asked parents to tell me what strange, perplexing homework question or issue forced them to seek guidance on the Internet and here’s how they responded.

Read more at Babble.com.

Emoji Is the Fastest Growing Language in the U.K. (Really)

When it comes to modern technology, I consider myself sophisticated. Modern. Savvy. Hip. “With it.”

I stream movies, download music, text regularly, take selfies and #HashtagLikeItsGoingOutOfStyle.

But when it comes to one particular, tech-driven trend, I’ve realized I’m a Luddite — and an unrepentant one at that. I, drumroll please, don’t speak emojii.

I’ve been known to sprinkle smiley or sad faces here and there, but I use them sparingly and in conjunction with the good ol’ English language, not in place of it. It’s true that a picture can say a thousand words, but a centimeter-tall icon? Not so much.

Which is why I find recent news from across the pond profoundly disturbing.

Read more at Babble.com.

I’m Auctioning Off the Opportunity to Rename My Children

Are you looking for a way to distinguish your brand in an increasingly crowded media landscape? Hoping to go beyond traditional advertising to pursue something, or rather, someone, with true potential for growth?

Allow me to be of service. I’m thrilled to announce that I am staging an auction for the rights to rename my two adorable children after whichever corporate sponsors ultimately devote the most resources — cough, cold hard cash, cough — to emerge the winners of this exciting event.

Read more at Babble.com.

Dear Will and Kate, Please Don’t Name the Royal Baby “Alice”

Dear Will and Kate,

Please excuse my terrible informality of not addressing you as duke and duchess, respectively, but I’d like to note that I am addressing you by your first names for a reason. I imagine that, at this point in your lives, you’re rather fond of your names. You’ve grown into them and like the sound of them for various reasons. Kate, maybe you like yours because your favorite thing to do could be curling up on a Kensington Palace couch on a rainy day and binge watching the classic American sitcom, Kate and Allie. Will, perhaps you’re a giant fan of will.i.am and sometimes do a spirited performance of “Boom Boom Pow” in the shower.

I’m pretty attached to my first name, too. It is Alice. Rumor has it that you might give this lovely five-letter moniker to your daughter. I’m asking you, your highnesses, to refrain.

Read more at Babble.com.

9 Ways to Respond When Co-Workers Call Your Maternity Leave “Vacation”

Are you a mom who took maternity leave? It was the best vacation ever, right? Didn’t you just laze the days away on your unstained sofa, snuggled up with a good book and a glass of Cabernet while your precious one slept peacefully all night and day long? Didn’t you emerge from your two or six or 12 weeks — 12! You slacker! — feeling relaxed and refreshed, and not, say, like a leaky-boobed sleepless zombie prone to intermittent crying fits and painful flashbacks to the time someone sewed her genitals back together after they expelled an entire human being?

Excuse me, where was I? Oh yes, vacation! Maternity leave is an amazing vacation … tell your friends!

I’ll give you a minute to punch your computer screen now.

Read more at Babble.com

9 Games Your Toddler Really Wants to Play

There’s no escaping it: If you’re indoors with your toddler for the day, often you’ll be stuck entertaining him or her for hours instead of attending to lofty goals like investigating cold fusion, drafting global peace treaties or, you know, cleaning out the kitchen junk drawer — all critical tasks that are rather difficult to accomplish with a chubby troublemaker underfoot.

That’s not to say that toddlers aren’t capable of entertaining themselves — it’s just how they choose to do it that can drive any mom or dad batty. Presenting nine games your toddlers would love to play, if only you’d let them:

Ring Around the Coffee Table

Run around the coffee table in circles. Whoever doesn’t pass out from exhaustion first wins.

Read more at Babble.com

Teens Imagine “If Men Could Lactate” in Hilarious Essay

Can you picture what the world would look like if men could lactate and women could not? A co-ed group of California high school students did and the results were amazing.

School boys would brag about how far they could “fire” their breast milk, lactation would be weaponized in video games, and “Brad Titt” would star in such films as “Money Boob.” On a more serious note, “breastfeeding in public would be encouraged” and men “would bring their babies to their workplace and it wouldn’t be a distraction,” according to an essay by Madison Holland, Peter King, Zack Matar, and Jacob Rivera, 11th graders at Pioneer High School in San Jose, Calif.

Read more at Babble.com.

The First Question This Teacher Asks Her Kindergarteners Every Morning Is Heartbreaking

…[Sonya] Romero-Smith’s toughest day, she said, came when authorities removed a malnourished child from her classroom after it was discovered that one of his parents had overdosed on drugs.

“Having a 5-year-old beg not to be taken away by police was devastating. I remember I gave this child the only thing I could find which was a stuffed toy that I had in the class,” she said. “I told this child that I would make sure he was OK and that all I wanted him to do was love and care for this stuffed toy.”

It was Romero-Smith’s desperate, last-ditch effort to comfort the traumatized boy … and, amazingly, it seemed to work.

Read more at Babble.com.

Help! I Might Be Addicted to the Most Annoying Kids’ Videos on the Internet…

Forget whiny Caillou. Forget hyperactive SpongeBob. If you want a divisive character in the world of children’s entertainment, check out DisneyCollector and her YouTube channel.

Actually, better yet, don’t check out DisneyCollector because you or your child might just get addicted, and I really don’t want that on my conscience…

Read more on Babble.com.

New Company Helps Moms and Women Everywhere ‘Work on Their Own Terms’

Milena Berry has the type of lifestyle many harried working moms would kill for. She’s a CEO who works from home most days and adjusts her working hours to ensure plenty of quality time with her family. She also builds room into her schedule for herself, enjoying yoga, cycling, and other exercise.

But Berry, 37, doesn’t want to be one of just a few women to achieve that coveted goal of work/life balance. She wants to be one of many — and it’s her job to make that happen.

Berry and Katharine Zaleski are the co-founders of PowerToFly, a new company that matches women with technical and editorial skills to remote work opportunities that allow them to control their schedules… Read more on Babble.com.