Over two dozen Maui Police Department officers playedSanta Claus to 30 kids this weekend as part of the annual «Shop for a Cop» event, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: Law enforcement officials take children from a local shelter for homeless families to Kmart, give each kid a shopping cart, and help them choose up to $100 worth of merchandise. FREE SHOPPING SPREE!

As for what sort of «merchandise» the kids went for, well, since the ages ranged from 4 to 14 years old, their picks were pretty much all over the map …

But, naturally, practical stuff like tube socks and und...

When Santa visited Emily Burr’s house when she was a child, he didn’t bother to hide his tracks.

His reindeer left teeth marks on the carrot sticks Burr and her three siblings had set out for them, and Santa’s milk and cookies were half-eaten in the morning.

«We knew that Santa got milk and cookies wherever he went so he didn’t want to eat too much of them,» said Burr, now a graduate student in marriage and family therapy at Kansas State University.

And because the Burrs didn’t have a chimney, Santa landed on the front lawn. On snowy Christmases, Jolly Old St...

If you’re not wild about sharing your tablet with the kids, there’s good news. This year you’ll find more tablets made especially for children. Consumer Reports checked out 5 of the newest, costing between $150 and $200. They’re made for kids but they’ve got features that are all grown up. Some come with with real Android operating systems and features like Wi-Fi and expandable memory.

Consumer Reports examined the tablets, including display quality. Some screens proved hard to view from an angle...

Some San Francisco middle-school parents were taken aback this month when they received a letter describing their child’s stress level.

«We wanted to inform you that the results (of a screening) showed your child’s stress was in the normal range.»

Other parent letters identified high levels of stress.

At least one parent — with a «normal range» kid who is no stranger to homework-induced stress — wasn’t quite sure what to make of the letter sent by SRI International, an education research firm.

The letters went home to students from 11 district middle schools, where researchers are screening ch...

“Whooping cough cases are higher than at any point in the last twenty years and 13 babies have died from the disease, official figures have revealed” The Daily Telegraph reports.
This sad news reinforces the need for pregnant women to get vaccinated against whooping cough.
All pregnant women are now offered vaccination against whooping cough when they are 28-38 weeks pregnant. This is due to the sharp rise in the number of whooping cough cases in the UK.
Whooping cough is a serious illness. Babies who get it can develop severe complications such as pneumonia and brain damage...

Children whose mothers went into pregnancy overweight may have slightly lower scores on certain tests of verbal and numbers skills, a new study says.
The findings, reported online Dec. 10 in the journal Pediatrics, do not prove that their mothers’ extra pounds are the reason for these decreased scores, and experts not involved in the study said it’s too soon to suggest mothers-to-be lose weight for the sake of their kids’ mental prowess.
But the results do add to studies showing that, for whatever reason, kids born to heavy mothers tend to have a somewhat lower IQ than their peers.
For the stu...

Learn facts about elephants, including what they eat, how they live, how big they are, how they talk and more!

Elephants are wonderful animals! They are the largest mammals in the world that live on land. There are two kinds of elephants; African and Asian. Asian elephants have smaller ears and shorter tusks than African elephants. The African elephant is bigger and taller than the Asian elephant.

Do elephants live together?

Elephants live in families. Several families live together in a «herd.» The leader of the herd is usually the oldest female elephant. She is called the «matriarch...

About 60 per cent of parents wanted their children to eat more fruit, the survey of 501 parents found, but only 46 per cent actually served it.

The Australian Pineapples Family Nutrition Report surveyed parents about their eating habits, fruit intake, parental influence on children’s eating habits and whether fresh fruit was bought.

Australian Pineapples ambassador Dr Joanna McMillan said developing healthy eating habits early in life is vital.

«Despite reports showing 20 per...

There have been many recalls on Children’s Tylenol and Motrin over the years due to inadequate (or non-existent) testing procedures. This should be a major concern for parents when their children fall ill. Homeopathic medicine has shown to have an 82.6 percent success rate versus conventional medicine at 67.3 percent response in regards to respiratory tract infections. This article will share some natural alternatives to over the counter medicines.

Medicine cabinet must-haves

These homeopathic medicines can be found at most health food store in quick dissolving tablet form and can be used for ...

The data comes from more than 500,000 parents of new babies who shared their names with the site, which releases the gruesome list annually.

The Baby Centre claims that each of the names was given to at least two children this year «so it’s not a fluke».

Remember, these are real babies who will go on to live their whole lives with these names — unless they change them by deed poll — so please be sensitive in your comments.

Most unusual girls names of...