A baby has gone viral on TikTok with her dad and mom’s help – and her impressive heavy metal drumming skills. The little girl named Liz is racking up the views on the platform under her alter-ego, Heavy Metal Baby. With her dad’s help, Heavy Metal Baby drums along to classic songs from some of the biggest groups out there. She’s mastered the drums for “Down With the Sickness” by Disturbed, “Dragula” by Rob Zombie, “Walk” by Pantera, and more....

My wife, on the other hand, along with many of our friends with small children, did not share my freewheeling (some might say selfish) view of scheduling. They ascribed instead to the “I don’t want to deal with a batshit crazy baby or toddler who hasn’t napped all day, and we’re going home right now” philosophy of parenting. It took a few rough Saturdays in which I flew too close to the sun blowing past nap time, but I started to see the light....

And when it comes to the women of children’s literature, the picture books foldouts men see and re-see nightly, things get doubly weird. Moms in kids books are attractive — really attractive — in an ineffable but undeniable way. They’re so present! They’re so good at picking flowers! They can talk to animals! To pervert Jessica Rabbit’s famous line, “They’re not good, they’re just drawn that way.” And it’s hard when you haven’t slept for 20 hours and you’re rereading a rhyme for the 34th time, not to notice....

“While breastfeeding, a woman isn’t likely to get a regular period, but ovulation is still possible,” explains Jones, who moonlights as Astroglide’s resident sexual health adviser. “This is one of the reasons I never recommend using breastfeeding exclusively for contraception.” Although hormonal forms of birth control are generally regarded as safe for the baby, nursing mothers often avoid using them because the progesterone and estrogen can mess with their milk supply....

“The phrase emotional bullying is something that has been around for a long time,” says parenting counselor Ann Pleshette Murphy, who serves as a board member for the parenting non-profit Zero to Three. “It is very much what girls around middle school begin to exhibit because it’s just so important at that age to belong, to not be excluded and to compare yourself to others.” Attacking those important needs is exactly the modus operandi of the mean girl....

Johnny Jones, a 46-year-old dad of three, works two jobs and needed a release. So, he decided to try gardening. That was a decade ago. These days, he spends about five hours a week tending to his vegetables. He says the silence and serenity of the garden helps him feel prepared for the stress of his other job as a Lieutenant at a fire station in Hazel Crest, Illinois. Here, Jones explains why tending his garden makes him very zen....

My son and I decided to go bowling for our weekly ‘hanging out’ time. We have a great bowling alley in our town – nothing fancy, just a really cool, really fun place. It’s been around since I was a kid. I remember going there when I was little, too, and I always had such a great time. One of my favorite parts was always the pinball machine. It’s this Indiana Jones-themed machine that sat in the corner....

How do you downsize your kids’ toy collection when you have too many? Surgically. A mass toy exodus can lead to an uprising that just make you feel guilty enough to replace the missing toys … with interest. The Evaporating Toy Chest Right in front of me, with the personal care and empathy of a carpet bombing run, my grandmother would tear through my toy chest. “CRAP!” she’s say, and toss something into a bag....

The study, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, looked at 244 kids — 81 children evaluated at Children’s Hospital Colorado and 163 marijuana exposure incidences at the state’s regional poison center (RPC) — with the median age of 2.4 years old. On average, the rate of pot poisoning at the hospital increased from 1.2 per 100,000 before legalization to 2.3 per 100,000, and annual RPC pediatric marijuana cases increased 5-fold from 2009 to 2015....

But these pandemic times present a challenge to parents who want to get started with babywearing: How can you get a perfect fit without an expert helping you physically adjust it to your body and baby? Turns out that pre-recorded classes, webinars, and live video consultations — some of which start as low as $10 a session — can help, and be a worthwhile investment as you start to learn more about babywearing....

The first rule of changing diapers anywhere should be safety first, according to Dr. Sarah Kohl, a pediatrician and travel health specialist. And that means finding a flat, level surface. “Using the floor is the best option,” says Kohl. “If you use the sink the baby may roll off, grab the hot water, or get injured on the plumbing.” If the floor of the public washroom doesn’t sound like the most hygienic place for a baby, that’s because it isn’t....

“I’ve found that the worst times were when they did not communicate with each other,” user ghenne04 wrote. “Someone would be mad about something, bothered by something, unhappy about something, and would not talk it through with the other person. My dad would just simmer until he blew up in a rage, and my mom would sulk into depression and say everything was fine.’” “At one point, my mom was so mad at my dad she tore up their marriage license and flushed it,” wrote another user, Ktlyn41....

1. Consider Mediation “Mediation, a process where you work out the terms of your settlement — from custody to assets — with the assistance of a neutral third-party mediator saves time and money over going to court, and you stay in control,” says family law expert Bari Weinberger, a certified matrimonial attorney and founder of Weinberger & Family Law Group of New Jersey. Moreover, a divorce played out in family court becomes public record....

Non-Invasive Saliva COVID Testing for Kids In the early days of the pandemic, some experts were skeptical of looking for coronavirus in saliva samples. But the saliva testing method is becoming more and more popular. Spitting into a test tube is more pleasant than getting swabbed in the back of the nose. And recent studies suggest it may be as accurate. When getting your kids a spit test for COVID-19, make sure they don’t eat or drink for at least a half hour before the test....

How to Function on No Sleep at Work: 14 Tips to Get You Through the Day 7 AM: Open the Window and Drink Some Water Natural light signals our brains to be up-and-at-’em, says Deirdre Conroy, behavioral sleep medicine clinic director at the University of Michigan. So open the window and soak in the first light to activate your energy. Dehydration seriously compounds fatigue, so be sure to drink a glass of water....

She’s a Type A ascendant career woman. He’s a starving painter. Depending on how they handle money, intimacy, and responsibility they’re either going to get divorced — or have the time of their lives! That scenario is either a) a movie that a studio dumped in a January release date, or b) advice from relationship coach Lauren Handel Zander on how to handle too much (or too little ambition) in a marriage....

The process should begin with parents really figuring out where the pain points are, explains Joani Geltman, clinician, parenting coach, and child development professor at Curry College. “What’s going on? What is causing their kid to get frustrated and throw a tantrum or not talk in class?” she encourages parents to ask. “Find out form the teacher what are the specific time and circumstances that causes kid’s anxiety.” How to Help a Child with Anxiety About School Speak with the child’s teacher to develop a partnership and get them on board with solving the problem....

Zombies are big in the Morgan household. For one thing, Daddy loves zombie movies, zombie games, etc. For another, we have four adventurous kids (ages almost2-almost7), and they’re both thrilled and terrified at the idea of zombies. They also waver on the is-it-real-or-not line on things like ghosts, star wars, etc. That’s just how their ages are. The line is very thin and sometimes completely invisible. I think the best thing you can do is establish a two-fold attack: de-mystify and prepare....

One of the best ways to protect the house from any form of the virus is to create a distinct set of barriers that make it harder for the virus to enter the home and spread, according to Dr. Brent Laartz, infectious disease expert and author of Protect Yourself: From Ebola to Zika, In the best circumstances, the first barrier for a virus is vaccination. But there are no coronavirus vaccinations yet developed....

RELATED: The Most Dangerous Toys and Baby Products Recalled in 2017 This was national news and difficult to miss, but that’s not always the case with furniture, children’s products, and clothing — which made up two-thirds of all product safety issues in 2015, according to the CPSC. With car companies accidentally maiming people Olympics as well, the real challenge is keeping all these recalls straight. Unless your kid gives you enough spare time to read Safekids....