Teens changing Facebook names to hide from colleges

By Lois Solomon, OrlandoSentinel.com/momsatwork

Have you noticed your teen has a new name on Facebook? As they start applying to colleges, they realize that photos of them partying in compromising positions are not going to impress admissions officers. So they are changing their names to make it harder for colleges to find them.

A kid whose last name is “Grossman” will change his Facebook last name to something like “Yuckman,” or if her last name is “Ellis,” she’ll change it to “Ellis Island,” so she is still recognizable to friends but not to an investigating admissions officer.

I was curious whether colleges really spend time checking applicants’ Facebooks, so I asked Naomi Steinberg, owner of Apply Yourself Educational...

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New apps make shopping simpler

By RACHEL METZ, AP Technology Writer

SAN FRANCISCO — Even if you love to shop, it can be a pain this time of year. Stores are crowded, gift options seem endless and it’s hard to determine if you’re getting the best prices.

If you have a smartphone, though, there’s a simple solution: Apps. There are tons of mobile apps to help you save time and cash this holiday season. Most of them are cheap or free.

I tried several apps meant to ease holiday shopping frustrations and found a bunch that make the task easier — and a few that make it more fun.

Price Check by Amazon and RedLaser (free, available for iPhone and Android) — With these two apps on my phone, I felt like a low-price-finding machine. Both let you search for items by...

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Victoria’s Secret stacks its stage with model moms

By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL, AP Fashion Writer

NEW YORK — It’s not just the push-up bras or feathered wings that give some top Victoria’s Secret models their sexy swagger: It’s their off-the-catwalk lives as mothers that give them their confidence and signature curves, they say.

Miranda Kerr, Doutzen Kroes and Alessandra Ambrosio have all been crowned VS Angels, so they are among the half-dozen models to get the best outfits and most face time during the lingerie giant’s televised annual fashion show, which was scheduled to air Tuesday night on CBS. Backstage, wearing their short, hot-pink satin robes, they’re also the ones attracting the most attention.

What were they talking about with all those photographers, makeup artists and...

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‘Sammy in the Sky’ helps kids deal with loss of a pet

By DAVID SHARP, Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine — First there was Marley, the rambunctious Labrador retriever whose death brought readers to tears in John Grogan’s “Marley and Me.” Now there’s Sammy, a mixed-breed hound who’s the subject of another tear-jerker, a children’s book, “Sammy in the Sky.”

When her beloved hound dog died, Pulitzer Prize-Winning journalist Barbara Walsh watched her young daughters tearfully struggle with their loss and with tough questions. Walsh quickly realized there was a story to be told, one that she hopes will help other families deal with the loss of a pet.

But it wasn’t easy getting the book published, even after Walsh enlisted celebrated American artist Jamie Wyeth to fill the...

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Santa goes digital — but is it a good or a bad thing?

By LEANNE ITALIE, Associated Press

NEW YORK — Kids can video chat with Santa, follow him on Twitter or enlist NORAD to track his every move online. And yet in many ways, technology may be making it harder for parents to keep their children believing in the jolly old elf.

At nearly every turn, the Internet threatens to blow the fat man’s cover.

Practically any schoolchild can type “Is Santa real?” into Google. And just a few clicks can bring youngsters to websites that sell customized letters from the North Pole or offer advice on how Mom and Dad can fool the kids into believing in old St. Nick.

“I have a love-hate relationship with technology and Santa,” said Kristi Kovalak, a mom in St. Louis. “The beauty of Santa is the not...

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From polio to chickenpox, vaccines run gamut

By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer

ATLANTA (AP) — Most people don’t think about polio and diphtheria these days because those diseases have been stamped out in the United States, largely because of vaccines.

But a growing number of parents are seeking exemptions so their children don’t have to get those vaccinations and others required by most states for kids to attend school.

Here’s a rundown of the diseases the most commonly required vaccines help prevent:

• Polio, a paralyzing, sometimes deadly disease once seen in terrifying outbreaks, now only occurring in a few developing countries.
• Measles, a once-common illness that causes a rash and in rare cases can be fatal. In recent years, fewer than 100 cases were seen,...

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Turn cute kid sayings into handmade gifts

By HOLLY RAMER, Associated Press

I admit it: I’m one of those annoying people who posts cute things my kid says on Facebook. It’s the closest thing I have to a scrapbook these days, and I know I’m not alone.

But with the holidays coming up, those posts that might have you rolling your eyes can be transformed into thoughtful gifts for your friends and family. Keep an eye out for amusing things other people post about their children, copy them down and turn them into trendy “subway art” — graphic prints or canvases that would be perfect for a playroom or child’s bedroom.

Subway art has been popular among DIY enthusiasts, with many drawing inspiration from copies of vintage signs featuring New York subway stops that were sold by...

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What are we thankful for?

By Priscilla J. Dunstan, McClatchy-Tribune

When asked, “What are you most thankful for?” parents often gratefully answer “My children.” In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I today write about the wonderful traits of each dominant sense, and how each child, through these traits and their personality, is worth being thankful for.

Tactile children: full of boundless energy, always wanting to help and be a part of things, and the child who includes everyone in their play. These characters approach life with unbridled enthusiasm and larger-than-life expression. With these kids, there is no need to guess — we know exactly what they are feeling, when they are feeling it! If something is wrong, they are easy to divert with a simple physical activity. They take great...

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12 hottest trends for baby names in 2012

nameberry.com

Here, the 12 hottest trends for baby names in 2012.

Biggest Big Picture Trend: Modern Hero Names

Mariah Carey did it perfectly when she named her daughter Monroe, a name that honored her heroine Marilyn Monroe in a distinctly modern, non-Blonde Bombshell way. Such surname names may honor heroes real or fictional, contemporary or historic, from the arts, sports, or the world stage, work for girls as well as boys. Other choices we’ve been hearing: Landry (as in football coach Tom), Gatsby (as in fictional hero The Great), and Palin (yes, as in her).

Trend Trying Hardest to Have It All: Same but Different Names

Popular names get popular for a reason: They capture the style of the times and...

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Stromboli recipe for leftover turkey

By Kathy Farrell-Kingsley, Disney FamilyFun magazine

Need a new idea for how to use your holiday food surplus? We’ve got just the solution: a holiday stromboli that’s fun for kids to make. First, prepare our delicious dough. Next, top it with all your extra Thanksgiving fixings. We used a basic turkey and cranberry filling, but you can get creative and improvise. Finally, roll it up, bake it and — voila! Leftovers never tasted so good.

If you don’t have time to make dough from scratch, you can use 1 pound of store-bought pizza dough instead.

Turkey Stromboli

Hands-on time: 30 minutes / total time: 2 hours 25 minutes (includes rising) / serves: 8

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 1 cup warm...

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