Why, it’s simple! Go to Charlie’s Playhouse! They have an online toy store that sells games and toys inspired by Darwin. They have compiled a very helpful pdf  list of children’s books about evolution and Darwin, most of which are available on Amazon. And they have started a blog, aimed at giving us parents info on interesting evolution-themed topics, that we can pass on to our families. Your one-stop evolution shop!

Founder Kate Miller, Ph.D., is a mother and a scientist who started Charlie’s Playhouse to provide evolution-themed toys because, the website states, “there aren’t any. Our children deserve to know about the dazzling history of life on this planet.”

They currently offer three toys (teaching aids) in their product line-up. Their flagship product is the the 18-foot-long Giant Timeline that allows kids to skip and jump through the 600-million-year history of life. Alternatively, they offer the smaller Giant Timeline Poster, which has a similar graphic of 67 animals in the fossil record, but is sized to hang on a wall. Finally, they offer the Ancient Creature flash cards, each with an illustration and fun facts about a fossil from the Giant Timeline. Besides toys, they also offer some cool cafe press junk, including kids’ shirts that say “Product of Natural Selection”.

I haven’t ordered anything from the site yet, but I think a Giant Timeline is definitely in our future. And I plan to show it to Little Skeptic Girl’s second-grade teacher to see if she’d like to borrow it to use in her class. (I won’t bother offering it to Little Skeptic Boy’s preschool teacher, though.) I also will use the book list to help me find some evolution-themed books for my kids, since we don’t have any in our house. (Which is shocking and distressing, since we have a huge collection of children’s books.)

I’m really enjoying the blog, and have added it to my feed-reader. I’ve learned about all sorts of fossil animals, including a turtle with no top shell, and a cat-sized frog called “Beelzebufo”. Fun stuff!

But don’t take my word for it. Check out Charlie’s Playhouse yourself.

Favorite quote:

You may hate being pregnant. Even if you feel great physically. You may not bond with your baby. You may not feel overjoyed and amazed whenever your baby kicks. You may find it annoying. You may feel gross having a person inside you. This is not a sign that you will be a terrible mother. Once your baby is here, you will love it.

If you are, or a lady you love is, currently building a human, check it out!

I had my tonsils out when I was 20. On spring break from college, I came home for a tonsillectomy. I wanted to be in the Bahamas with my girlfriends, but I had a running case of strep throat that I couldn’t shake. Doctors told me removing my tonsils and adenoids was the only way to get better. 

Immediately, I thought, “Yea! Ice cream!” But my doctor nipped that in the bud. He said ice cream was no longer recommended for tonsillectomy patients because the milk fat generated phlegm. I was bummed, but thought I would power through anyhow.

Now, for those unfamiliar with the procedure on an adult, let me tell you first hand that the recovery is rough. Really rough. I’ve never, ever felt so awful. By comparison, first trimester “morning” (really all-day) sickness and labor/delivery were a breeze. While convalescing, my doctor told me to drink water all the time to keep the throat moist. Guess what, buddy? My throat hurts! Water didn’t feel good, but ice cream sure would have. It was a long two weeks before I felt marginally better.

A friend recently told me that her son was having his tonsils out. She said she’d already stocked up on a load of ice cream for him. I felt a Helpful Mommy urge I couldn’t suppress. “Did you check with his pediatrician on that? Because when I had my tonsils out, they told me to avoid ice cream because it makes mucus.” Then she laid a bomb on me. “Oh, our pediatrician said that’s a wives’ tale. Milk doesn’t make mucus.” What?! Even my husband, as hard a skeptic as they come, said, “Really? I’ve heard my whole life that milk creates phlegm.” My friend stuck to her story, and I had to investigate.

Turns out, she’s right. The cardinal rule of avoiding milk when you have a cold isn’t necessary. Milk does not create phelgm. However, milk thickens mucus that is already present. So, if you have a respiratory issue where phlegm is present, avoid dairy. But dairy does not generate mucus on its own.

So all ye tonsillectomy suffers, get thee some ice cream! I sure hope you recover easier than I did.

Here’s some background for you: Little Skeptic Boy is five, has four wiggly teeth, and wants Hulk Smash Hands for Christmas. He loves science, as do I, so the other day we had a detailed discussion about the big bang. Next year he starts public school kindergarten, but for now he attends one of the highest-rated preschools in the area, that just happens to be at a Lutheran church in the bible belt. Then today we had this conversation:

Little Skeptic Boy: My teacher said it, but she’s wrong!!

Me: Said what, baby?

LSB: She said there was no big bang. She said that God created the universe. But she’s wrong and you’re right!

Me: Uhhhhh…

OK, now let’s not freak out here. Maybe his version of the conversation isn’t exactly what happened. After all he’s only five, and not a reliable witness. Maybe he shouted out that the big bang created the universe, and she replied along the lines of, “Well, the big bang didn’t create the universe, God did.”

Wait, is that any better?

So, it looks like I have three choices. I can take him out of the preschool, which would break his heart. I can do nothing, leave him in the preschool, and deprogram him later. Or I can have a talk with his teacher.

I don’t know, though. What might come out of my mouth?

• “How dare you lie to my child about the basic foundations of physics?”
• “So, are you guys young-earthers? ‘Cause that’s crazy!”
• “Feel free to teach my kid all about the bible, but don’t ever contradict me again.”

Now, if this were public school, I’d be absolutely up in arms. But, this is a private preschool that I chose, and if I’m not happy with it, we can leave. Or we can ignore this and go on. After all, he’s so young he probably won’t remember anything he learns there. Or…

Am I overreacting?

I feel better about the carols than I do about Santa, actually. Unlike a lot of atheists, I didn’t have to reject religion or ever come to terms with the idea that Jesus might not be an actual historical figure. My dad is a staunch atheist, and so was his dad. So I got this message about the whole Jesus story from ‘git go, as we say in the South: it’s metaphor, and most of it is the same as a lot of other myths—the whole virgin birth thing, etc. And Christmas itself is a pagan holiday adapted to Christianity—oh, we got the whole explanation quite early.

Now Santa, on the other hand, was totally real, until I was five and figured his game out. Then Mom broke it to me that there was no actual Santa but there was a “spirit of giving.” By the way, I don’t think the spirit of giving is a good substitute, to a five-year-old’s literalist mind. For a couple years there I thought there was a dude in a white sheet, like a Halloween ghost, who did…something vaguely related to Christmas and generosity. But nice try, Mom.

But the Jesus story was always a pretend story in my house, and so the music has always been really beautiful music about this great story. And so I find myself very moved by it. The whole idea of the “tender and mild” infant who is really a great king in heaven—it’s fantastic. And it’s even more moving this year, as I sit around listening to it with my own tender and mild infant.

I have to add here, since there have been a few atheist posts, that not all of our contributors are atheists, and I certainly don’t think you need to be an atheist to be rational. In fact, my brother is sitting around with his kids, at this time of year, and the carols and the story are going to be more real for them, because my brother met a really cute Catholic girl about ten years ago, and he decided he believed.

But still, raising kids as critical thinkers just can’t be a lost lesson, as a conversation between my brother and his fellow church goers demonstrates:

My brother: So, do you guys actually believe in like, angels and the devil?

Other church folks: Yep, scripture supports it.

My brother: But isn’t that polytheism?

Other church folks: No, because God is the main god.

My brother: Yeah, but Father Odin was the main god, too, you know?

Other church folks: Well, good night! See you next week!

So my brother might be might be bringing the kids up Christian, but it still might be largely metaphor and myth, in his household.

There’s a certain bliss in allowing my kids to remain ignorant of the existence of religion, but they’re going to hear about it from their friends eventually. And I’ve read lots of personal accounts of people whose parents just never really taught them anything about religion either way. Some of these folks — when they finally encounter religion — are astonished to discover that people can really believe such stories are true and real. Others are enchanted by religion (or other woo ) when they first encounter it as teen or adult. So, ultimately, I feel like it’s something I should talk to my kids about in the home.

So far I haven’t fared so well. We taught them a little about their Catholic heritage while visiting their great aunt, a nun, in Lourdes, but (as you’ll see if you read that story ), I balked when faced with trying to explain Jesus to them. More recently, I expected the subject would come up while visiting my own Mormon and Christian family this past summer, but it didn’t. On some level, our situation seems more ideal than Laurie T.’s (where religion comes up in school ), but, on the other hand, it sounds nice to have some natural context (like in Laurie T and LSG’s case ) for the child to bring the subject up.

Anyway, all of that is just background to explain how the subject of Jesus finally came up in our house!

I was watching this hilarious video when my little 5-y.o. Léo came in to see what it was:

After watching, he wanted me to point out who “cheetah” is. At first I thought he was talking about the guy in the tiger-print shirt, until Léo explained, “Someone called him ‘cheetah.’”

“Ah, you mean Jesus,” I said.

Rainbow folks: And our love is not a sin!
Religious Right: Well the Bible says it’s so.
Jesus: [appears miraculously] Well, the Bible says a lot of things, y’know.
All: Jesus Christ!
Jesus: Hey, how’s it going?

We watched it a few times, and Leo loved the part where Jesus appeared magically to do a musical number, and pointed out that He came back for the finale after He’d left.

Well, it’s not exactly Schoolhouse Rock, but that little musical is actually a pretty good (and fun!) introduction to Christianity and to the role religion plays in our society…

When I was younger, I was conflicted about zoos. It’s interesting for me to get to see exotic animals in real life, but does that justify putting the majestic lion in a concrete jail cell, not to mention the number of animals that were probably killed in the hunt for these poor specimens?

Fortunately, those kind of zoos are becoming a thing of the past. As the Zurich Zoo website explains: “Modern zoos consider themselves to be nature conservation centres and have formulated a common worldwide conservation strategy, which is backed up by the world conservation union IUCN.” And their centerpiece — the Masoala Rainforest at the zoo — is phenomenal!

So whenever I need a simple and fun outing to get the family out of the apartment, my first thought is to go to the zoo. We can go there for a relaxing lunch, and a part of what we pay goes towards protecting the rainforests of Madagascar. And the kids learn science to boot!

How does the zoo teach kids about science? Look no further than the brand-new baboon habitat they’ve just installed:

The new baboon area is large enough to support multiple baboon harems, and grows grass that the baboons can pick on their own and eat, as they do in the wild. It’s not large enough to grow all of the baboons’ food (normally they wander over a huge territory ), however, the new enclosure allows the baboons a lifestyle that is a lot closer to what they experience in the wild, allowing for a range of more natural behaviors.

The observation pavilion provides information and ideas on how you can observe the baboons like a scientist. And it is no joke or silly side-show — a lot of our knowledge of primate behavior got started in zoos like this one. One of my favorite primatology books — In Quest of the Sacred Baboon — starts just this way: Hans Kummer performed some of the earliest studies of baboon behavior (back in the 1950’s ) right here in the Zurich Zoo!! You can read stories of their behavior in his book. I was going to say that these you see today might be descendants of the ones he studied, but the ones he studied were hamadryas, whereas my son Nico tells me that the current troop is composed of geladas. Nonetheless, you and your kids will really be stepping right into the scientific community.

The zoo’s role in conservation is pretty impressive as well. I’m especially interested in their program to protect amphibians. If you know me, you know I love to observe frogs in the wild! But, unfortunately, amphibians are delicate creatures that are very sensitive to habitat changes — hence they’re in grave danger worldwide. The zoo’s site explains the following:

Nowadays there isn’t any possibility to stop the expansion of the deadly mushroom or to medically cure the sick amphibians in the wild. To save them, there is only one possibility: to bring the endangered amphibians to protected stations. Here they will be able to live and reproduce in a secure environment. The objective of this operation is to make sure that in the future, when conditions will be more favourable, they can be released in their original habitat.

On one of Nico’s David Attenborough discs (Life in Cold Blood ) we got to see some golden frogs in the wild. Now, sadly, they’re extinct in the wild and currently live only in amphibian breeding and protection centers such as here in Zurich:

I think these are golden frogs, but I’m not completely sure. My husband took all these photos.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the other highlights of this zoo: the fact that they let some of the animals roam free when appropriate. They do an adorable “penguin parade” so the king penguins can go for a walk and get some exercise when its cold enough. They also let the peacocks roam free all around the zoo all the time. But one of my favorites is when they let out the lion tamarins!

Now, I’m sorry that all of my “science outing” ideas are for the Zürich area, which I’m guessing isn’t helpful for more than 90% of the people reading this. However, in the comments of our visit to the solar system we discovered that there are scale models of the solar system all over the world! Similarly, I’ll bet you’ll find that your local zoo or aquarium is involved in science and conservation as well!

I saw some friends of mine taking their one and a half year old daughter through the Santa ritual for the first time. She was barely old enough to focus, but they carefully loaded a plate of cookies in her little hands and walked her over to the Christmas tree, explaining that Santa would later eat the offered snack. And (okay parents, cover the kids’ eyes), they later took little bites out of the cookies to complete the illusion that Mr. Claus had visited during the night.

I admit that the whole scene kind of creeped me out. It wasn’t just that it was a lie, but that it was such an elaborate lie. And that the ritual, the offering, the nice fairy tale nature of it all–it all reminded me of a religious rite. These parents are atheists, like my husband and myself. But they’re doing the Santa thing, because they feel, like we do, that a little irrationality can’t hurt. “But of course,” I said to my husband, when we discussed how to approach the Santa issue, “we shouldn’t go into such detail, with, you know, the cookies and everything.”

He looked like I had taken away dessert forever and ever. “We did that when I was a kid,” he said, “and I loved it.”

So I guess we’re doing that, too.

While we were in that room with Lucy, looking at the diorama of evolution, some woman walks up and asks Lizz, “Did I hear you correctly when you said that ’some people believe in evolution’?”

This led to the following:

The entire exchange lasted only a few moments, but I distinctly remember that I led Jillie away from the Crazy as quickly as possible. I wanted to smack that lady across the mouth.

The funny thing is that I do, to a certain degree, believe in evolution. I also believe in God. and I also believe that YOU DO NOT WALK UP TO A COMPLETE STRANGER AND CRITICIZE THEIR PARENTING.

Personally, I’d like to encourage everyone — yes, including theists — to visit and enjoy science museums and see how amazing and fascinating science is. And I would never make other people’s visits unpleasant by putting them in a defensive position, especially if no one asked for my opinion. I’m very much a partisan of the idea that different things work for different families, so — short of real abuse — I hate passing judgment others’ parenting techniques.

I like to believe that incidents like this one are the exception, and that the skeptic crowd is more willing to allow for a range of right ways to do things (see the post on formula, for example, or even some of discussion in my post about public transportation etiquette).

On the other hand, I may be biased, and there may well be people reading this who think that “the Crazy”’s action was not only typical of science-minded folks, but justified.

Opinions?

I love sugar. I really really love sugar. I generally think of dinner as something I have to endure to get to dessert. In March of this year I stared a monthly cookie/dessert exchange where my friends and I get together under the pretext of exchanging cookies/desserts and their recipes but it’s actually just an excuse to sit around with my friends, talk, laugh, and eat a lot of sugar.

After a particularly good Cookie Exchange I updated my Facebook status with “Jessie is loving the sugar high from Cookie Exchange this afternoon.” A couple of my friends commented on my status informing me that there is no such thing as a “sugar high”.

This seemed crazy to me, I thought it was common knowledge that eating a lot of sugar gives you a buzzed feeling and makes you hyper. Kids go crazy and run around like Tasmanian devils at birthday parties and holidays because of all the sugar, right? Wrong.

It turns out my smarty-pants friends were right, according to The Journal of the American Medical Association’s 1995 meta analysis, sugar does not cause hyperactivity.

JAMA’s Meta analysis looked at 23 studies where children were given food or drinks containing a known quantity of sugar or artificial sweetener (placebo) and their behavior was observed and tested afterward. The tests were double blinded, meaning that neither the children, parents nor the researchers knew which children were getting the sugar and which were getting the placebo. 

The conclusion was: 

       “The meta-analytic synthesis of the studies to date found that sugar does not affect the behavior or cognitive performance of children. The strong belief of parents may be due to expectancy and common association. However, a small effect of sugar or effects on subsets of children cannot be ruled out.”

Although they stop short of saying that sugar has absolutely no effect on children’s behavior, the evidence was very compelling that sugar does not affect the behavior of an average healthy child. 

Even confronted with this evidence it can be difficult to believe. I’ve heard people grudgingly accept that it may not cause hyperactivity in children but insist that it causes rapid spikes and falls in blood sugar levels which create the feeling of the “Sugar Rush” and the “Sugar Crash”.  

The fact of the matter is, if you are healthy, not diabetic and do not have impaired glucose tolerance, your body does a very good job of producing insulin and regulating your blood sugar levels. 

When your kid eats half of his Halloween candy before you can stop him, his body takes care of it by producing a bunch of insulin that keeps his blood sugar in the normal range.  Diabetics don’t produce enough insulin to regulate their blood sugar and can experience high levels of blood sugar and their symptoms are frequent urination, thirst, hunger, weight loss, fatigue, irritability and blurry vision. This is NOT how people describe a “sugar high” in themselves or in their children. 

“But when I’m hungry and I eat a sugary snack in the afternoon I feel a sugar rush.”

Most likely what you feel is your body responding to having fuel, any fuel. You were hungry and now your body has something to burn. Sugar and simple carbohydrates are absorbed into your body quickly so you may feel the effect of having fuel sooner then if you ate protein. 

The “Sugar Crash” is attributed to a sharp drop in blood sugar or low blood sugar with is called Hypoglycemia. According to Harriet Hall (the totally awesome and generous SkepDoc):

      ”Hypoglycemia was a popular “pseudo disease” a few decades ago: all sorts of vague symptoms were attributed to low blood sugar or rapid drops in blood sugar, and patients were advised to avoid sugar and eat protein. When they actually tested blood sugar levels, this idea didn’t hold up. Real hypoglycemia does occur – in diabetics and people with certain other diseases.”

WebMD describes MILD symptoms of hypoglycemia as nausea, extreme hunger, feeling nervous or jittery, cold, clammy, wet skin and or excessive sweating, a rapid heartbeat, numbness in the fingertips and lips and trembling.  Again, not how people describe a sugar crash. 

So why do so many people, myself included—until recently—talk about a “sugar high” as if it is a fact and why do so many parents insist that sugar makes their kids hyper?

1) In my opinion, it doesn’t seem crazy to assume that something you ingest could affect the way you feel or behave. When I take aspirin, my headache goes away, when I drink alcohol, I tell everyone how awesome they are and act like a moron. 

2) Children can be sensitive to caffeine and may be reacting to the small amounts of caffeine that are found in chocolate and soda.  

3) Kids often get lots of sugar at a special event like Halloween, Christmas, or a birthday party. Special events are exciting and fun and can make kids hyper. If I was at a birthday party where I got to run around with 20 of my friends, hit a piñata, and jump in a bounce house, I would act hyper, too! 

4) The big one and the hardest to swallow is parental expectation. We see what we expect to see. There was a study done at The Menningar Clinic and published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology that showed how strong expectations can affect the parent’s perception of their child’s behavior.  

In this study all mothers identified their children as “sugar sensitive”. All the children were given a placebo (aspartame) but half of the mothers were told that their child was given a large amount of sugar. The mothers who thought their child was given sugar tended to stay physically closer to their child, criticized, looked at and talked to their children more then the parents who knew their children had the placebo. The mothers who thought their children ate sugar also rated their children as significantly more hyperactive the control group.  

5) Children respond to subtle and not so subtle cues parents give them. If they hear parents talking about how all kids go wild every time they eat cake, they think they’re supposed to go wild after eating cake. 

Even though I feel a little silly for falling for the myth of the sugar high, I still love sugar! I’m not advocating eating lots of sugar all the time or saying that eating sugar is healthy,  but I’m glad to know that sugar doesn’t cause hyperactivity or any spikes in blood sugar that my body can’t handle. It’s just one fewer thing to worry and feel guilty about. So at my next Cookie Exchange I will enjoy my sugar a little more knowing that I feel “high” because I love eating baked goods and talking with my friends not because all the sugar is doing something weird to my body.