Baby talk

BY HELAINE R. WILLIAMS

The New Moms Support Group meeting gets off to a late start on a recent, rainy Thursday. - Wednesday, August 20, 2008

HEART & SOUL : If mother is befuddled, organized angels help

JENNIFER HANSEN

Some mothers have the organization stuff down. They handle the startof-school scheduling, paperwork and lists with aplomb. For these women, the first day of school doesn’t loom, it simply arrives. - Wednesday, August 20, 2008

FORCES OF NURTURE : Triplets are sobering, but mother has faith

CINDY MURPHY

When U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder announced in July that wife Betsy Singleton, pastor of Little Rock’s Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church, was pregnant with triplets, a collective gasp could be heard across Arkansas. - Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Creature feature

Do you have a question about pets? We’ll get you an answer from an authority. Send your question to Rhonda Owen, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203 or e-mail rowen@arkansasonline.com My dog Max, a Jack Russell terrier mix, is 9 months old. He’s doing great and learning how to sit and do other stuff, but there’s a problem I don’t know how to handle. He gets sick when I take him places in the car. He sits in the back seat, but isn’t in a box or anything, so this can get messy. What can I do keep him from being carsick? - Wednesday, August 20, 2008

PARENTING : Daughter needs to accept loser father for what he is

JOHN ROSEMOND

DEAR MR. ROSEMOND: My 13-year-old daughter’s father is irresponsible, to say the least. In addition to being a lousy coparent, he frequently cancels visits and is often obviously lying about the reasons. Nonetheless, I’ve told her never to speak badly of him to or even around other people. There are times when I even end up defending him, sort of. - Wednesday, August 20, 2008

What’s in a middle name?

BY MARK JACOB CHICAGO TRIBUNE

The Democrats are ready to nominate a presidential candidate with Hussein as his middle name, and some Barack Obama backers are even adopting Hussein as a middle name to show support. Here are a few more fair-to-middling facts: Middle names are a somewhat recent tradition in Western civilization. No person aboard the Mayflower had a middle name. Only three of the first 17 U.S. presidents had one. - Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Book shelf

— Rhonda Owen

Growing Up, A Parent’s Guide to Childhood, consultant editor Dr. Kate Cronan (DK Publishing, $19.95) Part of the challenge of parenthood lies in dealing with the constant changes in a child’s behavior, personality and body. - Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Check your knowledge

1. Identify the sea named after the first European navigator to find New Zealand and Tasmania. 2. Who was the American statesman of the 19th century who said “Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable” ? 3.What actress starred in the Mexican Spitfire series from 1939 to 1943? 4. What is the largest aerospace company in the United States? 5. In its heyday, The Saturday Evening Post was published how frequently ? 6. The name of a state is included to describe a beef sirloin cut with the hipbone. This piece of meat is what kind of cut? 7. Whose orchestra was noted for playing “The Waltz You Saved for Me” ? 8. Who was president of the United States between Warren Harding and Herbert Hoover? 9. For his role in what movie did George Burns win the 1975 Academy Award as best supporting actor? 10. Is the dipper a fourlegged animal or a bird? Answers 1. Tasman Sea 2. Daniel Webster 3. Lupe Velez, who committed suicide in 1944 4. Boeing 5. Weekly 6. New York cut 7. Wayne King’s 8. Calvin Coolidge 9. The Su - Wednesday, August 20, 2008

EX-ETIQUETTE : Parents, children in same bed just asking for trouble

BY JANN BLACKSTONE-FORD AND SHARYL JUPE

Q: Is it healthy for my exwife to be sleeping with our two preteen daughters in the same bed every night? They alternate weeks between us. The girls have their own rooms at my home, and have no issues. - Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Family briefs

DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE PRESS SERVICES

Single guys, rejoice! A new 30-year study from Michigan State University released Aug. 11 suggests that never-married men are quickly becoming as healthy as their married counterparts. - Wednesday, August 20, 2008