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All these tornadoes lately!  Not to mention floods, earthquakes, nuclear meltdowns and blizzards (had to throw that in for my family up in North Dakota). The end-of-the-world folks have to be buzzing.

Usually I try to shield my kids from disaster stories. But on Friday our family happened to dine within sight of the TVs above a restaurant bar, and my 7-year-old spent the meal avidly reading news headlines about the horrible storms and tornadoes in the South. At that point the death toll was in the 200s; now it’s at 345.

He had a million and one questions. The trickiest for me to answer was why people didn’t go somewhere safe when they heard the sirens? 

Babies are expensive! Nursery furniture, bedding, clothes, toys, bottles and formula, and diapers, diapers, and more diapers … sometimes newly pregnant moms are surprised by just how much money they’ll be spending on their little bundle of joy.

Savvy shoppers have always been able to save money, but thanks to the Internet and online rewards programs, it’s becoming easier for busy expectant moms to take advantage of special offers even before their baby is born.

Parenting is hard enough when both parents are in the same home. But when you are divorced or no longer with your significant other, it can make parenting that much more difficult.

Children often like to play both sides, sometimes pitting one parent against the other to try to get their own way, which can create havoc in an already delicate relationship. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Let’s have a show of hands: How many of you have added a little color this spring? It could be anything – a few brushes of bronzer? A quick trip to a tanning studio? An application of sunless tanning lotion, either at home or in carwash style? Or even the “real” way, on a beach somewhere?

OK, I’m putting down my hand so I can keep typing. All winter I resolve to be fine with my natural skin tone, but when it’s time to break out the shorts and sleeveless shirts, I can’t bring myself to keep it.

Not only would my skin be healthier in the long term if I could bring myself to stay out of the sun, I feel a twinge of guilt for contributing – in however small a way, because I never get very tan! – to the societal preference for a “healthy” glow.  When I read articles like the one in last week’s Post-Dispatch about young women who have gotten skin cancer from tanning beds, I feel that twinge a little more strongly.

A few weeks ago we reported on the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Regional Competition. Under strict rules, time constraints and limited resources, teams of 25 students built a robot to perform tasks against a field of competitors. Students from more than 40 high schools in Missouri and eight other states battled their bots at the Chaifetz Arena in March. The top performing teams not only earned bragging rights but also a ticket to the preeminent celebration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) at the National Championships.

Luckily for us St. Louisians, the worldwide FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Championships are being held next week at the Edward Jones Dome.