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Blood samples from over one million children from across the United States were tested for the study. Of those, 50.5% had detectable levels of lead in their blood. Almost 2% of the population had BLLs over 5 μg/dL (micrograms per deciliter), the level considered elevated by the CDC. About half of one percent had levels over 10 μg/dL. But as the authors and the CDC reiterate, there is no known “safe” level for lead in our blood, which can lead to developmental issues in kids like learning problems and nervous system damage....

Rowling clearly knows where the Great Hall is, where the dungeons to the Slytherin and Hufflepuff common rooms diverged, and how far Hagrid lives from the castle walls. The books are meticulous in this regard, which is why it’s so incredibly confusing that no one, not even the most pubescent of characters, ever hits the showers in the Harry Potter universe. Hogwarts does have bathrooms with toilets. One of these even features the entrance to a hidden chamber where an 80-foot snake resides and a toilet ghost....

Any parent who has felt guilt from that pile of waste a kid leaves in the wake of a holiday can feel a bit better. The 1 million marine animals that suffer plastic-related deaths each year are all clicking, squeaking, and blubbing together, “It’s about damn time!” The announcement is in line with Hasbro’s first-of-its-kind toy recycling partnership in which they pay for parents to pack up a box with a wide range of toys (Hasbro and non), and send them to Terracycle, where they become plastic pellets that are then used to create playground equipment, benches, and other such things....

At its most basic, it’s an analog Halloween mask that they can wear around the house while pretending to be Iron Man. The eyes are bigger than other masks, but nonetheless, it’ll work just fine. That’s actually its secondary function, though. First and foremost, it’s a 10-level AR game in which kids become Iron Man and try to defeat Thanos, not to mention any enemy who crosses their path. The mask houses a smartphone, which is running an Android/iOS app, and acts like a virtual reality headset, except it’s augmented reality since the phone’s camera can see through said giant eye holes....

For decades, HBO produced penetration-free porn that allowed kids to play peeping tom without risking seeing something more aggressively explicit. With few dads hiding elicit copies of Playboys in the garage anymore, HBO’s late-night offerings represented one of the few places where porn could be encountered in a semi-wholesome way. Losing that is bad not because kids should look at porn, but because they will. And now they will find it on tube sites that may show them more than they wish to see....

Spider-Man (2002) Peter Parker gets bitten by a radioactive spider and so begins the teen’s unlikely and awkward march toward becoming a superhero. Nearly everything about this movie is perfect. Tobey Maguire plays Peter/Spidey with equal parts charm, self-doubt and wide-eyed gee-whiz wonder. He’s aided and abetted by a stellar supporting cast that includes Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Cliff Robertson, Rosemary Harris, and J.K. Simmons. Sam Raimi directs with style and assurance, imbuing this origin story with genuine heart, pulse-pounding action, and of course, that super-romantic upside-down kiss in the rain....

The concept is so simple you’re going to feel angry for not pitching it to Shark Tank. This illustrated slip-on cover goes over ordinary card tables (the kind with the folding legs) and turn them into cool-looking forts. No pillows, no sheets, no taping giant cardboard boxes together required. The Hideaboo Hideout covers come in 4 themes: Happy Camper, Submarine, Enchanted Castle, and Outer Space Rocket. They also feature a puppet backdrop in case your kid wants to reenact MacBeth with My Little Ponies....

The video mocks “every dumb media company thinks you like them enough to become a paid subscriber” and the services they’re betting on, each of which deserves the scorn it receives for different reasons. Netflix is “the company that used to send you DVDs that would sit unwatched on your coffee table” that now runs “a streaming service full of shows that will sit unwatched in their own library.” It also mentions Quickster, which a real below-the-belt shot....

Each truck in this series comes with a collectible wheel, and the packaging provides in-depth stats such as truck type, strengths, crash attack moves and “motor-vation” — aka what gets these trucks out of the garage in the morning. There are 16 to collect, which means 64 gigantic wheels, and a whole lot of smashing, crashing, and crushing. Kids can kick up the dirt with these ground-pounding replica wreckers, each of which features four signature giant wheels and break-apart features....

“Even if kids can’t understand the words, they can understand tone and the way their parents are talking,” says Dr. Brian Johnson who co-authored Warning Signs: How to Protect Your Kids from Becoming Victims or Perpetrators of Violence with Dr. Laurie Berdahl. “If their parents are becoming agitated by what they’re seeing or hearing it could create a reaction that’s potentially harmful.” This is largely due to the fact that a child’s brain is still developing the tools it needs to separate fact from fiction....

“I have a 13-year-old daughter and a 7-year-old son,” Anderson says. “The tax credit payments are coming just in time for my husband and I to start making payments on our daughter’s new braces.” Braces aren’t Anderson’s only financial worry. Like many American parents, she’s fighting a financial war on multiple fronts. “Our health insurance has gotten more expensive over the years and this will help us offset those costs,” she says....

“I made the choice to watch what’s on and I want to know what’s going on,” he said. “Then an obstacle comes up, that just so happens to be someone I love dearly.” TV hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s gone everywhere. Streaming services and smart devices have made programs constantly available. And that ubiquity is having a profound but overlooked effect on our relationships. “People have this impression that TV is dead, like the effects aren’t there,” says Professor Jeremy Osborn, who teaches communications at Cornerstone University....

Fundamentally, friends accept us, and, in a way, they validate our judgment, because we choose these people, and they show up, for no other reason than they’re our friends. But that’s part of the problem as well. There’s no discernible start time to a friendship, or any family blood or marriage license that binds and compels us to work out problems, leaving the door perpetually open. “Friendships are tenuous relationships,” says Irene S....

But that’s not the case. Anyone can learn how to be charming. And when wielded well, charm is not the bastion of other people and the goal is not something other-worldly. In fact, the end result is actually pretty basic and applies to every relationship: to make someone feel good. “You make the other person feel understood, valued, and loved,” says Sonja Lyubomirsky, professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, and author of The How of Happiness....

In my 18 or so years as an adult attending big meals around the Thanksgiving table, I’ve never gotten close to finding any answers. In fact, I’ve barely been able to get a rise to a good political debate. Not that I’d want to. Politics are not feelings and feelings are what I want to explore with the men of my family. They’re my blood. And, as such, I suspect they’d understand my pain and joy, angst and elation, sorrow, and confusion more than most people on this planet....

Casual friendship certainly has its pluses. Nothing ever goes deeper than talking about house projects or the occasional meme. It’s fine and a good escape from heavy issues, but you need friends who can take on weight and talk about the bigger stuff. You can have the most supportive partner, but it’s too much to ask that person to be your only outlet (and often bad for your marriage if that’s the case)....

What exactly is an Inch Bot, you ask? Made with parts provided by LittleBits, it’s an easy-to-build robot that crawls along and, if you have two of them, can engage in epic wrestling battles. You will need the LittleBits servo, LittleBits P4 power, LittleBits battery and cable, two bamboo skewers, three AA batteries, a paperclip, cardboard, a utility knife, a hot-glue gun, and pliers to make your Inch Bot. And how to build it?...

But it’s dinnertime. Past dinnertime, in fact. And you are a responsible parent, dammit! So get it in gear! No frozen pizza tonight. No sir. We need fresh vegetables and protein. We need to model some healthy eating habits for this child. This story was submitted by a Fatherly reader. Opinions expressed in the story do not reflect the opinions of Fatherly as a publication. The fact that we’re printing the story does, however, reflect a belief that it is an interesting and worthwhile read....

What Exactly Are ADD and ADHD, Again? For the non-doctor, Dr. Brown doesn’t separate ADD and ADHD, but the clinical definition has to do with the executive functions (not that time you went to your boss’ wedding — it’s things self-control and problem solving) around these disorders. “We’re looking for problems with the unfolding of the development of the brain’s self-management system,” says Dr. Brown. There are 6 components parents should look for:...

Zach Sims wanted to learn how to code, so he launched the online platform Codecademy five years ago and now anyone can go there to learn programming languages from Java to Python. “I’m not a programmer by trade,” says Sims. “We actually started the company to teach me to program, and this is the hands-on learning experience that I wanted.” ALSO: In The Future Everyone Codes, Prepare Your Kid With a DIY Computer It’s become pretty common to grumble that America doesn’t make things anymore, but that’s not exactly true — it’s just that old people like you can’t necessarily envision what it is we’ll be making in 20 years....