Happy Single Parents' Day!

If you are a single parent, today is your day! Since 1984, March 21st has been set aside to recognize and raise awareness of those who are doing double duty as parents.

The idea for setting aside a day to honor and appreciate what single parents do began in 1984 with an article written by Janice Moglen, a single mother of two. She hoped that this day would some day be recognized in the same way we celebrate parents on Mothers' Day and Fathers' Day. She began a collaboration with Parents Without Partners to petition states to recognize those parents who are both mother and father to their children.

She was only partially successful in her efforts to bring awareness and appreciation to the parents who fill both roles. While Ronald Reagan did officially designate March 21, 1984 as National Single Parents' Day, it hasn't gained widespread recognition. You can help change that by contacting your own state and national representatives and let them know how you feel about the mothers and fathers who are taking on the challenges of child-rearing without the support of a partner.

Single Parents' Day is not printed on the calendar hanging in my office, but I will recognize it just the same. To all you parents going it alone, I applaud you and appreciate the sacrifices you make every single day.

Finding common ground on different planets

A few months ago, my daughter Christy scored three tickets to see Al Gore speak at a sold-out event at her college. She invited a close friend and me. I was excited to see Al Gore speak about global warming, but even more excited about the fact that she wanted me to go with her.

Our relationship has had it's ups and downs over the years and sometimes it feels as if we live on different planets. Her planet is populated with energetic young college students who study all day, party all night and fight for justice in between. They can't relate to the people on my planet, who are mostly tired. But every once in a while, we all get together and find some common ground. For Christy and I, our common ground is politics. Her views are still evolving, a bit less developed, but they are most definitely heading in the same direction as mine.

I suspect this meeting of the minds surprises her more than it does me. Her carefully constructed image of me as a clueless parent has slowly given way to a grudging respect. I've been living for a long time in the world she wants to change and we have found ourselves on the same side of many issues. For the first time in many years, she wants to know what I think about things. We are still worlds apart when it comes to boys and music, but at least we will always have Al Gore.

Halle Berry wants kids, not marriage

Halle Berry hasn't had the best of luck with marriage. So much so, that she doesn't want to tie the knot ever again. However, this doesn't mean she won't have children.

The actress recently told InStyle, "I will never, never get married again." Not that she won't fall in love, or find a partner to share her life with, but that she thinks "two people can share their lives without the ring, without the piece of paper."

But despite her rejection of matrimony, the star also says, "I definitely want children. Very much." Because for Berry, romance -- even fathers -- simply aren't essential parts of the equation. She told Oprah in 2006 that if she hadn't found a partner when she was ready for kids that'd she'd ask "whoever she was dating at the time, 'Hey, would you like to have a baby?'" Or, she notes, "I could just head for the sperm bank."

Berry is currently dating model Gabriel Aubry. No word yet on any pregnancy, but with talk like that, it sounds like it could be any day now.

K-Fed cancels b-day bash for family time, sort of

Kevin Federline was planning on partying tonight. The second-hand celebrity had Hollywood's Eleven nightclub all lined up -- but today, word on the street is that the party has been canceled.

So what gives?

A rep for K-Fed told the NY Post's Page 6 that Federline canceled the event because he "is just focusing on his family right now." But don't worry -- Saturday's bash at the Pure nightclub in Las Vegas is still happening. Phew.

However, rumor has it that the real reason the party got nixed is because, for the past month, Eleven had been trying to find a weekly magazine to sponsor the event -- and couldn't. After all their attempts to find a major sponsor failed, the smaller sponsors backed out, and the club, not Federline, pulled the plug.

Sounds less like "family time," and more like now that Britney is out of rehab, no one cares about Kevin anymore. Bummer.

Image of the Day: freckles and a smile

Because I believe that there's nothing more beautiful, more innocent and more disarming than a child's smile whether they are gummy, missing tooth, exuberant or shy, March is "smile" month here at Blogging Baby. It's the freckles, it's the amazing color of her eyes, it's that smile so innocent, so full of joie de vivre. I just love this photo from VenturaMom.

If you'd like your own picture featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr Pool - We'll select an image every day to highlight. Remember: I'm on the lookout for shots with interesting backgrounds, cool angles, or original composition. Be sure to read the intro on the main Flickr page for more information and limit your uploading to 5 photos per day.

Miss World allows pregnant contestant

According to my very official (and very imaginary) celebrity "oh no they didn't" watch, it has been exactly five minutes too long since we've had scandal in the pageant world.

Oh wait...what's this coming in over the wire...Houston, we officially have a scandal.

Miss Jamaica World, also known as Sara Lawrence, announced that she planned to step down from the crown due to her pregnancy. If I remember correctly, pageant winners are not supposed to be married, pregnant or mothers.

Pageant officials at the top level say that they support Sara and they hope she will not step down from her title. One naysayer says that Sara's pregnancy has compromised her role as a safe sex activist.

Yes, we all see that they've hinted at the fact that Sara didn't practice safe sex but hey, who knows, perhaps the condom broke? Perhaps she was in a monogamous relationship and had a birth control slip up?

Unless there's a video (which, with this society, if one exists, it will be on the 'net within minutes) you can never know for sure.

So, what do you think? Should a pregnant or single mom (one was dethroned in 1976 after she revealed she was a single mom) be allowed to compete or hold the crown?

Video games make your teen drive faster

For all of you about to entering the frightening world of driver's ed, take note: new research suggests that the more your teen plays video games, the more likely he or she is to take risks while driving.

About 300 people -- both teens and adults -- participated in the study. Those who played racing video games every day were in the most accidents and got the most speeding tickets. In a smaller, related study, researchers gave 68 people racing games to play. They then put the gamers through a driving simulation, and found that it took them an average of one second longer to brake after being cut off by another car.

So what does this mean for teen drivers?

"Parents need to realize that video games are wonderful teaching tools that may be teaching skills that they don't want their child to learn," says Craig Anderson, a professor of psychology at Iowa State University. He even suggests sitting in the car with your teen -- which, while impractical, may save lives in the long run.

Seems to me like this is one more reason to raise the driving age.