Bugaboo BEE Complete Stroller

The Basics: 17 pounds. Good from birth to 37.5 pounds. 20 inches at the widest point when it's unfolded. Collapses to 17 by 35 by 12 inches.

The Lowdown: The Bee is Bugaboo's first attempt at a lightweight, compact stroller. On the surface, the Bee sounds fantastic. It has a quick folding mechanism. Once folded, the Bee is fairly compact and relatively easy to store. The canopy is deep; the rain cover offers complete protection from the elements; and it has more seat position options than previous Bugaboos. The child can face forward or backwards.

Perhaps our biggest issue with the Bee is its narrow seat. At 20" wide, the seat is a squeeze for older children. Plus, the "wings" on the side of the seat, limit a child's peripheral visibility and makes the seat feel uncomfortably closed-in. The Bee is also known for its limited storage and an inability to handle rough terrain.

Another important issue to note is that the Bee was recalled in June 2009 after more than 120 reports of brake failure. The company has remedied the issue by developing a set of brackets that can easily be clicked onto the rear wheels of the Bee to secure the brake function. The brackets are now integrated into the stroller's production process. If you decide to purchase the Bee, it is essential to check that the model you receive has these brackets.

In April 2010, Bugaboo is slated to release an upgraded version of the stroller, the Bugaboo Bee Plus. The Plus will feature a wider frame, with a roomier seat and none of those pesky "wings." Improvements to the wheels, handlebar and braking system are also anticipated. All of this sounds fantastic, but it is rumored that these improvements will bump the cost of the stroller to $649.

You'll Want It If: You're a style-conscious parent and you don't mind trading a bit of functionality for incredible design.

The Bugaboo BEE Complete Stroller is available for $530 at Amazon.

A preschooler at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School in Boulder, Colo., is not being allowed to enroll in the school's kindergarten program next year.

Her parents are lesbians.

Allowing the children of same-sex parents to enroll in Catholic schools violates a standing policy of the Archdiocese of Denver. Archdiocese officials ruled against the girl's enrollment last week.

This doesn't sit well with many community members who protested before Sunday mass at the Sacred Heart of Jesus parish, the church that operates the school, the Denver Post reports.

Last Fashion Hero: When your dad is the Governor of California -- not to mention the Terminator -- and your mom is a TV journalist -- not to mention a Kennedy -- it makes perfect sense that you'd score a front row seat at Paris Fashion Week.

Christina Schwarzenegger, 18, attended Stella McCartney's fall 2010 ready-to-wear collection with her famous mother, Maria Shriver, earlier this week. The Georgetown University student [Shriver went there, too], is collegiate chic in dark denim, a striped shirt and a cool black coat. We're loving that long side braid, too.

We wish we could pull off Shriver's classic white slacks/white handbag combo, but they'd be covered in our kids' fingerprints, coffee stains and chocolate frosting from that donut we called lunch.

We're guessing that the stylish duo got in some mother/daughter shopping while visiting Paris. Hasta la vista, baby!

Related: Maria Shriver Stuns at 55 - See Her Red Carpet Look!

Dear Karla,
I read your post about ways to prevent type-2 diabetes and noticed that one commenter suggested fibre. There does not seem to be a clearly stated amount for how much fibre our kids need, and I would like to know just how much I should be giving them. Also, what exactly are the benefits of fibre for kids, anyway?
Thanks, Kaylynn

Thanks very much for raising this question, Kaylynn. There is, in fact, a positive link between fibre and type-2 diabetes. Fibre is a form of carbohydrate that is not digested when eaten, so the calories linked to carbohydrates (approx four calories per gram of carbs) are not the same with fibre as most other foods. Some health experts even classify fibre as "free calories," because your body does not actually use the calories present and instead passes them out. When it comes to diabetes, fibre helps by slowing down the digestive time of the particular food item being eaten, thereby slowing the release of sugar into the bloodstream. This keeps blood sugar levels more stable, making fibre a sort of "protector" against type-2 diabetes.

More about fibre and how much your kids need, after the jump...

The next time you complain to your friends how uncomfortable it was having your breasts squeezed flat during your last mammogram, imagine how it would feel if those pinching plates were heated up until they were red hot. And then be grateful you're not a 9-year-old girl having her breasts ironed flat by her mother.

Though not publicly acknowledged, many pubescent girls in the West African country of Cameroon are subjected to the practice of breast ironing, which involves massaging a child's growing breasts with an object like a stone, hammer or spatula that has been heated over coals, until the breasts actually disappear, according to a recent report in the Washington Post.

Some girls also wear a breast band -- fabric bands such as those commonly worn by women who undergo breast augmentation -- after the procedure to continually compress the breast area.

A couple won permission from the Australian courts to go ahead with a planned hysterectomy for their 11-year-old daughter, whose medical condition causes her to have epileptic seizures when she menstruates. The ruling has sparked a nationwide debate there over the rights of children with disabilities.

The child, known only as Angela, has a condition called Rett Syndrome, according to ABC News Online. The disease is profoundly disabling and has left her without the ability to communicate; she is also unable to feed herself or walk without assistance.

While Angela's seizures are controlled by medication, they worsen when the girl has a heavy menstrual period, which, for her, began at the age of 9. Experts recommended to her parents in March 2009 that the girl undergo a hysterectomy, but the health provider would not perform the surgery without a court order because of the irreversible nature of the procedure.

We know, we know -- as soon as you have a free hour you're going to make a totally killer kids' music playlist for your children. One for each of them in fact, perfectly suited to their individual tastes! Well, in case that hour never materializes, check out Pandora Internet radio, which just added a large children's section to their song library. Instead of playlists, let your kids create their very own customized radio stations in a matter of minutes. Start by entering a favorite song or musician, and Pandora takes it from there, suggesting artists or albums with similar sounds and musical qualities. It totally rocks.

Available free at pandora.com

Bullies everywhere are going to find it a lot harder to shove kids into lockers, trip them in hallways, call them degrading names and generally make every day at school a living hell.

That's because one victim didn't get mad. He got a lawyer.

Officials for Hudson Area Schools in Michigan were ordered March 3 by a federal jury to pay former student Dane Patterson $800,000 for failing to protect him from school bullies.

"This is going to have implications across the nation," Glenn Stutzky, a Michigan State University instructor and expert on bullying, tells the Detroit Free Press.

If you give a mouse a cookie, you get a cute little book. If you give a kid a hot dog, you could be booked for attempted manslaughter.

That's what it's starting to sound like, anyway. Recently the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a report on the dangers of childhood choking. It called for warning labels on the things kids gag on the most -- grapes, carrots, candy -- but number one with a bullet (and mustard) was, of course: the wiener. Gary Smith, a pediatric emergency room doctor and lead author of the study, went so far as to call it "high risk."

Now, frankly (so to speak), I agree that hot dogs do pose a certain risk to young kids. When my sons were younger I diced up mine like a mama bird prechewing a Ball Park worm. But "high risk"? Americans consume 20 billion hot dogs a year, according to the American Meat Institute. About 10 kids a year choke to death on them. This is terrible -- as is the death of any child -- but do the math and hot dogs turn out to be 99.99 percent safe.

Craig Kielburger became famous when, at only twelve years old, he founded a charitable organization to fight child exploitation called Free the Children. Since its humble beginnings in the Kielburger family home in 1995, Free the Children has developed into an international organization that continues to focus on children's rights--and to bring positive change into the lives of the world's most vulnerable children: children of war, children orphaned by natural disaster and disease, and children born into poverty, their futures uncertain.

Most fascinating -- and moving -- is that the goal of this unique organization is to inspire children to discover, develop, and act on their own beliefs. "Children helping children through education," is its tagline.

Big subjects for small people.

But in a new book, The World Needs Your Kid, co-written by Craig and his brother Marc Kielburger, with Shelley Page, the brothers argue that any child has the potential to change the world. And that parents have a big role to play. Written in a light-hearted and easy-to-read style, the book is chockful of practical suggestions that families can easily grab onto and do, while learning and putting into practice the "Three C's": compassion, courage, and community. Some suggestions apply more to older children and teens, and others work for families like ours, with children eight and under.

Cabin Fever urges you to read the book for yourself. But here are our top 10 inspirations from The World Needs Your Kid...