Sex Education

The Washington Post's On Parenting blog has a post by Brian Reid that brings up a lot of important points regarding parents' responsibility to teach their children about sex. Specifically, what do they need to know and how early do they need to know it? It's important for parents to realize early on that they are primarily responsible for teaching their kids about this aspect of life on Earth.

There's a lot in Brian's post to be discussed. One idea that I picked up from a friend and absolutely love is to find a good, frank, candid, smart book about human sexuality and keep it on a low shelf. It sounds like this would be a great supplement to an open and honest approach to parenting, as anything your tweenage kid is too embarassed to ask you they can look up in a book you approve of instead of picking up bonkers urban myths from their friends.

Chocolate Cake Mug

From the "How Could Something So Chocolatey Good Be Wrong?" department: The Wired How-To Wiki has an article about how to make a tasty chocolate cake in a coffee mug using only your microwave and these simple ingredients:

Hot cocoa mix
Flour
1 Egg
Oil and water
Chocolate chips (optional, but amazing)

My wife and I tried this last night, and the results are gooey and chocolatey and satisfying indeed. If you aren't much of a baker, just make sure you don't overmix it. Beat the egg before you add the dry ingredients and then just stir until everything is wet.

We found that you end up with an aesthetically pleasing, dome-shaped cake if you use one of those Friends style, gigantic, round coffee mugs. I found one in a box in my basement, next to a dishevelled-looking David Schwimmer. He moaned something to me along the lines of, "Does Rachel want to get back together?" and I silently took the mug and closed the lid.