Yahoo reins in work-from-home employees; 'Portlandia' on ...

Take 5 minutes to catch up on parenting news, with a new Yahoo policy that complicates life for telecommuting parents, research on detrimental effects of over-parenting college students, and new recommendations for treating kids' ear infections.

Yahoo work-at-home policy: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is taking some heat for a new directive that bars employees from working from home. It's a directive that has particularly upset parents, who often rely on telecommuting to create more family-friendly work schedules. In a widely quoted memo to staff, Yahoo tells employees, "To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side. That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices." Here's a sampling of reaction to the new directive. Tell us what you think.

Hyper-parenting: Back off, mom and dad. Your overly attentive parenting can lead to depression in your college-age kids. That's the word from University of Mary Washington in Virginia researcher Holly Schiffrin. "You expect parents with younger kids to be very involved but the problem is that these children are old enough to look after themselves and their parents are not backing off," Schiffrin told Reuters. "To find parents so closely involved with their college lives, contacting their tutors and running their schedules, is something new and on the increase. It does not allow independence and the chance to learn from mistakes."

Ear infections: In an effort to curb the overuse of antibiotics, the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued new guidelines for diagnosing and treating children's ear infections. The takeaway: Chances are if you take your child to the doctor for an earache, pediatricians are more likely to encourage "watchful waiting" than write out the standard prescription for amoxicillin. MedPage Today writer Crystal Phend spells out the details for ABC News.

Childhood obesity: Does this sound familiar? In the crunch time between work, school and kids' activities, families struggle to keep up, much less put healthy food on the table for a family dinner. That reality is part of the reason U.S. children are overweight, NPR reports. In an ongoing look at the nation's childhood obesity epidemic, NPR surveyed families and found that parents understand the connection between weight, exercise and nutrition, but time and money get in the way of making healthy choices.

"Portlandia" parents: Maintain eye contact at all time. Never look children in the eye. Respond to every whimper. Let them cry it out. With so much conflicting parenting advice, what are moms and dads to do? "Portlandia" hilariously portrays the boomerang-effect of shifting from parenting book to parenting book.

-- Kjerstin Gabrielson

Source: http://blog.oregonlive.com/themombeat/2013/02/yahoo_reins_in_work-from-home.html

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