When my nephew spotted a monster I asked him if it was dancing.

Aha! The truth about Jenna Bush's wedding cake is revealed: on Ellen today, she said it went askew when they cut into it, which is why they are laughing in that one picture.

Also, maybe Jenna's not a Republican? Ellen said, "It's safe to say you'll both be voting for McCain?" And she said, "I don't know -- I'm not going to say on TV." Huh.

Terrified of falling down and scrapes.

I was too, at that age. What got me over it was a summer gymnastics class my Dad signed me up for. As part of learning tumbling they taught us how to fall and not get hurt, and it improved my confidence tremendously.

I credit that skill with saving me from major injury 20 years later when I was the ped in a ped/truck incident.

Obecalp sounds remarkably pointless to me when the age group likely to fall for that kind of thing will also be quite happily satisfied with a tic-tac or an M&M for *way* less money spent on the parents' part. There was recently a post on Parenthacks about using hand lotion when you didn't want to waste Neosporin on boo-boos that didn't really need it (bruises instead of cuts but the kid still wants a band-aid kind of thing).

The point being, you already have something just as effective as Obecalp in your purse or your kitchen. You don't need to buy anything extra.

They do make a "monster spray" - use it to keep down the monsters under the bed and/or in the closet. I understand it's actually air freshener.

Or along the sames lines as the above, plain water in a spray bottle. (With a few drops of essential oil or food coloring to make it "special" if you need to.)

The truth about Jenna Bush's wedding cake is revealed: on Ellen today, she said it went askew when they cut into it, which is why they are laughing in that one picture.

That makes SO much more sense! I kept wondering why it was so funny looking!!

I could totally see giving a placebo pill on those days where the kid is like "my tummy hurts!!" and you don't really believe them and don't want to let them stay home from school, but maybe think they're whining themselves into making their tummy actually hurt? So you give them a pill and tell them it'll make them feel better and make them go to school anyway? Depending on the kid and the tummy, obviously.

Of course, part of why I like my dissolve-on-tongue migraine meds (besides that I can't puke them up) is that they remind me of the children's chewable asprin that I loved.

What got me over it was a summer gymnastics class my Dad signed me up for. As part of learning tumbling they taught us how to fall and not get hurt, and it improved my confidence tremendously.

...whereas I was too scared to do one of those penny drops off the bars (where your legs are hoooked over the bar, and then you swing so you let go and end up standing?). And they suggested maybe I shouldn't come back to the next session, that gymnastics might not be my sport.

meara'ing:

On the other hand, it is kind of funny that their placebo is quite literally a sugar pill.

Okay, forget the placebo issue, who wants to give their kid a sugar pill?

But what about when it does? I'd be loathe to gamble a kid's welfare on it ("No, Timmy, give Mommy back the penicillin and take these instead!"), but my parents dosed me up with rum toddies from the git go.

Yeah, but - for a lot of things that actually does work. Hot, sugary rum (whiskey in my case, both as child and adult) - heat eases the sore throat, sugar can ease the tummy, the liquor can reduce aches and make you sleepy. I'm not advocating keeping your kids in a drunken stupor any time they get the sniffles, but I wouldn't call that a placebo.

I bought semi-blackout drapes from IKEA that have worked wonders. Of course, the newfound darkness highlighted the fact that my router's blinking lights are bright enough to light a runway. I ended up taping over the lights.

I use a sleep mask, which is a habit I picked up when I was working crazy shifts so sometimes my only real sleep would be like 11 am to 2 pm. I can sleep without it, but it really makes a difference when there's too much ambient light.

Also, I'm with meara in the baby aspirin love.

I use a sleep mask, which is a habit I picked up when I was working crazy shifts so sometimes my only real sleep would be like 11 am to 2 pm. I can sleep without it, but it really makes a difference when there's too much ambient light.

Sleep masks freak me out. I'm not entirely sure why.

I can't handle anything on my face. I've been able to pull a bandana on when sick and the light is too much, but I have to be really sick.

ION, OW. I was cleaning with bleach earlier and I may have inhaled too many fumes. I can't stop smelling bleach and my head hurts like hell (it wasn't even a strong solution, so I'm guessing I'm just being hyper-sensitive.) Sucks.

I'm not sure how I feel about intentional placebo usage. I think bandages and kisses are also placebos, just "acceptable" ones. I'm trying to figure out how old a kid would have to be for the placebo to be in demand and for them to passed off with another candy of some sort.

I do think this assertion:

Dr. David Spiegel, a psychiatrist who studies placebos at the Stanford School of Medicine, said conditioning children to reach for relief in a pill could also make them easy targets for quacks and pharmaceutical pitches later. “They used to sell candied cigarettes to kids to get them used to the idea of playing with cigarettes,” he said.

is just over the top and stupid sounding.