Discovering the gender of a baby is a pretty exciting moment, especially for first-time parents. But when one couple held a gender party, the revelation only led to mass confusion.
Natalie and Ben Bell had a simple plan—at least they thought it was simple—get the doctors to write their baby's gender in two separate envelopes: one for themselves, the other for bakers, who would fill a cake with girl-pink or boy-blue icing.
When partygoers and the couple eagerly held their breath, the spectacular cake-cutting moment quickly turned to an anticlimax. The icing was pink.
"It's a girl!" shouted dad-to-be Ben. Then the couple opened the note, and later the second note—both of which declared they were having a boy.
The bakery messed up. And it was all captured on film. They will laugh about it later, maybe. Let's hope the cake tasted good, pink icing notwithstanding.
Reveal parties weren't really around when my son was born, though the idea sounds fun. I personally could not have stomached the suspense for 9 months plus. I needed the advance notice to get my head around the idea that there was a little guy in there. Crazy as it sounds, knowing the gender actually helped me bond with him.
And as an organizational control freak, I needed the time to get my blues lined up. Of course, not everything goes to plan. My aunt was led to believe by the ultrasound tech that she was having a girl. Then—surprise!—out came Ryan.
You tell me: Did you want to know your baby's gender before the birth?
This study reads like a dream come true. A small sample from Columbia University has revealed that a concentrated form of hot cocoa may actually improve memory. The key ingredient is a plant compound called flavanols.
According to a report in the journal Nature Neuroscience, a specially formulated flavanol-rich drink consumed over three months had the effect of turning back time, improving the memory of a 60-year-old to that of "a typical 30- or 40-year-old," said lead researcher, Dr. Scott Small.
But don't get too excited. The special drink by Mars Inc. isn't available on the market yet.
A group of 37 participants aged 50 to 69 showed improved noticeable gains in memory after consuming 900 mg of flavanols a day, compared to those who only consumed 10 mg of flavanols. The changes were reflected in memory tests as well as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.
Obviously, both longer and larger trials need to be conducted. Still, this study has exciting connotations in terms of dementia and Alzheimer’s research, and maybe your run-of-the-mill forgetful moms.
But Dr. Small was something of a killjoy, warning against chocolate binges.
“It is true that cocoa flavanols are found in chocolate; however, only in small amounts,” he said. “Consuming a lot of chocolate is simply bad for your health.”
Just try and stop me.
And if you need more reasons to love chocolate, our good doctor is here to help.
Following the recent fatal attacks on soldiers, a Montreal teen has taken to social media to renounce the hate and to distance himself from the actions of the 'lone wolf' terrorists.
A Muslim of Lebanese descent, 17-year-old Ali Chebli created a Faceook page in which he held up a sign that read: "#Pas en mon nom," which translates to "Not in my name."
In the wake of jihadists attacks, Chebli is one of many Muslims who feel the need to publicly speak out against ISIS.
For a country whose national pride has long thrived, even hinged, on multiculturalism, terrorism is admittedly not something we are used to. While I would like to assume that as Canadians we ought to know better than to paint an entire people with the same brush, evidently we are not.
In Cold Lake, Alberta, vandals scrawled the words "Go home" on a local mosque. Mercifully residents responded with their own graffiti messages that read: "You are home" and "Love your neighbour."
As for Chebli, the teen's posting has gone viral, prompting other young Muslims to post similar statements that echo the idea that Islam is not synonymous with terrorism.
At a time when our nation is mourning, now more than ever we must rally together and remember that diversity—not divisiveness—is what makes our country great. This is the Canada we know and love.
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