Editor’s note: This is a weekly digest of stories we’re following — trends, news you can use and provocative parenting reads. Do you have a good read for us? Write emurray@parentmap.com.
1. To what lengths would you go to have a biological child, if you were unable to carry one? Would you hire a surrogate in India?
2. Worried about your kid's sugar intake? You should be: According to this report, kids are eating an average of 322 calories of added sugar a day, which makes up about 16 percent of their daily caloric intake. The kicker: 63 percent of those calories are consumed at home.
3. Slate reports on why close friendships are especially important for middle-school boys -- and why they can be hard to find.
4. A moving video of a 9-year-old girl doing a ski jump for the first time -- try not to tear up as she moves from fear to exhilaration.
5. Last week, a much-talked-about piece in the Wall Street Journal reports on UCLA research showing that indulgence and dependency rule the day in middle-class American parenting. Then, HuffPo columnist Lisa Belkin finds the flaws.
