| Issue Date: March 23, 2008
How to choose a cruise cabin
How do you choose among hundreds of cabins on a cruise ship? Walk through the ship's deck plan with your travel agent or the cruise line. What to consider:
View. Start by deciding between an inside cabin or a slightly more expensive outside cabin. Keep in mind that "inside" means no windows or portholes.
Cabin size. Standard cabins of about 150 square feet are small, indeed, while 200-square-foot luxury cabins offer more breathing room. Newer ships have family accommodations, including connecting suites.
Location. If you tend to get seasick, choose a cabin in the lower-middle portion of the ship to feel less of the rocking. Not an issue? Then the better cabins are considered to be higher up, and the best ones boast a balcony.
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Selling your home yourself? Go online.
It always happens in a slow real estate market: A flood of home sellers looking to save the 6% or so agent commission try a do-it-yourself sale. And because 84% of home buyers in a National Association of Realtors study went online last year to find a new home, DIYers will want to be on the Internet, too. Ready to do it?
Sign up with websites that let buyers search homes sold directly by owners, like your local paper's online classifieds or ForSaleByOwner.com. For a fee of about $400, many sites allow you to advertise your home on the coveted Multiple Listing Service, the database of homes that Realtors use.
Post plenty of professional-looking photographs of your home's interior and exterior online, says Eric Mangan of ForSaleByOwner.com. This is the most important thing that you can do to market your home and get potential buyers psyched about seeing it before they've even crossed your doorstep.
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Best types of food for fertility
Here are some of the best and worst food choices for women who want to become pregnant, according to "The Fertility Diet" (McGraw-Hill, $24.95) by Harvard researchers Jorge E. Chavarro and Walter C. Willett.
Foods help regulate ovulation and fertility.
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Peanuts NOT potatoes: The type of carbs you consume makes a big difference. "Slow carbs" (low-glycemic index foods such as peanuts, nuts, dried beans, whole grains) promote ovulation. "Fast carbs" that spike blood sugar (like cold cereal, white rice, white potatoes and sugary drinks) decrease fertility.
Beans NOT beef: Participants in a study who ate the most animal protein were 39% more apt to have ovulatory infertility than women who ate the least. Even adding one daily serving of red meat or poultry could raise infertility risk by a third. Replacing 25 grams of animal protein with 25 grams of plant protein, such as dried beans, could cut risk of ovulatory infertility by half.
Avocados NOT doughnuts: Trans fats are huge villains in infertility; the more eaten, the higher the chances of ovulatory infertility. Even the 4 grams of trans fat in a daily doughnut, compared with the monounsaturated fat in a serving of avocado, can more than double the infertility risk. Substitute unsaturated fats for trans fats, for a pregnancy boost.
Whole milk not fat-free yogurt: Heretical as it sounds, women troubled by infertility are advised to eat high-fat, rather than low-fat, dairy foods. Recommended to improve fertility: a glass of whole milk daily. Threats to fertility: frozen yogurt, sherbet and low-fat yogurt.
Coffee not soda: Surprisingly, research finds that caffeine in moderation -- several cups of coffee or tea -- does not seem to interfere with becoming pregnant. But sugary soda (caffeinated and decaf) can seriously diminish fertility. Best beverage: lots of water. New studies suggest no caffeine after conception.
Contact Contributing Editor Jean Carper at jeancarper.com.
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How to stop hovering
The backlash against those hovering helicopter parents has begun. Taking a swipe is Hara Estroff Marano in her book "A Nation of Wimps" (Broadway Books, $23.95), due out in April. The "Psychology Today" editor at large offers these do's and don'ts:
Preschool: Do allow an array of people into your child's life. Don't be his or her only source of comfort. "I've seen it where parents won't even allow the grandparent to care for their grandkids," Marano says.
Elementary school: Do learn how to criticize -- constructively. Don't just ignore the problem or, conversely, scold. When your child fails at something, tap into her disappointment. "Say, 'Are you happy about that? What would you do differently to make it come out the way you want?' " Marano says. "I can guarantee you that every child wants to succeed."
Middle school: Do let your kids solve their own problems and feeldiscomfort. Example: Don't take their homework to school when they forget it. "Let the kids feel what it's like not to be mindful, and that becomes a huge motivator," Marano says.
High school: Do let them manage their own lives. Don't micromanage their time. When they drop the ball, empathize with the difficulty of keeping up with both schoolwork and activities. But keep them in charge, Marano says: "It will motivate them to do better if they know Mom and Dad aren't going to rush in and take over."
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