Children may be big fans of Pixar's Cars, but an inflatable pool decorated with the movie characters may be dead in the water once parents get a close-up view of the product's packaging. Reddit user Matenbock has discovered that the image on the box was (presumably) accidentally photoshopped so that it shows a mom with her hands in her son's pants, The Huffington Post reports.

Consumerist's Chris Morran says one possible explanation for the inappropriate image is that it is a composite of multiple stock photographs. "You can tell as much from the above image because the woman's crudely cut-off legs are floating in the foreground when they should be behind the pool," he says. The original image of the mom also was used for a different product, he adds.

Disney hasn't said whether anyone from the company got into hot water for publishing the image, but the product manufacturer appears to have cleaned up its act. People seeking to purchase the pool on Amazon are privy to a more family-friendly image.

As teens blossom into young adults, their bodies change, emotions run at an all-time high, and peer pressure is immense. So it's little surprise when some start to question their self-worth. Nevertheless, no parent wants their child to be self-conscious. "How can I help a young teen girl who has low self-esteem?" Circle of Moms member Lois asks the community for advice.  

Moms Tracey O. and Maureen P. seek similar feedback: "Anyone know how to boost your teen's self-esteem?" "My 16-year-olds have very little," Maureen explains. Her teens will not wear shorts, go swimming, or join any groups or sports. Plus, they don't believe they are smart, and they don't have many friends. "Help!" she implores. If you, too, want to boost your child's self-esteem, here are five key recommendations from Circle of Moms members

Scarlett Gurr is hardly old enough to get a driver's license, but nevertheless, the 7-year-old drives a mini Ferrari. In fact, "she has an entire garage filled with her own fancy cars and is the youngest member of the British Women Racing Drivers Club," the Huffington Post reports.

Scarlett's vast car collection is one of the perks of being parented by the owner of a car tuning and restoration company in London. Her dad Stuart has been building replicas of real cars for Scarlett and her 3-year-old sister, Maddie, for several years, and dreams of participating in the Little Big Mans race in France next year.

Stuart and Scarlett's favorite car is a red Ferarri, which took more than 600 hours to build and cost around $3,025. Fortunately, Stuart doesn't have to worry too much about Scarlett hurting herself or wrecking his investment — he admits that the vehicles she "drives" are "more show than go."

A Utah mom gave her daughter a taste of her own medicine, forcing her to wear unflattering thrift shop clothes as a punishment for bullying another student about her appearance, the Huffington Post reports.

According to Salt Lake City's KSTU, the 10-year-old girl named Kaylee had been teasing another fourth grader about the way she dressed so much that the other girl no longer wanted to attend school. When questioned about the bullying, Kaylee showed little remorse. So, mom Ally decided to show Kaylee how it feels to be teased about her clothes.

"If she chooses to be a bully after this, then at some point in her life, she's going to be on the other side and she'll know what it really feels like," Ally said.

What do you think? Is making your teen wear ugly clothes a good way to stop her from bullying someone else about their appearance?

Elementary school educators spend a lot of time teaching children to love and accept all kinds of people. But a recent study suggests that children have "already absorbed an upsetting message: that fat is a negative indicator of a person's character, and that overweight people are undesirable as friends and as people" at an earlier age, The Atlantic reports.

In a study conducted by the University of Leeds, researchers found that kids' prejudice against fat people starts as early as preschool. Approximately 300 schoolchildren ranging from 4 to 6 years old were read a story about two friends who get stuck in a tree. In one version, both children are normal-sized. But in another version, one child is presented as overweight or disabled. When asked what they thought about the characters, the children overwhelmingly decided that the fat kid was less likely to win a race, do well in school, be happy with the way he looks, or get invited to parties, according to the report. Additionally, the children rated the overweight or disabled child more likely to be naughty and have fewer friends.

The "rejection" of the fat character was consistent when the story was portrayed with both male and female characters, the researchers said, indicating that "children pick up on societal cues as to what is socially acceptable and what is not" at a much earlier age than initially assumed.

Should your child's teacher tote a gun?

Allowing guns in school is a controversial issue, especially after the shooting at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary school in December. But at least two Utah teachers have anonymously admitted that they legally carry concealed guns at school, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.

The paper interviewed two middle-school teachers who hold concealed firearm permits — and therefore are not required to tell parents, school police officers, or principals that they are packing heat — because they believe it makes their classrooms safer.

"I can think of nothing worse than having to witness my students being killed or maimed without me being able to at least attempt some sort of intervention," one teacher explained. "I might even die in the process, but, in my opinion, going down shooting would be better than standing in front of them helplessly."

Keep reading.

Although 2-year-old Ireland Nugent may not get to the theaters much, she’s recently become infatuated with a movie star — Winter, the dolphin who lost her tail in a crab trap and inspired the movie Dolphin Tale. The two recently got to shake hands (and flippers) as part of a lesson in perseverance at Florida's Clearwater Marine Aquarium, USA Today reports.

In April, Ireland was running in her parents' yard while her dad was getting ready to park his riding lawnmower after cutting the grass at their home. Ireland's mom, Nicole, tried to warn her husband that their daughter was behind him. But he misinterpreted her signals as a warning that he was about to drive over something and put the mower in reverse, running over the girl.

Both of Ireland's feet had to be amputated. And while recuperating at the hospital, someone gave her a stuffed toy of Winter.

"Winter's prosthetic tail taught [Ireland] more about what she would go through," mom Nicole explains. So the family jumped at the opportunity to meet Winter in person. "To see Winter without her tail and see that she has such a vibrant life, can play, whistle and you can play games with her, really lets her know she can still do the same things," Nicole says. She adds that Winter makes Ireland smile and lets her daughter know she can have a productive life even without her limbs. In fact, the entire family, was inspired to "keep on swimming," she says. 

When your baby is sleeping in another room, SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) is a valid concern. To ease parents' worries, a group of students from Winona State University have developed a high-tech baby monitor that can measure an infant's heartbeat, breathing, and movement, and even alert a doctor if something goes awry, reports Co.Exist.

The students, who call themselves the Miracle Workers, developed the blanket-looking device for Microsoft's annual student technology competition, Imagine Cup. A sensor-filled pad that is programmed with normal vital ranges according to different ages is placed on top of a baby's crib mattress. If the baby strays from the normal ranges while sleeping, then "the pad alerts the parents (and doctor if that option is selected) via a Windows Phone or tablet," according to the report.

The Miracle Workers say the device costs about $150 to manufacture, and they plan to sell it even if they don’t win the Imagine Cup. Would you pay that for peace of mind?

If you and your children head to a public pool this Summer, there's a good chance that you might be swimming in something unexpected. In a recent sample of public pool water, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 58 percent contained E. Coli bacteria — a sign of fecal contamination — and 59 percent contained P. aeruginosa, the Huffington Post reports.

Researchers explain that sometimes people have "fecal incidents" in pools, or if someone enters the pool without showering first, the bacteria sheds off the body and into the water. "These findings indicate the need for swimmers to help prevent introduction of pathogens (e.g., taking a pre-swim shower and not swimming when ill with diarrhea), aquatics staff to maintain disinfectant level and pH according to public health standards to inactivate pathogens, and state and local environmental health specialists to enforce such standards," the researchers said.

Do your kids shower before getting in the pool?

Nursing moms have a new reason to celebrate. In a surprising about-face, Walmart has gone from refusing to print a photo of mom Kayla Andre breastfeeding, to allowing her to host a nurse-in demonstration in its Alberta, Canada, store.

Earlier in May, Andre's husband headed to Walmart to print out a photo of his wife nursing their young son as a Mother's Day gift. To his chagrin, the store refused to print the breastfeeding image, saying it violated the mass chain's anti-nudity policy, the Huffington Post reports.

Andre was shocked and protested to local media that the image should have been printed, saying it's a natural occurrence — despite debates over breastfeeding in public. So she organized a "nurse-in" to be held in the store, to protest the store's decision in shaming her for breastfeeding.

Walmart quickly recognized the flaw in its action, however. It apologized and clarified the store's policy for employees so that they would know breastfeeding photos are acceptable. So Andre quickly turned her protests into praise, and re-dubbed her nurse-in as "a celebration of the fact that Walmart recognized its mistake."

Andre applauded the store for being "a reasonable company who listens to their customers," and noted the chain offered gift certificates for photo printing to nurse-in participants. "They have clarified their policy, and that is something to celebrate!" she says.

Would you protest or participate in a breastfeeding event at Walmart?

While some girls might consider Barbie's Dreamhouse fit for a princess, some feminists in Germany are protesting the life-size replica of the toy estate, CNN reports.

Located in Berlin's Alexanderplatz, the 27,000-square-foot Dreamhouse is supposed to showcase Barbie's Malibu lifestyle, with makeup, kitchen, and wardrobe rooms, plus a runway and real cafe in which visitors can dine. But protesters complain that Barbie contributes to sexism, racism, and body issues for girls.

The house "is the expression of a conventional role model that isn't OK," Socialist Alternative editor Michael Koschitzki said.

In addition to the protest, the buzz in Berlin has yielded an "Occupy Barbie Dreamhouse" Facebook page, which features a dark-haired girl saying "I can't stand pink!"

The "Barbie the Dreamhouse Experience" in Berlin is the first in what is planned as a European house tour. A US Dreamhouse opened last week in Florida, CNN reports.

Many a mom puts off creating their child's baby book, as assembling an album of baby's first year often takes a backseat to parenting. But a start-up called Blinkbuggy aims to simplify the process, helping moms and dads put together the traditional piece of memorabilia online, TechCrunch reports.

Google ad sales manager Emma Weisberg says she recognized the need for a virtual baby book because so many baby photos are captured by mobile phones and shared by family and friends via email, Flickr, Facebook, and YouTube. Thus, she designed Blinkbuggy to allow parents to record all of their memories — photos, emails, notes, artwork, milestones, etc. — with one cloud-based service. Parents can categorize items for multiple children, as well as control privacy settings, depending on what content they want to make public and share with friends and family.

If all that sounds like a great way to organize and preserve memories of your child, then stay tuned. Weisberg says the ability to print albums and use a mobile app is in the works.

The role birth order plays in shaping children's personalities and IQs has been debated and researched for years. But do the stereotypes hold water?

"They say that children's behavior and development depends . . . a big percent on what role they play in families," Brenda says, asking other Circle of Moms members, "Where is your child at?" Another member named Charlie P. has a similar question. "Birth order and personality: Where do you fit in? Do you think this is an accurate description of you or your children?"

As you parent, Circle of Moms members say it's worth considering your children's birth order, and subsequently how you work through some of the less desirable traits. Read on.

A 16-year-old girl's life has been saved, thanks to the online detective work of Cathedral City, CA, resident Jackie Rosas and police.

Rosas is no stranger to the blogosphere, as she frequents Tumblr, a social networking site. On May 6, she saw a posting on a teen blog discussing suicide. Rosas told USA Today she had previously followed the teen's depression on the girl's blog, so she knew the suicide threat was serious.

Keep reading.

Would you let your child poop in the potty in a restaurant?

That's just what one Manhattan woman did at an outdoor restaurant, allowing the boy to do "No. 2" right next to the table while others were dining nearby, Today reports.

Even if you needed to keep your child on a strict schedule, Today show hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb suggest moms choose less offensive options, like taking the potty to the bathroom and having the child use it there.

After all, Gifford says, "Children on a potty are adorable, but . . . "

"Not what happens after, which is the wiping portion," Kotb concludes.

Every parent wants their child to have a great birthday, but how do you do that during the Summer, when your child may not be in touch with classmates and you need to coordinate a celebration around Summer activities and travel plans?

"My daughter's birthday is in July, so that means no bringing cupcakes to school to share and most of her friends are not around in July to celebrate," says Mary M.  

Similarly, mom Laura says her son's sixth birthday falls on July 9 and she was planning to have a birthday party at a bowling lane, but no one RSVPed. "I dont know what to do," she says. "This happens every year to my son. I feel really bad for him because it seems to be because of the fact [that] his birthday is during the Summer and so close to the fourth. Can someone please give me some advice?"

Even if not as many friends and family are around to help celebrate during Summer, Circle of Moms members say it's still possible to make Summer birthdays special. Keep reading for their top three tips.

Some kids collect rocks or marbles. Ten-year-old Archer and his 6-year-old brother, Ansel, collect napkins . . . their mom's, that is.

Every day since Archer was in nursery school, Nina Levy has created colorful napkin illustrations and packed them with her sons' lunches to remind them that she loves them and is mindful of what they're doing each day, reports the Huffington Post.

"The act of drawing something for them every evening reminds me to pay attention to what they are thinking about, even if it is the 15th rendition of Batman," she says.

The creative napkins became such a hit that Archer and Ansel slowly began bringing more and more of them home at the end of the day. And after garnering even the New York Times' attention, Levy has begun collating the art into a series, "24 hours of dysfunctional parenting," that tells the story of a day in the life of her family.

With such works of art, the boys might give up a tuna sandwich or even a cookie from their school lunches, but it's unlikely that they'll trade away their napkins.

A 7-year-old's suggestion for gun control recently received a surprising response after it was brought to the attention of Vice President Joe Biden. 

Wisconsin second-grader Myles wrote a letter to the vice president a few months ago suggesting that guns shoot chocolate bullets to help make the nation safer, according to the Associated Press, via the Huffington Post. If his idea could be implemented, no one would get hurt, he explained. 

To the boy's surprise, Biden agreed. He recently sent a handwritten note, agreeing that, "If we had guns that shot chocolate, not only would our country be safer, it would be happier." 

Perhaps a chocoholic himself, Biden added: "People love chocolate."

A New Hampshire teen surprised fellow competitors and judges when she took home the top prize in a Boston computer-programming contest. The mostly male field of 80 competitors included professionals from ESPN and Klout, yet the Associated Press reports that Jenny Lamere was the only person to complete a project. Her winning idea: Twivo, or TiVo for Twitter, which allows you to block tweets using key words, in case you don't want tweets to spoil the ending of a show you haven't yet viewed.

Lamere says she got into computer programming thanks to her dad, a tech company developer, who would routinely share "intriguing" stories about projects he was working on. With women representing only 12 percent of the US workforce with computer science degrees, Lamere's win is a source of inspiration.

How can you, too, spark your daughters' interest in male-dominated careers?