No, no, the most disgusting thing EVER, apparently was that she let her 2 year old boy charge pee on the sidewalk.
I feel so bad for Kate of Jon and Kate Plus Eight. If I have to see one more cover calling her a Monster, out for Money (what Dad isn't out for money???), terrible mother, etc. etc. etc I'm going to scream. Seriously, folks, the woman has eight kids. Can we not give her the smallest break?
Yes, yes, I know, she got too close to her bodyguard. And she seems to boss her husband around. And she chooses speaking enagements over staying home with the kids. But for crying out loud, we are in a recession, and she has eight kids to feed, clothe and PUT THROUGH COLLEGE (goodness!). If I were in her situation, I'd do the same.
It really infuriates me how quick the media turns to attack working mothers. And it makes me even more disappointed to see so many of my fellow mothers -- even my fellow working mothers! -- jump on the kate hate bandwagon.
Feeling the need to jump on the UP bandwagon,
and being a loyal fan of the Pixar (now, sigh, Pixar-a-Disney-company)
bandwagon, we took the kids to see UP in 3-D on a foggy, cold, relentlessly
crowded Sunday afternoon. First, to answer the "was it scary?"
question. Well, my 6 YO was scared tushless (so to speak) - no joke, so if you have a
somewhat more-easily-scared child, be forewarned. Of course, my 3.5 YO was only
a little scared, so really it depends on the child. And, of course, to my
dog-loving chagrin, most of the terror comes in the form of horrifying pit
bulls and dobermans with huge, pointy teeth. So much for getting a dog this
summer.
As to the movie itself, well: Up was good, beautiful,
interesting, but it had nowhere the significance, storyline (and romance) of
WALL-E and not the fun and joy of Cars or even the Incredibles. I'd say it was
somewhat better than Rattatoulie and Monsters Inc, both which I did, in fact,
love, but was more "A Bugs Life" than "Toy Story" 1 or 2.
The movie is at its best where it deals with the more grown-up themes of
lifetime dreams and relationships between adults, and at its weakest where it
deals with the cliche tragedy of absent fathers and
Those-Who-Pick-Up-The-Pieces-For-Them (haven't there been about 100 movies and
1000 sitcoms on that very topic)?
Back when I was growing up, in the suburbs of Milwaukee in the 70's, there was no such thing as a playdate. All the kids just hung out in our front yards and back yards, and visited each others' homes by traveling through the alleys. Our friends were in our neighborhood and we would play with them according to geography. If our parents didn't know where we were at any point in time -- which in my case, since I was third of three children, happened often -- they would just pop next door.
How things have changed!
The notion of "work life balance" has continued to be an elusive pursuit for me, as long as I have known it. It's a problem: how does one enjoy their job without being successful at it? And how does one be successful at their job without working too many hours? Then too many hours results in a feeling of failure at the other, more important job: Mom.
Katie Couric, I want to offer you my public support. Not just because you take the time to contribute to our community, for which I am, in fact, genuinely grateful. But also because you have the courage to speak your mind, even when there are people in the wings waiting to attack you for doing so.
Most recently, you spoke eloquently and rationally about the sexism in mainstream media, particularly how it impacted the recent Democratic primaries, and were punished brutally for doing so.
I'm here to offer you bandaids and gratitude!
Not too long ago, my husband C and I learned of something perplexing. There was a big party being held in Monterey by very close friends of ours -- people who are, for the most part, our best friends, and my husband and I were not invited. Almost everywhere we went, people asked us if we were going to the party (it was a weekend thing), and we smiled and said no.
Meanwhile, with each passing question, I grew more and more hurt. And, we continued to see the party hosts on a fairly regular basis, and hadn't heard a peep about the party. Clearly, our invitation was not lost in the mail.
If I may brag, I accomplished something pretty cool about 5 years ago: I created an online community for mothers who are lawyers. Membership is invitation-only, and I approve applicants to make sure they fit the requirements: they must be a licensed attorney, working in some capacity (legal or otherwise), or else in law school, with children or pregnant. Fathers are welcome too. We now have approximately 450 working parents on the list.
People wonder why working lawyer parents need a community of their own. The following email, distributed on my list, shows the kind of challenges that working mother lawyers still face. It really speaks for itself.
- Rebecca
No really, I was robbed.
I arrived home from picking up my kids at school, stopping to get gas, and as I pulled up I received a call from ADT that something was going on with my home alarm system. Five minutes into asking the guy on the line from ADT what he meant, I finally caught grasp of the fact that this means that maybe someone tampered with our alarm system. Hence, the call.
My husband fortunately pulled up at the same time, and I sent him inside the house with my cell phone connected to ADT while I unloaded the children from the car.
From outside our house we could all hear the BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP sound which caused ADT to call me. Something was going on. I told the kids to wait on the porch as I reached to open the front door. It was unlocked. Uh oh.
One of the many reasons I love living in San Francisco is the fabulous diversity. This diversity takes many forms: socio-economic, racial, religious, language spoken and, probably most famously, sexual orientation. I have always had many friends who are gay, lesbian and bisexual, and I can't help believe that people are 'born that way,' so if, when the time comes, my children turn out to be 'born that way,' it will be nice to know that they will have a good shot of being supported for who they are.
Plus, for all the other good reasons, I love living in the LBGT Capital of the U.S. I'm proud of that aspect of San Francisco.
Reflecting the diversity of this City, my children's preschool, which is a JCC Preschool, has several gay and lesbian families. In fact, five of my daughter's best friends have either two moms or two dads.
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