Friday, November 30, 2007

Mommy Quote of the Week

"In America you're not allowed to talk about how motherhood is driving you crazy, or how you don't like it, or how, if you have to give a bath one more time, you're going to pull your hair out...You can complain about your job, your husband, your friends, but God forbid you complain about your kids."
-- Felicity Huffman

Monday, November 26, 2007

Not the Same Street

I just read this article about how the original Sesame Street episodes are coming on to DVD. This is great news, I thought, because I have always wanted to show my kids the Sesame Street of my youth.

However, it seems that the DVD has been labelled as "adult material." As the article explains, it is shocking how times have changed -- almost too shocking. For example, a little girl named Sally meets Gordon (a stranger) on the street and follows him home for some milk and cookies. It makes one realize how much we've lost. Maybe it is best that a parent explain to a young child that, unfortunately, some things just aren't the same anymore.

I miss those simpler, carefree days. Life has become much more complicated.

We stopped watching Sesame Street last year when they started politicking about the plight of orphans in Cambodia and about the homeless and AIDS victims in other third world countries. One character named Gina (a single woman) even adopted a baby out of wed-lock. It was just too much to explain to my kids -- when everything on Sesame Street in the past was, by nature, self-explanatory. The show used to deal with abstract yet relevant subjects like sharing, friendship, and cooperation, along with the practical subjects like the alphabet and numbers. Sesame Street used to be educational and fun, without the "complicated" issues of Angelina Jolie. Let the grown-ups deal with all that.

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to (the old) Sesame Street?

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving!

(Don't eat too much!)

Monday, November 19, 2007

Censoring Santa

With the holidays coming up, it looks like we have yet another thing to worry about besides overcrowded malls and overpriced toys. Santa, it seems, is not politically-correct enough.

According to a recent article in Yahoo! News, Santas in Sydney, Australia have been told to stop using the traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women. One Santa, the article states, was told "it could frighten children and was too close to 'ho', a U.S. slang term for prostitute."


Isn't this a bit too oversensitive? Since when is Santa's jolly old "Ho ho ho" something that would "frighten" a child or "offend" anyone? Only a child familiar with that term would find any other meaning in Santa's greeting. And if your child is familiar with the term "Ho" as meaning a slut or a prostitute, you have more problems than what your local mall Santa is up to.*

I think Julie Gale, who runs the campaign against sexualizing children called Kids Free 2B Kids, put it best. When asked to comment, she said, "We are talking about little kids who do not understand that 'ho, ho, ho' has any other connotation and nor should they. Leave Santa alone!"

*Also see what Sweepea thought of this article.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Mommy Quote of the Week

"If you're asking, 'What exactly does a Hollywood star with children do?' then I'll tell you. I'm nurse maid, laundry maid, cook, cleaner, playmate, you name it. Oh yeah, and I'm a chauffeur too."
-- Jodie Foster

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Friday, November 9, 2007

Mommy Quote of the Week

"There's a whole industry out there trying to make mothers feel retarded. Everyone tries to make you need stuff. Just get a buggy and some nappies. Everything else is just crap."
-- Cerys Matthews

Friday, November 2, 2007

Mommy Quote of the Week

"Wrinkles are hereditary. Parents get them from their children." -- Doris Day