Category Archives: Potpourri

And the Oscar goes to … I couldn’t care less

Posted on February 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

I can’t recall the precise moment I stopped caring about the Oscars. It was sometime after I had kids and long after I last tuned in for the entire ceremony, back in 1999 when Gwyneth Paltrow won best actress for her role in Shakespeare in Love. The truth is, I’m so busy reading The Cat in the Hat and watching Toy Story 3 every Saturday afternoon, I just can’t keep up with all the moving adult dramas and the up-and-coming starlets and the obscure nomination categories (sound editing? I mean, really?). The only Oscar-nominated movie I’ve even seen this year is The Help and I went only because I’d read the book.

Part of me wishes I’d spent January and February rushing out to watch The Descendants and Tree of Life and Midnight in Paris. Instead, I made it to one matinee, the digitally remastered Beauty and the Beast. In 3-D! It’s the kind of movie you take a six-year-old to see, and though Belle does a wonderful turn as an ingenue who brushes off the village brute’s advances and instead falls for a Beast (who happens to be a prince!), you kind of know going in she’s not going to be nominated for best actress.

It's a gooder, but definitely not Oscar-worthy.

So tonight, instead of tuning in to the Oscars, I’m planning a date with Phil Keoghan, of The Amazing Race. I may not have time for the best of Hollywood’s big screen offerings, but I always find time for an Emmy-winning reality TV show.

Forget the Oscars, I'm tuning in to The Amazing Race!

STFU, Parents! What not to share

Posted on February 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

Blogging about my life and kids and travels has got me thinking: what are the boundaries for sharing personal information on the web? Then I came across this On Parenting blog on the topic that featured an interview with the STFU, Parents founder.

For those not familiar with STFU, Parents, it’s a blog site that mocks all the redonkulous birth, baby and kid posts that parents share with the world. In the interview, the site’s founder (who wants to remain anonymous), said the line between sharing and over-sharing has become fuzzy. The more people become familiar with social media, the less they think about what’s appropriate to put “out there.”

While it’s probably OK to post a video of your live birth on your personal blog, you may be crossing the line by posting it to Facebook, where your junior high school science teacher could stumble across it. Do you really want Mr. Milavec to see all that? As I write this I realize I may have been guilty of over-sharing in my daughter’s birth announcement, which included this photo:

I crossed the line with this picture of my kid. In my uterus. Sorry about that.

Yes, this is Avery at about 34 weeks gestation, inside my uterus! At the time, nobody was really sharing in-utero photos, but there I was, grossing out my co-workers and acquaintances when this picture landed in their in-box. After hearing through the grapevine that some people thought our birth announcement was “kinda weird,” I have tried hard to keep my Facebook shares under control. Fortunately, as I am not in possession of video footage of either c-section, breastfeeding b-roll, or photographic evidence of potty training success, I have found it easy to STFU about all that private stuff. Now, if only the rest of the parents out there would STFU too.

How about you? Have you ever over-shared parenting milestones on Facebook? Do your friends?

Parenting trends: the good, the bad and the ugly

Posted on February 8, 2012 | 1 comment

Every year we get to hear what forecasters believe will be the big trends in everything from fashion to food. There are parenting trends too, some worthy of jumping on the minivan-wagon; others, not so much. A quick Google search revealed some interesting 2012 trend reports from iVillage, Babycentre and Philley.com. Scrambled Life weighs in.

THE GOOD

1. The End of the Goody Bag. Hooray! Finally! We can thank the crap economy for putting an end to the tradition of giving birthday party attendees a bag full of dollar store junk to show them how grateful we are they are friends with our kid. I have never understood why the party wasn’t enough. You get to eat cake and juice and then run around and trash my house, kid. Isn’t that fun?

2. The Good Enough Marriage. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, iVillage reports your relationship doesn’t have to be perfect. Still, “good enough” doesn’t equate to “no effort” so it’s probably still a good idea to buy your love flowers and a card on Feb. 14th.

3. Kid Tablets. Santa gave Bennett a LeapPad for Christmas so I know the amazing power of this little tool. He uses it to draw and make patterns, takes pictures with it and practices writing his letters. With it in his hands — provided it’s fully charged — I will not fear a five-hour plane ride. Best of all it’s virtually indestructible and costs way less than an iPad.

THE BAD

1. “Dadchelor” Parties. Seriously? Guys need to find another reason to get together and get drunk? Come to think of it though, going on a bender before baby arrives is probably a good idea since all hangovers post-baby will be little excursions to Dante’s third circle of hell, where a screaming infant and a bitter wife punish Daddy for his over-consumption.

2. French Parenting. Last year Tiger mom made the news; this year it’s Pamela Druckerman and her book Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting. Evidently, the French are strict and don’t coddle their kids. They also eat better food and drink wine with dinner! This is supposed to make the kids better-behaved gourmands. Now, fermer ta bouche and eat your escargot!

3. Empty Nests Fill Up. This means parents will never get rid of their kids because they’ll just keep boomeranging back between jobs and breakups. And evidently the lodgers stay put even if Mom and Dad charge rent and refuse to do their laundry (can’t you just see the French rolling their eyes and saying, “Quelle horreur!”).

THE UGLY

1. Even Older Moms. Just because modern medicine can now get 50-plus women pregnant doesn’t mean granny-mommy wannabes should head to the fertility clinic. For sure, the kids they have are wanted, but there’s just something kinda creepy about it. Do you really want all the playground moms to think you’re the grandma? Just sayin’.

What do you think? Which of these are trends you’ll embrace, and which are trends you’ll pass on?