Filed under: Kids 5-7, Kids 8-11, Teens & tweens, Holidays, Extreme Childhood

Every year around this time, moms of young girls and teens go through a relatively new Halloween ritual: Steering our daughters away from the increasingly sexy costume choices in stores, catalogs and online costume Web sites.

This wasn’t always the case. My mom’s Halloween challenges involved last minute alterations, bad weather and predictable sugar-induced meltdowns. Of course, moms still wrestle with those Halloween fixtures, but the ghoulish holiday now involves negotiations and discussions our moms were mercifully spared.

When I was a kid, costumes fell into scary or sweet categories. Pop culture had a Halloween presence, but for girls in the seventies, it involved a Princess Leia long white dress and iconic braided hair buns. A few years later, Madonna’s suggestive lace outfits were vying for girls’ attention, but at least traditional costume themes were still in play. Nowadays, witches, pirates and vampire costumes for girls are no longer scary; in fact, most are down-right sleazy. If your pretween daughter is like mine, she’s probably oblivious to the sexualized nature of the costumes she’s circling in the annual catalogs, which means there’s still a good chance you can successfully steer her toward a more appropriate (and inevitably, more expensive) option.

Continue reading Have a Sexy Halloween: Lolita Costumes for Young Girls

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Filed under: Divorce & Custody, Celeb Kids, Celeb Parenting, Behaving Badly, In The News, Media, Extreme Childhood, Twins, Triplets, Multiples

Jon Gosselin with his six of his eight children in happier days for the couple. Credit: Soul Brother, FilmMagic

Jon Gosselin has a lot to say. After ten years of marriage and five seasons laying his family’s life out for public view on TLC’s Jon & Kate Plus 8, he’s feeling, and acting, like man who’s suddenly gotten a get-out-of-jail card.

Problem is, it’s costing him.

His legal battle with his ex seems to grow exponentially every day, which, of course, sends the media frenzy on Jon-dom into the stratosphere. We called Jon for a quick chat to catch up on how this is impacting his parenting and ended up talking about everything else.

ParentDish: So, what’s going on?
Jon Gosselin: I’m just trying to be as cordial as possible. I messed up at the beginning and now I want to be a nice guy, make better decisions and do the right thing.

PD: Why? What did you do that you consider bad moves.
JG: Meeting Kate Major [former reporter for Star magazine] and Stephanie [Santoro], the nanny. Those were two things.

PD: What’s with you and family friend Hailey Glassman?
JG: Me and Hailey are still together. It was hard for her in the beginning. We are going to stay together. She talks to people. She’s so friendly. She just goes up to people and says, ‘I love your shoes.’

PD: Are you two going to get married?
JG: We don’t talk about getting married. She’s seen how messy my divorce has been and she says it makes her not want to get married. She laughs about it. It’s so different than it was with Kate. It’s so comfortable with Hailey and her family. They are so nice. They gave Kate a free tummy tuck, worth $20 grand. I mean, hello? It’s free surgery.

PD: How is Hailey adjusting?
JG: I apologized to Hailey that I shouldn’t have been hanging out with anyone else. I love her to death and she could’ve walked away.

Continue reading Jon Gosselin Loves His Kids, His Girlfriend And The Jews

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Filed under: In The News, Toys & Games, Shopping

Barbie So In Style designer Stacey McBride-Irby with her mini creations. Credit: Mattel/AP

Mattel has launched a new line of Barbies called So In Style, designed to look more like young black girls.

Except for the hair. The hair is straight.

And that has some parents crying foul.

According to a report by The Associated Press, the new dolls have “fuller lips, a wider nose and more pronounced cheekbones” and resemble a black person’s features rather then Mattel’s 1960s attempt at racial inclusiveness, which “was essentially a white doll painted brown.”

While parents and pundits are praising many aspects of the new line — a focus on education and mentoring, for example, and the varied skin tones — they are also asking about the hair.

At first, this may sound silly. But look at the trailer for Chris Rock’s new film, a documentary called “Good Hair,” that explores the relationship that black women have with their hair.

Continue reading Black Barbie, But Why The Long Hair?

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Filed under: Funny Stuff

Love Twitter? So do we! It can be tough to keep tabs on all your favorite “Tweeters” from the “Twitterverse” — but don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Here’s our favorite parenting Tweets of the week, raw and uncensored, typos and all, just as you see them on Twitter. Follow ParentDish on Twitter to join the discussion (who knows, maybe we’ll feature you here!).

thisfullhouse

thisfullhouse Me: Why do you have glitter all over your face. 8yo: ‘Cause, it’s Friday. [heavy sigh]

blondemomblog

blondemomblog Just stooped to a new slacker mom level. Bought Wonder bread at the gas station.

DadGoneMad

DadGoneMad As of this afternoon, my daughter dots her “i”s with a heart.

Table4Five

Table4Five 13 yr old left to go bowling with a friend. Asked me to help him style his hair with PRODUCT & blow dryer & everything. He’s a teen alright

foldinglaundry

foldinglaundry I have stimulated the economy. Related: EVERYONE IS AT WALMART. Do not go.

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Filed under: Newborns, Pregnancy & Birth, Development, In The News

More than 10 percent of U.S. births are premature, according to the World Health Organization. Credit: Alex Paleczny, Flickr

The World Health Organization just released its first report on the incidence of preterm birth and found a 36 percent jump in American babies born premature.

Around the globe prematurity is a major issue: Worldwide, nearly 13 million babies are born before the 37th week of gestation, and more than a million of them die each year. Sadly, the numbers appear to be on the rise.

Prematurity is most severe in Africa and Asia, where more than 85 percent of preterm births occur. The second-highest rates are found in the United States and Canada, where more than 10 percent of all births are premature. In this country alone, the rate has skyrocketed in the last 25 years, jumping 36 percent, mainly due to the increase in multiple births, assisted reproductive technology and pregnancy over age 35.

Continue reading Ten Percent of American Babies Are Born Too Early

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Here is a look at what’s new this week in family entertainment as adapted from reviews and ratings by Common Sense Media. Click on the links to read the reviews in full.

In Theaters Now: Free Style
“High School Musical” star Corbin Bleu gets serious in his new film “Free Style,” a coming-of-age drama about a hard-working high school senior hoping to make it big as a professional motocross racer. The movie touches on serious subjects like race and absentee fathers but doesn’t go too deep. A few scenes featuring underage drinking and innocent romance make it real while the racing scenes make it fun. Rated PG, OK for Kids 11+

On DVD: Imagine That
Eddie Murphy stars as a divorced dad learning to put his daughter before his career in “Imagine That.” Aside from a few mild insults and some blatant bad behavior on the part of dad, the film is innocent and family-friendly and good for more than few laughs. Rated PG, OK for Kids 6+

TV: Secret Girlfriend
If the title of “Secret Girlfrield” makes you cringe a bit, you are on the right track. Featuring immature slackers objectifying women, the movie is based on a series that previously aired on the Internet. It’s rude, crude and original only in it’s use of a gimmick that has the actors speaking directly to the camera as if it were a character in the show. Rated TV-14, Iffy for Kids 15-18

Continue reading Reviews: What’s New This Week

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Little Mackynzie Renée Duggar came into the world last night, making reality-TV uber-parents Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar first-time grandparents.

The newest baby — who joins the already enormous clan — weighed in at 8 pounds and measured 19 1/2 inches. Mommy Anna and Daddy Josh, the oldest of Michelle and Jim Bob’s 18 children, tossed aside Grandma and Grandpa’s self-imposed tradition of using first-letter J names for all the kids.

The supersize family continues its growth spurts, as Grandma Michelle is pregnant with baby #19, who is due in March.

Continue reading Duggar Grandbaby Born

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Filed under: Teens & tweens, In The News, Education, Amazing Kids

Are skinny jeans, makeup and flats disruptive clothing choices for school?

If you’re a 16-year-old boy attending Georgia’s North Cobb High School, the district seems to think so.

According to a story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jonathan Escobar — a Miami transplant who had only been attending the school for three days — says an assistant principal at North Cobb told him he needed to dress more “manly” for school, or think about home-schooling.

“I told myself I can’t accept this,” Escobar told the AJC, after he withdrew from the school.We checked out the Cobb County School District dress code. Rule A states: “All students shall … refrain from any mode of dress which proves to contribute to any disruption of school functions.”

And Jay Dillon, spokesman for Cobb County schools reiterates to the AJC, “You can’t wear clothing that causes a disruption.”

According to Escobar, the assistant principal told him his outfit had caused a fight between students at the school. The young teen asserts that he was never a disruption in the classroom however, Escobar admits that he did attract attention in the lunchroom, so much so, that on his second day of school a police officer told him he was concerned for his safety.

“They should’ve told the students to back off,” Escobar told the AJC. “They should have never given me the option of homeschooling or changing who I am.”

Students seem to be supporting Escobar. The Facebook group “Support Jonathan” is at more than 1,000 members and plans for protests are in the works.

Megan Skriba, the North Cobb teen who started the Facebook page said that going to school gives students the opportunity to express themselves.

“I don’t think that Jonathan should have been told to leave the school because he is only trying to be himself — most teens are,” she said

“At North Cobb, there are people with multicolored hair, and even girls that dress as guys, but they don’t get in trouble for distraction. I don’t think that it’s fair to treat someone differently because it’s the first time they’ve seen a guy dress as a girl instead of the other way around. Jonathan didn’t make it a distraction, the students and teachers did,” she says.

“I dont think that anybody should have to give up their education because of the way they dress. It’s not right.”

Do you think Escobar should be able to wear what he wants?

Related: Berlin Police Ban Fred Perry for Cops and Kansas Schools Ban Hooded Sweatshirts

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Filed under: Newborns, In The News, Weird But True, Twins, Triplets, Multiples

Nick and Kathleen Hinrichsen are raising three sets of twins in Miami. Credit: NBCMiami.com

Nick and Kathleen Hinrichsen must be master multitaskers. Three months ago, the Miami couple welcomed their third set of twins at Broward General Medical Center, where their other four children were also born. Boy-and-girl twins Dylan and Summer joined 3-year-olds Hunter and Chase and 7-year-olds Austin and Tyler.

All three sets of twins were conceived with the aid of fertility treatments, but it’s still a rare occurrence — as is seeing a family of six kids all younger than age 7. And Nick and Kathleen receive plenty of attention for their big brood.

“People are always saying stuff, always coming up, always, you know, taking that turn back and looking again to see, oh my God, or people are pointing,” Nick told Miami’s NBC news station.

The Hinrichsen’s latest arrivals were taped for an episode of TLC’s A Baby Story, and according to Dad, these are the last babies for the fast-growing family.

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Filed under: Teens & tweens, Health & Safety, In The News, Weird But True, Extreme Childhood

Teachers can’t smoke at a school in Wales, but students might be allowed to indulge their addiction. Credit: stevendepolo, Flickr

A school in Wales forbids teachers to smoke on school grounds, but may create an outdoor shelter on campus where pupils can light up in between classes.

Headlands School in Penarth, near Cardiff, forbids teachers from smoking anywhere on campus, according to The Sun, but may build an area where kids can smoke while at school. “The aim is to restrict smoking to a small area,” principal Matthew Burns told the British newspaper.

The British Medical Association issued a statement about the matter, according to The Sun, and called the move “inappropriate.”
Inappropriate? How about crazy? This is a reverse case of “do as I say, not as I do.” Adults are forbidden from engaging in a behavior most people consider to be detrimental to your health, but let’s set aside a special area to let kids light up during school hours.

According to the American Lung Association, as many as 4,000 kids in the U.S. try their first cigarette on any given day, and more than 2,000 others younger than 18 become new, regular smokers. For those doing the math, that’s more than 750,000 new daily smokers each year in the United States alone.

What would you do if your child’s school made a move like this?

Related: School to Slaughter Pet Lamb

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