Most people, adults or children in the know, do not like to think about their parents having sex, ever. Well, there is the fact that there's a very good chance the parents had sex in order to get said adult or child, but other than that we prefer to have our minds boggled rather than our imaginations ruined by thinking about our parents getting it on.
Not so with Matthew McConaughey. His mother, Kay McConaughey, is set to publish a sort of memoirs/tell all book about her life, and in it she gets pretty explicit about her relationship with Mateo's father, how the star was conceived and how her husband met his ultimate, if not untimely, demise. Says Kay, who married Matthew's dad three times and spent over sixteen years before conceiving, her hubby died during sex; she knew he was gone when he just wasn't responding.
More information than we will probably ever want to know. If there's one thing I want to think about LESS than my own parents having sex it's Matthew McConaughey's parents having sex and then one of them dying during it. The Sahara star did comment that if he has to go, he hopes it's a long way off, but that doing so while making whoopy would be the desired method of exit. And, I will say, for being 77, Kay McConaughey looks unbelievably amazing. Seriously. If we could all look like that when we're 77 people would never actually stop having sex.
Traditions are an important part of family life. Traditions not only create positive feelings and a sense of belonging, they help parents pass their values on to their children. There's a good reason why, as parents, we often find ourselves repeating some of our favorite family traditions with our own children.
Today was my older daughter's first day of kindergarten, so we're just starting to form our own back-to-school traditions. Ours are pretty simple -- a shopping day spent just with Mom, a special breakfast that first morning, and a picture taken on our front porch, where all milestone pictures are staged. Then, we all walk to school together as a family. It's only our second year of school, but I particularly hope that we can keep that last one up.
A study commissioned by the toy company, Hearthsong has been weighing heavily on my mind. By querying over a thousand parents of kids under the age of twelve, it was found that although 99% of those surveyed believe play was important to childhood, only 38% spent at least six hours a week in active play with their own kids.
Even more troubling, one in six parents didn't even spend an hour a week with their kids, which averages to less than10 minutes aday in playtime with their sons and daughters.
Hearthsong sells toys, but playing with kids doesn't mean you're confined to Legos and tea parties. There are lots of fun things you can do with your child that don't require plastic items at all. I believe and if both parties are having fun and actively engaged, it counts as play too.
Something even the busiest of families can do for entertainment/play is round-robin stories. This costs absolutely nothing, can be done many places including around the dinner table or when trapped traveling in the car together.
One person starts a story ("Once upon a time, there was a giant onion" ) passes it on to the next person, who adds their own spin to the adventure ("and he accidentally wandered into this village that turned out to be where the Iron Chef competitions were held....") and then passes it on again. It's a simple activity that stretches kids' imaginations and can provide some pretty memorable family moments at the same time For a time, we had a child who had exceptional prowess at working a pirate into every tale and it became a challenge to make a pirate-proof.
Any mundane activity can be turned into play with a little bit of imagination: play catch with the newspaper as you're bringing it the house, or a quick game of tag while waiting for another sibling to be done with track practice, monkey-in-the-middle-of-laundry is done by tossing dirty clothes into the proper sorting pile over a leaping child, playing charades to try and guess what's for dinner or what exciting things happened that day are all ways to incorporate fun into a busy schedule.
Blogger Blackbird has older kids and for some people that makes family time a bit more challenging, but she brilliantly enlisted her children's help to make a list of fun things they wanted to do as a family this summer. The list is genius in it's simplicity: making a fire, creating something with paper mache, working at a soup kitchen, eating S'mores.
It's easy to forget in the daily scramble to get everything thing done, but kids really aren't kids forever. With that in mind, I'm off for a kite-flying session with mine. (Sadly, our first all summer.)
Let this be a lesson to us all. If you're going to borrow library books from your local library, please be reminded that "borrow" is the operative word. You get a library card (generally for free) and thereby enter into an agreement wherein said library lends you books for a few weeks...and then you give them BACK. If you don't, you get hit with a meager fine. Last time I borrowed a book, the fine was about five cents a day. Seriously--it's been a LONG TIME since I've borrowed a book. In other words, there's really no incentive to not return the books that were lent to you for free by the very nice people who work at the library. Sometimes, however, when you take those things for granted, things get nasty.
Just ask Heidi Dalibor, who refused to return her copies of White Oleander and Angels and Demons. Nor did Ms. Dalibor remit the fines she owed to the library from which she borrowed the page-turners despite the notices she received in the mail. Furthermore,she declined to take note of the court citation issued to her when she didn't respond to the Grafton Library's calls and letters to her. The result? She was arrested. Cops showed up at her family's house, handcuffed her, and booked her for violating the "overdue library materials" ordinance! Seriously.
My words of advice? Return your library books, people. Or, at the very least, see what policies your town has regarding whether or not you return them.
As soon as school ended last June, we put all of our possessions into storage and moved across the country for my husband's new job. Since then, my seven-year-old, my husband, myself, our two cats and the dog have been living in a small apartment with a borrowed television and rented furniture. Because we flew to our new city, we were unable to bring much more than our clothes and a few other personal belongings.
They say that necessity is the mother of invention and that is a fact. With very little in the way of real toys to play with and not a friend in sight, keeping Ellie busy with something other than television and computer games has been a challenge. We do spend lots of time exploring our new town and the surrounding areas, but that still leaves many hours to fill at home. The thrill of lounging by the pool each and every day got old pretty quick and that's when we got creative.
The only things we have actually purchased to amuse ourselves with are pool and beach related items. Who knew that they could be used in so many ways away from the water? We've played baseball with a rolled up beach mat, balled up socks and flip-flop bases. We have used swim noodles as swords and had duels in the living room. We even ring-tossed the dog with an inflatable inner-tube.
We've played Nancy Drew looking for clues when walking the dog and we colored pictures on the backs of paper plates to decorate our temporary home. Ellie has perfected the art of the small-space cartwheel and learned to write her name beautifully in cursive.
If all goes as planned, we will move into our new house next week. The stuff of our lives will be returned to us and things will go back to normal. I would be lying if I said I wanted to remain in this residential limbo a while longer, but I do think I will miss it when it's over. And Ellie would never admit it, but I suspect she will, too. How do you manage to strip away the stuff of life and get that simple, quality time with your child?
My older daughter's soccer coach called last night. I groaned when he told me he'd set soccer practices for the same day of the week that my daughter has dance. Now, one evening a week, she'll go from one dance class to the other, then directly to soccer practice. It's too much, in my opinion. But she's adamant that she doesn't want to give either activity up. Luckily, soccer season is short-lived.
I know that, down the road, we'll have this conversation again. We're lucky that there are so many great programs out there for our kids to take part in, but yet there has to be room in the schedule not only for family time, but for downtime too. It's got me wondering, how does a parent know when to say when to after-school activities?
According to Scholastic, extra-curricular activities benefit kids in a myriad of ways -- academically, emotionally, and socially. But kids need to play a role in deciding what and how much they want to take on. (In other words, trying to turn an uninterested child into Tiger Woods through early and intensive golf classes isn't really going to do anyone any good). They've also got a grade-by-grade guide to after-school activities for little ones. According to them, our two extra-curricular activities are perfectly appropriate... I just wish they didn't all happen on the same night.
What about you? Where do you draw the line when it comes to extracurricular activities?
Should he choose to, Jericho Scott could probably have a career as a professional baseball player. Only nine-years-old, the New Haven, Connecticut boy has a fastball pitch that has been clocked at 40 miles per hour. Unfortunately, it's that fastball that has gotten him banned from pitching for the co-ed Youth Baseball League of New Haven.
Scott's coach and parents say that he's being unfairly targeted and that league officials are picking on him because he turned down an invitation to join the league's champion team, which happens to be sponsored by a league administrator. League officials say Scott was banned due to safety concerns. Although everyone admits that Scott has never hit anyone with a pitch, league attorney Peter Noble says parents are afraid their kids will get hurt at bat. "He is a very skilled player, a very hard thrower," Noble said. "There are a lot of beginners. This is not a high-powered league. This is a developmental league whose main purpose is to promote the sport."
League officials have suggested that Scott play another position, pitch against older players or even play in a different league. But last week, Scott took the mound despite the ban. In response, the other team forfeited the game and walked off the field. This did not go over well with Scott's mom, who Noble says became irate and threatened league officials. "I have never seen behavior of a parent like the behavior Jericho's mother exhibited Wednesday night," Noble said.
The Scotts have gotten their own lawyer and are looking into their legal options. "You don't have to be learned in the law to know in your heart that it's wrong," attorney John Williams said. "Now you have to be punished because you excel at something?"
What is happening to Jericho Scott may seem unfair, but I don't know that I would characterize it as punishment for being too good. By that logic, forcing beginner players to face a 40-mile-per-hour fastball is punishing them for not being good enough. The suggestion to play with an older team seems like a good solution to this problem and I wonder why he doesn't take it.
Despite rumors that their marriage is on the skids, Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie have renewed their vows. According to reports the two resealed the deal this past weekend in a Kabbalah ceremony in Ritchie's native London.
If reports are to be believed, Madge flew her Kabbalah teacher over from Los Angeles to lead the proceedings. The unnamed source went on to say that the pair arrived in gym clothes and changed into white robes before the vows renewal took place, stating they wanted to get through a rough patch in their marriage and make it strong again.
Let's hope if they did hit a rough patch they're working it out. Hard to say why I feel this way, but for a woman who has everything, it seems like Madonna ought to be able to have a marriage that works, too. She may be a material girl and all, but I think she deserves the right to be happy. And if being married is what will make her happy, then I say go for it and do whatever it takes to stay together! Good luck to the two!
In California, the minimum age to get behind the wheel of a car is fifteen and a half, when you can get a learner's permit. There are, it seems, no such restrictions on flying a plane. That's why, even though he's got at least five years before he can learn to drive a car, Charlie Goldfarb is already learning how to fly a plane -- and actually doing it.
The boy has been taking lessons while staying with his father in Southern California for the summer. His mom, who lives in London, at first agreed to the lessons, but apparently didn't really get the whole picture. "She said, 'Are you crazy? You let him fly a plane? I thought it would be a flight simulator,'" said his father, Mark Goldfarb. "I was thinking of something interesting for him to do. He's got an aptitude for high science; he loves aircraft. ... I don't believe in parents who want to protect their kids from all risks."
Still, he won't be able to fly on his own for another six years, but something tells me that won't stop him from continuing to fly. His mom once he gets back home to England? That I'm not so sure about.
Fisherman love to tell tales about the one that got away. But how do you explain to your fishing buddies that the one that didn't get away was caught with a Barbie fishing pole that came with its own hot pink tackle box? Doting grandfather David Hayes isn't embarrassed. In fact, he's having the record-breaking catfish he caught with the pole mounted along with the Barbie fishing rod itself!
It all started when Hayes and his three-year-old granddaughter Alyssa were fishing in his private pond. She ran to the house to use the bathroom, and while she was gone, Hayes got a bite. He hung on until she returned, and they pulled up a 32-inch catfish -- two inches longer than the fishing pole he was using -- that broke the state record.
Hayes isn't just a good grandpa, he's also a doting husband. He and Alyssa were invited to New York City by CBS News, but because his wife just had knee surgery, he figures it's more important to him to stay home. Alyssa's getting a new pole to replace the one that's being mounted, but no word yet on which one she'll choose.
Before I was a mom, there were a lot of things I was never going to do as a parent. I was never going to let my kids watch TV, I was only going to feed them homemade, organic food. I was never going to let them play with plastic toys adorned with licensed characters. And I was certainly going to make sure that most of the toys in our house were gender neutral.
Then I gave birth and became a real parent, and all of that (or at least a lot of it) went out the window. So when my girls, at around 12 to 18 months, embraced the baby dolls and princesses kind of girlhood, I figured it was because I hadn't given them enough trucks and tools to play with when they were babies.
But according a psychologist at CNN, many of the differences we see between boys and girls is actually hardwired at birth. Boys are more likely to enjoy watching mechanical motion, walk sooner, and are more fearless. Girls enjoy looking at human faces, are good listeners, and talk earlier than boys. Do these differences eventually lead to different interests in toys? She says that in one study, when toddlers were shown photos of dolls and vehicles, the girls tended to opt for the dolls, while the boys chose the trucks.
When I was a teenager, I spent a lot of time listening to music, and perhaps even more money on t-shirts from the concerts I attended. I've kept them faithfully over the years. In fact, they've traveled from Kentucky to New York several times and have still remained intact, tucked away somewhere safe for all this time. My husband also have quite a collection of his own that he brought to our marriage. Many of his are tucked away too.
I occasionally wear mine every once in a while, and some of his (his are cooler). For the most part, though, they sit in storage waiting for us to do something with them. Perhaps we hold on to them for nostalgic purposes. Perhaps we keep them in hopes of turning them over to our children one day--at least that's what I told myself upon recent purchases of concert t-shirts from both Police and Springsteen concerts. Maybe then my kids will think I was cool.
But, other than storing and waiting, what is to be done with all those t-shirts? Some have suggested cutting off the fronts and backs and using them to make a giant quilt. That would be very cool. I countered that notion with, hey, why stop at a quilt--you could do throw pillows, the whole nine yards. Others say to sell on e-bay or donate to charity or just use them as rags like the rest of the old t-shirts. Some say, better yet, don't buy them--they're too expensive and just sit in the closet. And that kids won't think you're any cooler for having them (and having kept them all these years).
What did you do with all your old concert t-shirts? Are they still sitting in a pile somewhere or did you come up with a clever alternative to dumping them?
What parent hasn't handed over the car keys to a fussy baby in order to distract and entertain them? A shake or two of the magic keys is usually all it takes for most babies to become enthralled and forget what they were fussing about in the first place. Keys as a makeshift rattle are a tried and true baby distracter, but after a while baby loses interest, right? You start digging into your purse and handing over any non-toxic items you can find. What about your cell-phone? Do you ever let the baby play with that?
Disney suspects that you do and is looking to create cell-phone applications specifically for the preschool set. Like a digital pacifier, you could hand over your phone to keep baby busy on the go. No word on the specifics of these baby cell-phone games, but I imagine they would involve lots of button pushing and annoying sounds. Which, to me, is only slightly more appealing than the sound of baby fussing.
But If they really are going to make cell phone applications for babies, they may need to rethink the design of the phone itself. Babies might actually push a few buttons on the phone, but they will also try to eat it. And unless the phone is drool-proof, it is going to end up in the junk drawer like the remote clicker for my last car.
What is it with the remakes? First every movie we've already seen, then all our favorite television programs (Mister Rogers is around the corner, I'm warning you) and now the boardgames. No, they turned Clue into a movie a long time ago--and it was a mighty good one, with three endings!--but they're actually "updating" the board game. In essence, Clue is getting a makeover.
What is the point of all this? I'm not sure, not sure at all. Clue is seriously my favorite board game of all time. I and most of the folks I know see no reason to mess with or update a classic, but here you have it anyway. I guess it's never too late to try to make a little more money, or to appeal to a new generation of kids. These kids, however, have seriously advanced technology to play with like Wii, PSPs, iPods, etc., so I can't imagine why a young person would be interested in a boring old board game.
Except that the old Clue WASN'T boring. It was fun and required a lot of skill in determining who the killer could be. Plus it was a serious opportunity to play dress up. Tell me you haven't at least had the urge--if not given into it-- to dress up like Miss Scarlett. The updates to the new version include changing the first, if not last, names of the characters as well as their backgrounds. Also, three new weapons have been introduced to the mix. Will these additions actually improve the new Clue and make kids more likely to play it? I doubt it. But, only time will tell. Professor Plum, beware!
Traditions are an important part of family life. Traditions not only create positive feelings and a sense of belonging, they help parents pass their values on to their children. There's a good reason why, as parents, we often find ourselves repeating some of our favorite family traditions with our own children.
As soon as school ended last June, we put all of our possessions into storage and moved across the country for my husband's new job. Since then, my seven-year-old, my husband, myself, our two cats and the dog have been living in a small apartment with a borrowed television and rented furniture. Because we flew to our new city, we were unable to bring much more than our clothes and a few other personal belongings..jpg)
Should he choose to, Jericho Scott could probably have a career as a professional baseball player. Only nine-years-old, the New Haven, Connecticut boy has a fastball pitch that has been clocked at 40 miles per hour. Unfortunately, it's that fastball that has gotten him 
In California, the minimum age to get behind the wheel of a car is fifteen and a half, when you can get a learner's permit. There are, it seems, no such restrictions on flying a plane. That's why, even though he's got at least five years before he can learn to drive a car, Charlie Goldfarb is already 
Before I was a mom, there were a lot of things I was never going to do as a parent. I was never going to let my kids watch TV, I was only going to feed them homemade, organic food. I was never going to let them play with plastic toys adorned with licensed characters. And I was certainly going to make sure that most of the toys in our house were gender neutral.
What parent hasn't handed over the car keys to a fussy baby in order to distract and entertain them? A shake or two of the magic keys is usually all it takes for most babies to become enthralled and forget what they were fussing about in the first place. Keys as a makeshift rattle are a tried and true baby distracter, but after a while baby loses interest, right? You start digging into your purse and handing over any non-toxic items you can find. What about your cell-phone? Do you ever let the baby play with that?
