Archive for June, 2010

Editor’s Note: I am posting two topics this morning for those who don’t want to talk about Kate. Also I want to point out that I was sick in bed with a cold last night is how I caught this much television.

So Kate Gosselin’s new TLC show “Kate Plus 8” premiered last night and as the title indicates there was no Jon in the show.

Kate, along with her friend Jamie, took the kids to Discovery Cove in Orlando for a dolphin experience to celebrate their 6th birthdays.

When the show first started, Walsh was a toddler just like her six, and I really enjoyed seeing how she organized, saved money and cooked for her brood.

Toward the end, the show became more about her being mean to Jon. So without her whipping boy it was a little less interesting. I fast-forwarded through much of their dolphin experience.

The most interesting parts were watching Kate handle logistics and the every-day needs of a large group of kids – such as delays at the airport and trying to find the kids healthy food …

Continue reading Was ‘Kate Plus 8′ boring without whipping-boy Jon? »

I bagged taking all three kids by myself to Lake Lanier’s water park today. I panicked after I saw how many different slides there were.

You would think lots to do would be a good thing but for one parent trying to keep three different aged kids entertained and safe, it just makes it a nightmare.

We were going to go with a friend, but I didn’t feel like I could ask her to watch the baby while I went off with the big kids.

I also thought about asking my favorite babysitter along. I could leave her and the baby in the shallow end of the wave pool and go ride the slides with the two big kids. But then I got worried about being so far away from the baby. And it’s not like you can carry a cell phone.

If Michael was with me I think that split would work fine but I just don’t think I can take all three alone and keep them safe and entertained.

How do you handle taking multiple kids to the water park? Do you go with friends and have different adults supervise little groups – so like …

Continue reading Game plan: How to manage multiple kids at a water park? »

Filed under “Are you freakin’ kidding me”:

From The Associated Press: “A Dutch man [Joran van der Sloot] long suspected in the disappearance of an Alabama teen in Aruba was arrested Thursday in the murder of a young woman in Peru.” (Note: Updated from earlier post.)

Remember this guy? He’s been arrested and released twice in the Natalee Holloway murder. He is still their main suspect despite being released for lack of evidence, according to the AP story.

Even five years later, Natalee Holloway is my warning call to all my babysitters when they go away for spring break or senior trips. I stand in the doorway lecturing as the head home:

“Don’t go out alone with boys you’ve just met. Stay in very large groups – two is not enough.  Don’t go to their rooms. Don’t ride away in cars along with them. Don’t split up. Tell your friends where you are going and who you are going with! Don’t drink anything you haven’t seen made by the bartender! Always check  in!”

My sister-in-law, who …

Continue reading To young women traveling alone: Remember Natalee Holloway »

Multiple events and conversations over the last few weeks have me thinking about the future of race relations in our country. I want to share with you a couple of the items and then see what you think:

1. I recently met a photographer from Seattle. She was telling me that her teenage son and his friends don’t think about race at all. They hang out with and date anyone they choose regardless of race.
2. I see this with my kids and with my babysitters as well. My kids don’t care at all (and I don’t think they think at all) about the color of their friends. They choose to play with whomever they like. The same is true for the older kids I know in our community. They date outside their races and don’t seem to think much about it. (I wonder if their parents do – a little bit older than my generation?)
3. The conversation with the photographer made me think about a story I wrote about five years ago asking an education expert from Columbia University about what we should be teaching our …

Continue reading Is the next generation blind to race? »

I was shocked to see in the paper this weekend a story about two schools in Georgia where students dressed as KKK members last week to do historical re-enactments.

From the AJC:

“Four white students dressed like Ku Klux Klansmen walked through the cafeteria last week at Lumpkin County High School, heading to a class project on racism and walking straight into news reports around the world….”

“But when a similar scene unfolded in a Gwinnett County middle school last week, when the students wearing the Klan outfits were African-American, as was their teacher, the story changed….”

“The incident in Lumpkin County in North Georgia deeply upset at least two students at Lumpkin County High, leading to a community meeting held by an activist and also a private meeting between community leaders, clergy and school administrators. The high school teacher, Catherine Ariemma, who is white, was investigated and is back on the job.”

“The incident at Gwinnett’s Sweetwater Middle School, which …

Continue reading KKK role play OK in the classroom? »