3. “More people seem to be deciding that the contours of the traditional nuclear family do not work for them,” so the New York Times is profiling some of these non-traditional families. Here’s the first installment: Mom, sperm donor, lover, toddler.
As the first long weekend with (hopefully) warm weather, Victoria Day unofficially kicks off the Canadian summer. People trek up to cottage country, head to patios and are finally allowed to wear white again. In addition to cottages and fireworks, one of the most dominant images of a long weekend is booze. After all, despite its shifting date, Victoria Day is commonly referred to as the May Two-Four. But does partying end once parenthood comes along? We asked some moms and dads how much drinking, if any, is permissible when there are little ones around:
“Parents like to think their kids don’t notice when they’re drunk but let’s cut the B.S. We all remember seeing our parent’s friends at parties reeking of booze and doing that cross-eyed smile where they seemed way too into our stupid toys and they’d hang out for so long, the other spouse would say “Charles, put down the Spider-man and come back to the table for chrissakes.” We didn’t know they were high on alcohol per se but we knew something was up and it was pretty disturbing. So no, you cannot be wasted around kids. Read more...
2. So, when we heard about the Botox mom, we put it in the round-up, then when we heard it was a hoax, we put in the round-up and then when we heard the Botox mom lost custody, you guessed it. So the final word on the Botox mom? She made it up for publicity and money. Hey, we’re not here to judge your parenting skills, but pretending that you inject your 8-year-old with neurotoxin to get a little piece of fame? Yeah, we’re going to have to judge you on that.
Today’s Postcard from Bunchland comes from Superdad Chris Shulgan, who seems to have bundled up both kids without any trouble… unlike the tobogganing outing.
Do you have a Postcard from Bunchland? Send photos of family fun to meghan@bunchfamily.ca or find us on Flickr.
Over at GeekMom we saw a book review for the Mommy MD Guide to Pregnancy and Birth. Judy Berna writes, “There’s something very comforting about knowing the person giving the advice has actually been in the trenches themselves. review of the Mommy MD Guide to Pregnancy
A look back at the month when dads took over Bunchland
We declared October Superdad Month here at Bunchland, in light of last month’s guest editor, Christopher Shulgan and his recently-released book Superdad: A Memoir of Rebellion, Drugs and Fatherhood. And you know what? It was fun having some dudes around Bunchland HQ. We spend so much time emitting high-pitched squeals over pictures of puppies and gossiping about last night’s episode of Glee that it was refreshing to get some male perspective.
Chris wrestled with the question of whether or not to buy his 4-year-old son a Wii during Videogame Week, and also looked at the portrayal of dads in pop culture. We were also treated to posts from “hip-hop pop” Dalton Higgins, author of Fatherhood 4.0. Dalton blogged about hip-hop music videos inspired by fatherhood.
Here’s are all of the posts penned by pops last month, in case you missed any of them. Read more...
My twice-a-month parenting column for Eye Weeklyposted today…
I was talking to an old friend about the unwrapped Dentyne gum pieces my kids got last Halloween, when the offer came: “Why don’t you trick-or-treat with the kids up in our neighbourhood?”
Which bugged me. I’d been in the midst of complaining that too few homes in my area gave out candy. Last year, I took the kids out — my son dressed as a jogger, my daughter as Max from Where the Wild Things Are — and conducted a six-block loop. Barely a third of the homes we passed yielded candy — not a great batting average. Turns out my neighbourhood sucks for Halloween. More…
