Bunchland

What we’re reading today:

1. One Apple fangirl of a mom says the things she’s most grateful to Steve Jobs for, is Pixar.

2. If your 5-year-old gets something and your 15-month-old doesn’t, your toddler knows something is up.

3. Steve Jobs wanted your kids to be bored sometimes. How else will they get creative?

4. Fabulous headline: I gave birth to Veruca Salt.

5. Lily’s parents surprise her with a trip to Disneyland and she’s so excited she can’t even handle it. We hope she has a really, really great trip:

Photo by Loren Javier via Flickr

What we’re reading today:

1. Does everyone secretly think single moms are crazy? Katie Roiphe thinks that they mean romantic rather than crazy: “They mean that she is not influenced by the practical news on the ground, is listening instead to another story that is in her head. She is drawn to things that are, according to the dictionary definition of romantic, ‘impractical in conception or plan’ and is in thrall to the ‘heroic, adventurous, remote, mysterious, or idealized.’”

2. People continue to debate whether or not circumcision is the healthy choice.

3. New groundbreaking study finds that stress is bad for parenting.

4. If you have a child with special needs, of course you’re going to try whatever treatment or therapy you think might help them, but sometimes it’s better to hold back a bit.  Read more...

What we’re reading today:

1. A future stay-at-home-dad asks Cary Tennis how he might learn to not look to his income as a measure of his self worth. Tennis says, “What does your heart say? Does your heart say this is the right thing? Then that is where your self-worth must come from. And, frankly, there will be times when that’s where it has to come from because people aren’t going to be walking up to you night and day telling you what a swell guy you are.”

2. So minor hockey’s started up again (for all the non-diehard families who haven’t been playing all summer anyway) and it’s only natural that with all the Sidney Crosby concussion talk that parents are concerned about hitting. Starting at age 11, they’re allowed to bodycheck.  Read more...

What we’re reading today:

1. A petition from Change.org just wants Bert and Ernie to get married already. But a Sesame Street spokesman says the muppets are just good friends! Baby steps? First we need out muppets, then they can get married. (But if Veronica from the Archie comics can be into a gay dude, muppets can’t be too far behind?)

2. Is your family comfortable using traditional and/or proper words for anything related to bathroom functions? Too many euphemisms could make things difficult in the future…

3. Have a baby and want to make friends with people who are not in the baby-having world? Check out this advice.

4. A new test can tell the sex of your unborn baby at seven weeks.

5. In a new Tide spot, a prim and proper pink cardigan-wearing mother laments the fact that Tide was in fact able to get rid of the stains on her tomboy daughter’s daughter clothes. Le sigh.  Read more...

What we’re reading today:

1. A gay dad talks about adoption and the super-great program at Toronto’s 519 Church Street Community Centre.

2. How do you pass on survival skills to your kid when you’re an indoor-type person? Dad and 3-year-old attempt camping.

3. Should MTV be doing something about the Teen Moms?

4. No surprise here, Pippa is now a trendy name. (And we’re guessing it’s probably not because of author Philippa Gregory) Other top names for this year: Luna, Asher, Hadley, Arlo.

5. And just in case you were concerned, the Old Spice Guy remains the Old Spice Guy and won’t be replaced by Fabio.

Photo by Sweet One via Flickr

What we’re reading on the blogs today:

Amy Poehler is awesome. We’re so glad Parks and Recreation is back soon. (Finally!) Check out the L.A. Times Magazine‘s interview with this hilarious mom. A sample: “When you’re doing sketch comedy and you’re pregnant, it’s like wearing a giant sombrero in every sketch.” And we’ll definitely be watching her web series Smart Girls at the Party later today.

Speaking of pregnancy and hilarity, remember Pregnant Chicken? She found all those excellent awkward pregnancy photos. Now she’s gone and made a list of some truly excellent comebacks to  inappropriate comments that people made during her pregnancy . E.g.”You’re huge!” “I don’t know why either, all I consume these days is cocaine and Diet Sprite. Weird, eh?”  Read more...

Happy New Year! Bunchland’ll be back full force tomorrow.