What's in a name?

In about an hour, Fox is debuting their newest comedy with Jaime Pressly of "My Name is Earl" fame. While I don't plan to watch the show, I was alerted to it by an over-sized, electronic billboard blaring the program's tacky title past rush-hour traffic.

I find it hard to believe that a network executive actually came up with and approved the name for this prime time comedy  -- "I Hate My Teenage Daughter."

Is it meant to be humorous? Ironic? Over-the-top to draw viewers and/or ratings?

Early reviews have not been kind so I'm guessing that despite the "catchy" title, the program may hit the skids before we figure out who actually hates whom in this family romp.

Many (many) years ago, I actually was a teenager and someday, I will actually have a teenager daughter of my own. And while I fear I may, at times, share the title's controversial sentiment, I still find it jarring and tactless. Yes, it's just a television show and probably a bad one at that, but must they really stoop so low? Even the movie "Mean Girls" which was about just that, didn't offend so blatantly right off the bat. As the mom of young kids, it's all I can do to minimize the use of words like "hate" and I certainly don't need them plastered all over the highway while I drive carpool.

Headline-grabbing labels like this may get attention in the short-term (I'm blogging about it so that's obvious). I may not be a teen anymore but as a mom, I find it insulting and sad that a title like this made it past the censors.

Food for Thought Friday

Most parents deck their nurseries out in a cool, pale blue or a ballet pink, with the requisite Pottery Barn Kids accessories. Not this uber creative couple. Check out their kid's "crib" as seen in the latest issue of D magazine, online.

Is it hip, funky and retro? Or odd, over-the-top and gauche?

Possibly all of the above?

For more photos of this family's abode, click here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Craving some family fun and a holiday treat that won't add inches to your thighs? Try this on for size.

Pumpkin Pie Play Dough

ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 2 TBS vegetable oil
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 2 TBS cream of tartar
• 2 TBS pumpkin pie spice 
• paprika for coloring

Mix wet ingredients and paprika in saucepan over low heat. Add dry ingredients and mix. Remove from heat and knead until good consistency for play.

Food for Thought Friday

Since the clock is ticking on the window in which you can receive a flu shot, I wanted to throw in my two cents...for what it's worth.

I know that some of you out there subscribe to the Jenny McCarthy school of thought that vaccines are evil and must be avoided, lest we poison our children with these man-made medicines. But in reality, vaccines are not the devil they've been portrayed as in the media and in fact, many of the news stories that originally found vaccines dangerous have since been debunked.

The fact is, vaccines keep our society, and especially our most vulnerable citizens (ie: kids and the elderly or infirm) free from horrible diseases that once ran rampant in our country. Yet, for all their benefits, Americans remain surprisingly skeptical about them.

Last year, only 43 percent of people in the U.S. got a flu shot. Experts note that the flu kills more people each year then any vaccine-preventable disease. Read that sentence again and be sure to seriously mull it over before you toss the idea aside. My son's teacher skipped the shot last year and missed nearly a month of school due to her lapse in judgement. Thankfully, she recovered but it's a misstep she has vowed not to repeat.

Each year, the flu kills nearly 50,000 people and sends another 200,000 to the hospital. Children are especially at risk. Just ask the parents of 4 1/2 year-old Amanda Kanowitz. Amanda was a healthy preschooler before she suddenly came down with the flu. Three days after being stricken, she died, leaving her family devastated but determined to spread the word about this preventable danger.

In case you're still on the fence (hey, I get that you are a worrywart, or just queasy about needles), here are a few other thoughts to keep in mind.

• It is impossible to get the flu from the flu shot. The virus contained in the shot is dead and the biggest side effect you can expect is a sore arm or a slightly runny nose. 

• The preservative, thermerosal, was once contained in flu shots but was phased out ten years ago from both the flu mist and single-dose vials. A small level is still used in vials that store multiple doses so if you're concerned, find a preservative-free option but don't let it deter you from getting the vaccination or giving it to your kids.

• The flu is much more serious than a bad cold. At best, it will have you in bed aching with fever, sore throat and congestion for a week or longer. At works, it can kill you.

So, if you've declined to get the shot this year, think again. Time is running out. 

Food for Thought Friday

“Waking up in the middle of the night is the problem of every woman I know. The minute I had children I was like the mother listening in the woods for the bear. I don’t know if men are less vigilant, but my husband doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night. He could sleep in a dunking booth.”
                                                                                                                    -- Novelist, Meg Wolitzer.

Last year, nearly 16 million women between the ages of 40 and 59 were prescribed medication to help them sleep. Studies show that of mother's with infants, 84% experience insomnia. But sadly, sleep issues are likely to continue after your child is out of diapers -- not just with the kids, with the mommies as well.

Speaking as the world's lightest sleeper, I am practically woken by the sound of my kids turning over in bed. In my college days living in a big city, I could sleep through a cacophony of fire engines, ambulances and police sirens screeching all through the night. Now, I regularly wake at an ungodly hour to the pitter patter of little feet shuffling down the hall, followed by a small face appearing inches in front of mine, shout-whispering, "Mama!" This while my husband is blissfully unaware, snoring away. Often he doesn't know what nocturnal adventures have occurred in our house until I inform him the next morning.

How has having kids affected your sleep? If your kids are great sleepers, I won't judge you. I may hate you, but I won't judge.

Food for Thought Friday

Who knew it was this easy?