These pictures of Suri Cruise and her cupcake should now fill your cute quota for the day.

Seriously, teachers get enough role-based antipathy from their students. Let’s unite in support of the overworked and underprivileged teachers: like nurses, it’s all too often a crappy job, but unless there were some poor saps out there willing to take it on, civilization as we know it would grind to a halt.

From the 50-Somethings Mom Blog:

First and foremost, teachers cannot select their raw materials. As my supervisor, Jerry Wadden, used to tell us at the beginning of each new school year,

“Our parents are sending us the best children they have. They are not hiding better ones at home in their closets.”

There is the idea that all children have an unlimited potential and if they are not meeting it, it’s the fault of their teachers. Somewhere in there personal responsibility and working hard on one’s own behalf seem to have disappeared completely. Believe me, if there was a way to insert knowledge and common sense into children by some other means than coercion, a teacher would have thought of it, and her administration would have taken credit for the idea.

I have a thing for bunk beds. I think they are truly a very cute idea, and if children have to share a room, they can be a great space saver. Unfortunately, I have only one child, so a bunk bed doesn’t seem to really be in my future.

However, that won’t stop me from looking at some current bunk bed offerings and thinking, “Blech!” I’m not a fan of modern furniture in general, and these bunk beds have strong modern lines, so perhaps I’m predisposed to not liking them unless they have some sort of curve in them. Is it just me? Or maybe I’m just expecting too much, design-wise. Is there really a whole lot you can do with bunk beds?

I like to think that just because they are little, kids shouldn’t be ignored when it comes to nice furniture. It doesn’t have to be expensive, it just shouldn’t be, you know, ugly. These beds, for me, don’t cut it. Especially for the prices they want.

I appreciate the extra storage on the side, but I do not appreciate the traffic-cone orange. Besides, it seems as if by placing the lower bunk perpendicularly, it takes away any space advantage you might gain from having a bunk bed in the first place. This one will cost you almost two thousand dollars.

Glinda can’t tell you why exactly, but Glinda no likey. It looks very, uh, industrial. And $2150 dollars? No way.

Now don’t let the cute bedding distract you. This is not something I would enjoy looking at every day, and for $1,900, I need to enjoy looking at it.