65% of you say that if people are willing to pay more for child-free flights, if offered, then godspeed to them.  23% find it discriminatory, and 10% of people with kids would fly it themselves if they could.  To be honest, the child-hating trend that is out there right now concerns me a bit.  I mean, it is one thing to have smoke-free flights because second hand smoke is dangerous to your health.  Are we really lumping children into a similar category?  I could possibly embrace a child-free section of the airplane. 

Today I’ve got a personal question for you.  Well, it’s a personal question for me, to be honest.  My family, including grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. is going to have a formal picture taken by a professional photographer.  Formal meaning that we are going to be all lit up nicely and all that jazz that comes with a professional.  Now, the rub is that we don’t know how to have everyone dress.  We are actually quite a small family, and the total number of people is going to be 16.  Should we dress in a color-coordinated way?  Casual? Semi-casual? Semi-formal outfits for everyone and color matching be damned?  Everybody wearing essentially the same outfit?  We are at a loss, and turn to the wise members of the Manolosphere for help.

photo via

Because of the holiday last week and a suspended poll, we are still on Valentine’s Day.  Good grief.

36% of you are all about the chocolate.  Agreed.  Although really, is there ANY holiday in which chocolate is not involved?  32% don’t care one way or the other, and 19% refuse to be told which day of the year love should be celebrated.  Agreed on that one, also.  6% of you love Valentine’s Day, and 4% of you think Valentine’s Day can suck it.

Today my question involves summer vacation time, which is coming up faster than you would think.  Although the stretch from April to June can feel pret-ty long sometimes.

Who knew that mom jewelry would spark such divisiveness? In the closest Teeny Poll evah, mom jewelry was voted an “out” by 51% percent, which leaves 48% voting for an “in.” And don’t ask me why the numbers don’t add up properly, ask Twiigs. I happen to like some of the mom jewelry out there, and I think that if someone likes it, why not wear it? Granted, some of it is pretty awful, but the same can be said for many types of jewelry, which apparently doesn’t deter some people.

Today marks the end of a birthday weekend extravaganza for my son, which included a party where my mother-in-law was invited. Just to let you know, I don’t necessarily always get along with my mother-in-law.  But for the sake of the grand kids, we’ve made a semi-easy peace.  Or at least we are nice to each other’s faces.  I can’t say for sure what happens once she gets home.

My grandmother bought this very toy for my cousin, who is now 21 years old.  My son played with it lo these many years ago, and it is sitting on my living room floor at this very moment, in pristine condition, waiting for my daughter to play with it. Because even though she is fascinated, all she wants to do right now is gnaw on it, not necessarily play with it.

And that is what I love about quality toys, often as not made out of wood, or at least mostly made of wood.   They can last twenty years and then some.  They are often expensive, but I think a bit of extra money is worth it, especially if you plan on having more than one child.  Now, let’s see if this can last to perhaps a grandchild of mine?  Totally worth the sixty bucks.

Being at this parenting thing for seven and a half years now, I have come to have a greater understanding of the grandmotherly types who go completely nuts when they see a baby.

You see…

…babies don’t leave their dirty clothes on the floor in front of the hamper, since the two inches further was just too much effort.

…babies don’t have hissy fits when it is time to do homework.

…babies don’t try to spit their carrots into the trash can when they think you aren’t looking.

…babies don’t leave a bazillion Lego pieces on the floor and then be mortally offended when told to pick them up.

….babies don’t pester you constantly for a dog/flying machine/wifi connection so they can play the Wii with their friend acrosss town.

…babies don’t sulk.

…babies will never hit you up for money.

Babies simply coo, squeal, drool, and generally look cute. The worst they can do is poop while you are holding them, but Mom is the one who gets to deal with that.

So yes, I have much greater empathy for them than I did before. I bet I’ll have even more ten years from now.

The town of Bobcat, Pennsylvania has decided to ban trick-or-treating on Halloween.  Count that as a place I would try to move away from as quickly as possible.

Instead of being able to do door-to-door, the town will hold a four hour Halloween party.

That’s all well and good, but what if you really wanted to go trick-or-treating? I think it’s fine to suggest that it’s safer to attend a party, but to ban the option altogether? What is the reason behind the insanity?

Assistant Dunkard Fire Chief David Pritchard, running unopposed for supervisor in the election, said he was surprised by all the negative reaction to the decision to ban trick-or-treating.

He says there’s been a lot of break-ins lately and that older people in Bobtown were scared.

What up with that, older peoples of Bobtown? Because you are scared some little kid in an angel costume is going to demand more than just a bite-sized Snickers?

You know, there is an uptick in crime during the Christmas season. I wonder if the older people of Bobtown are going to demand that Christmas be put to a stop as well?

Today is Memorial Day, and I’d like to take a minute to recognize the brave men and women of the United States Armed Services who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. I know not all of our readers are from the US, but I hope that you will bear with me.

We have two special men in our family who are veterans of two different wars. My grandfather, the Munchkin’s great-grandfather, served in the Army for two years during World War II. He saw heavy combat on Gaudalcanal, and is still going strong at 91 years old. My husband’s father served in the Navy on an aircraft carrier during the tail end of the Korean War. He was shot at as a plane he was in flew over enemy territory.

They served with honor, but our families are the lucky ones. The ones that saw their loved ones return home.

We will never forget those that didn’t make it back.

Foldover pie, for small families (FoodPlusPolitics)

Halloween trivia (AnEclecticPagan)

How did YOU celebrate International Invent a Horrible Soup Day (Fracas)

Toilet Paper and Economic Turndowns: the historical overview (AngryRaisins)

Kiefer Sutherland is a wussy daddy (AgentBedhead)

Angie and Brad are a little confused about privacy (TheHater)

Cloris Leachman has Super Granny powers! (Defamer)

and, finally, YesWeCan(HoldBabies):

Yes We Can (Hold Babies) is the international source for pictures of Obama holding babies. There are occasionally some kisses involved, sometimes the babies are a little too old to be classified as babies, and sometimes we just post pictures of Obama standing under a dinosaur (and by that we do not mean John McCain).