I have no problem with people who choose not to have kids.

Their reasons are their own, and I respect their right to live their lives as they see fit. I certainly would not want someone that dislikes children or feels they are unfit to parent to have one, which sounds fairly disastrous for all involved.

No, what I have a problem with is the term “child-free.”

Let us ponder for a moment the words that are normally coupled with “free.” Words like fat, sugar, and cancer are all common. These are things that are seen to be negative. Things that if you don’t have, your life will most likely be seen as being better, even if from a purely superficial standpoint.

Now let’s look at words that are commonly used with the suffix “-less.” Homeless, brainless, and bloodless come to mind. Those root words are things I’m fairly sure we would all concur are good things to have. Ones that if you don’t have, then you are seen as possibly having some problems, especially blood.

However, the “child-free” movement is waging a war of semantics, and I have an issue with it. Partly because I have a degree in English, and arguing semantics is pretty much all it is good for. That and comparing obscure themes in novels. Thank goodness I don’t have a degree in philosophy, or else we’d really be in trouble.

But by purposely using the phrase “child-free” versus “childless” I believe they are implying that children are inherently bad. That by not having them, their lives will be improved. And in their minds, I’m sure that is true. But I hate to say that they are in the minority, at least at this moment in history.

I agree that children may not be for everyone, but let’s not lump them in with life-threatening diseases, shall we?

I’m sure we all have our own opinions about this:

Just, stay away from the capris if you want to make the grade. I’m just sayin’.

Last week, eighty-three percent of you said that a sixty-six year old woman was too old to have a baby. Only thirteen percent tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, and only three percent said it was perfectly fine. As a thirty-eight year old who is daunted by the fact that she will have her own newborn in November, I’m seriously wondering if a woman in her late sixties has the energy to keep up with a toddler, much less be able to deal with any health issues that arise. But heck, maybe she’ll just hire a nanny.

Since yesterday was a holiday, but I still had a burning question I wanted to ask you, I decided to break the rules and do a poll today.

The news just came out that 13-year old Danny Hauser and his mother Colleen have returned to Minnesota and will face a new court hearing as to whether Danny will continue a regimen of chemotherapy as determined by the judge in the case. Danny underwent one round of chemo, and then stopped, citing religious reasons. Danny’s cancer, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, is highly treatable with chemo and his chances of survival are quite good if he continues the therapy, and very low if he does not. Danny and his parents do not wish to continue the chemo and want to pursue alternative therapies instead.

We’ve got a winner for our caption contest of last Friday. Yes, the shoe designer really made an ass out of himself with these, but we’ve gotten out our shovel and burro’d deep to get a caption that can carry its weight. It’s been donkey’s years since I had this much fun.

All things considered, I’m still surprised Jennie didn’t win.

gemdiva Says:
May 22nd, 2009 at 3:44 pm

In Shrek 4, Donkey gets booted.

There can be only one prize here: the
Cole Haan – Air Reina riding boot in gorgeous black patent.

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.

Hugh Jackman’s superhuman powers of attraction are such that they can easily pull small- to medium-sized children right out of passing airplanes.

(but seriously, is it too much to ask that he’d do that to me? just once?)

Latest in the vast pile of products the world does not now, nor ever will, actually require: the pink plastic ouija board.

Summer is pretty much here, and most people tend to chuck their lipsticks and gravitate to lighter lip glosses during hot weather. One of the newest and best out there is from Dior, that classic French fashion house that manages to crank out beauty faves almost every season.

This summer is no different, with the introduction of DiorKiss. DiorKiss is a light, long-lasting gloss that not only aims to plump your lips, but manages to smell heavenly too. It’s easy to guess the scents from the names, with examples like Strawberry Smoothie (a classic, flattering red) and Pineapple Cocktail (a shimmery ivory-beige).

It also has a nicely curved applicator, instead of the wands that tend to get a little droopy after a while.

Me? I’m a sucker for anything that smells good that happens to reside directly underneath my nose.

DiorKiss Luscious Lip-Plumping Gloss