See this lovely new doll from American Girl?

Her name is Gwen, and she comes with a pretty eyelet dress, braided pink sandals, and pink underwear to match!

And like all American Girl dolls, Gwen has a backstory. But instead of being a pioneer or a hippie chick, she’s homeless.

You can buy homeless Gwen for a mere $95.00 of the American dollars. Not a penny of which goes to help fund charities for the homeless.

So, join me in a chorus of “that’s just wrong!” won’t you?

You get both pictures of manly men Mel Gibson and Hugh Jackman holding stuffed animals!

The internets are abuzz at the recent Salon article by Andrew O’Hehir and his attempts to explain why he and his wife have chosen to homeschool their children.

I myself have gone back and forth, up, down, and sideways on whether to homeschool our 1st grader. 

In one sense, the thought of a curriculum tailored to my child and his specific interests greatly intrigues me.  My little one is definitely an out-of-the-box thinker, and I would like to keep him that way.

In this thought, I have an ally in Mr. O’Hehir:

The real purpose of all this formal schooling is to get the kids out of the house and train them to stand in line and follow instructions while mommy and daddy get back to their ultra-important lives as economic production units. 

Uh, a little defensive there, are we Mr. O’Hehir? There is a definite tone of holier-than-thou to the article, and I think that is what has made people react so strongly.

But it’s weird, because some days I feel like what he wrote is the absolute truth, and other days, I wonder exactly how I would be teaching my kid to learn how to function without me in normal society when all he does is see me 24/7. I also know that I have some serious shortcomings and perhaps even a mental block when it comes to anything but the simplest of mathematics. Would I really be doing him a favor by becoming his math teacher, or would I pass on my phobia to him, even without meaning to?

So my husband and I are literally taking the public school thing on a day by day basis. I’m willing to homeschool if for even one second I think that going to school outside the home is doing him a disservice of any kind.  And that includes both social and academic learning, and I’ll be honest, right now my son needs more social interaction than I think I could give him at home.

What about you? Have you thought about homeschooling, or has it never even been an option for you?

Last week I wanted to know if you would ever consider foreign adoption, and a whopping 73% of you responded with a “yes.” Only 15% would limit their adoption to within the US, and a tiny percentage said that adoption was not in the cards for them.

Today, with the story of this woman rattling around in my brain, I’m wondering what you think of the largely self-regulated fertility industry.

Since the Munchkin was a wee one, I have always found books about upcoming holidays to be really helpful. Not only can they help make sense of what can be somewhat confusing traditions (you mean I get to knock on people’s doors and ask them for candy!!??), but they also get everybody in the mood!

I’ve compiled a list of some of the best Halloween books for the whole family to read together!

Mommy? I’ve already touted the pop-up version of this book by Maurice Sendak, so of course I heartily recommend the regular version as well. A little boy searches through a creepy mansion in search of his mom, and even though the monsters he encounters try to scare him, he quickly shows them who is boss. And on the last page, Mommy!

Leonardo, the Terrible Monster Leonardo is a monster whose misfortune it is to be not all that scary. When he decides to find the easiest kid to scare and attempts to give it all he’s got, the kid starts to cry. But, it isn’t because of Leonardo.

Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden This non-fiction book tells all about the development of a pumpkin seed into a plant, then a pumpkin, carving it into a jack-o-lantern, and then back to seed again, completing the circle. This is a great book to teach your kids about that ol’ “circle of life” thing and the color photographs are stunning. The text is sort of meh, but I think it affects adults much more than the kids.

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything Beautiful illustrations help tell the story of a woman who finds a clever way to deal with the things that are trying to scare her. A just-scary-enough book.

Big Pumpkin A green-faced witch grows a pumpkin to bake into a pie for Halloween. But the pumpkin is too big! She needs help, and she gets it from various passersby, including a ghost, vampire, mummy, and little bat. A very cute story!

Room on the Broom When a friendly witch loses her hat, she manages to pick up a lot of friends on her way to look for it! With lessons of friendship and cooperation, this modern folktale is sure to be a big hit.

Scary, Scary Halloween This book is certainly designed to give children a a bit of a scare, but in a good way! The unseen narrator (a mother cat) describes all the spooky things she sees, which just happen to be children in Halloween costumes. With some great verse and wonderful illustrations, kids of all ages will love this book.

The Night Before Halloween What do monsters and mummies do before Halloween? Using lighthearted verse inspired by “Twas the Night Before Christmas” we find out what they do to prepare for the big day when the kids will be knocking at their door.

Scratch and Sniff: Halloween There aren’t a whole lot of scratch and sniff books anymore, but kids sure do love them. There is a vile (not really!) witch’s brew, a lollipop, pumpkins, bats and ghosts featured in all their olfactory goodness. Uh, well, maybe it doesn’t really smell like a bat, but that’s probably a good thing!

The Ghost’s Dinner Read as Henry the Ghost fixes dinner for his friends, and watch as they turn the color of each dish! But then, they mysteriously disappear after dessert, and Henry must save the day.

Ghosts in the House! This visually stunning book is an unorthodox tale of a young witch who goes to live in a house. Except one thing, there is a ghost already there! But never fear, the clever witch has a plan.

Congrats to our winner Jennie, for coming out the victor in one of the toughest games yet! She had the correct guess of Jennifer Aniston, and I’m thinking her prize should perhaps be a big cup of coffee from Central Perk. Jennie, you might have gotten Brad Pitt if not for that nasty divorce!

Today’s young chap is someone you all know, and I’ll wait to see what kind of guesses we get before throwing in a hint.