DC Metro Moms

Jersey Shore Hater Turned Aficionado

I was a Jersey Shore hater but the show grew on me and now there’s a void in my TV viewing life now that it’s over.  Snooki, Sammi, Jenni (aka JWoww), Mike The Situation, Vinny, DJ Pauly D., Ronnie, and even the short lived Angelina brought 9 weeks of fist pumping, endless hookups, and bar brawls to my otherwise quiet January TV lineup.

I know why the show sucked me in even though I’m far from the typical MTV demographic.  Jersey Shore, like other MTV reality shows, was a complete departure from life as I know it or even as I knew it as 20-something back in the day who did the gym, tan, laundry thing her own way.

Reality TV Meets Real Life

I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. I watch a lot of television. I write about reality cooking shows. My husband and I pretty much record any show that involves food and contests on our DVR. I can't believe we didn't see this coming.

The other night we were watching the new Food Network show "Worst Cooks in America". It was the very first episode so they showing all of the people who were trying out when my husband said to me "Hey, is that Simon?"

We rewound the thing four times and I'll be damned if it didn't look exactly like my neighbor. He was the tall guy standing in back in a red shirt.

We kept watching and when the teams were chosen there was a tall guy in a red shirt that looked nothing like Simon at all. I was starting to wonder what we had been thinking when they panned back out and showed all of the people who weren't chosen (presumably the second worse cooks in America?) and there he was again.

It was totally him. There was no question.

The Family That Plays Together

We got a wii for Hanukkah.  And yes, we were maybe some of the last people on the planet to obtain said gaming system.  I was one of those, what the hell am I going to do with a wii kind of people?  I don't really like video games.  And we don't really NEED ONE.  But my four year old started Occupational Therapy for some fine motor and gross motor issues and his OT suggested it as something we could do at home to work on gross motor skills.  And then I received a wii fit at a Nintendo blogging party and my mom offered to buy us a wii for Hanukkah, and we ended up with a wii.

It is has totally changed the way my family interacts with each other.  My husband has never been TV person.  And I love TV.  So in the evenings, after my son went to bed, I would watch tv and he would go up in his office and do whatever.  Unless we specifically scheduled time to watch a movie together, or we were working on a project for the house together, we weren't really "together."  Now we wii

Are you a Bert or an Ernie?

My mother developed a theory while watching Sesame Street with me and my sister in the '70s and '80s:

Everyone is either a Bert or an Ernie.

You're either an extrovert or an introvert.  The cut-up or the straight man.  The life of the party or the designated driver.  The long-sufferer in silence or the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.  Yin or yang.  Laurel or Hardy.  Lucy or Ethel.  Blair or Serena.  Maverick or Goose. In Rebecca Wells's Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, the Gone with the Wind-loving protagonist classifies girlfriends as either Scarletts or Melanies.  Neither personality type is better or more preferable than the other, however determining a person's Muppet make-up is helpful in understanding his or her social dynamics and behaviors.  Bert- or Ernieness insight is especially helpful in families. 

Nick, you let me down

Maybe I'm overprotective.  No, wait, I know I'm overprotective.  A bit.  But I feel really strongly that little kids should be allowed to be little kids for as long as possible.  I'm a big fan of letting kids have unscheduled time and space to play outside as much as they want, to explore, to create, and I'm really good at standing back in those situations and on the playground.

But TV?  Is my problem.  TV is my responsibility.  I introduced it (at 20 months, in 20 minute/day quantities, and never more than 90 minutes a day now), and I feel responsible for every word that comes out of that TV set and into my little one's mind.  I watch the shows with him, ready to mute or change the channel at objectionable content.  We avoid that almost completely by watching Sprout and PBS kids.  But recently I have been allowing Widget to watch

"Non-Mom?" I Don't Think So

I've been called a lot of things in my life, some nicer than others.

But since becoming the mother of my daughter, no one has ever called me a "Non-Mom" until this weekend.  Yup, you heard me -- a big network called me a Non-Mom.  Well, not just me -- they insulted thousands of other moms, too.

As if a show produced for Mother's Day called "America's Favorite Mom" isn't bad enough -- Hey, America -- who's your most favorite-ist mother off all?? -- someone had the bright idea of dividing all the moms into categories.  You had the Working Mom.  The Military Mom.  The CEO Mom.  And then the ultra-special category just for moms like me -- the Non-Mom.

No, that's not for women who aren't moms yet.  This was a special category and name created just for moms who aren't related to their children biologically -- moms by adoption (me), step-moms (me) and foster moms.

Yup, I'm a Non-Mom.  Does that mean I don't have to cook dinner tonight or finish the laundry?

Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus & the Politics of Puberty

Well, a 'tween firestorm has erupted and her name is Hannah Montana.

I'm not talking about the show or the concert or the 3-D movie.

I probably don't have to tell you what I'm talking about -- the Vanity Fair photo shoot that has families abuzz.  As part of an article on the 'tween phenom, Annie Leibowitz took this photo of Miley Cyrus, the 15-year-old who portrays Hannah Montana in the Disney Channel show of the same name.

There are numerous answers to the question, "What's wrong with this picture?"

More pointedly, what's wrong with the adults who allowed this photo to happen.  Acclaimed photographer Annie Leibowitz says she and Miley agreed that the shot was "artistic."  I'm no prude, but I certainly don't find a lot redeeming about a shot of a minor girl with no clothes on, a satin sheet clutched to her naked chest, with tousled hair and come-hither bedroom eyes.

I know some say it was fair game, especially in light of some semi-provocative photos Miley herself has

Turn Off the TV!

“You don’t have TV?!” This is the usual response from people when they hear we don’t “have TV.” We are strange and probably one of the few families in this area with this setup. That’s right. No TV. No CNN, no ABC, no PBS no TLC—nada! We have an actual TV set which is hooked up to the DVD player for our very limited DVD selection, but it is not actually hooked up to cable, bunny ears, satellite, or anything else.

I try not to talk about it—mainly because it usually leads to a long explanation—but since this week is TV Turn Off week, I figured I’d share a bit on how, why and what we actually do all day.

The decision was made before my husband and I were married—more than eight years ago—that once we had children, the TV would go away. This was actually a deal where I would give up the TV if he would go to church with me every other week. I can’t even tell you the last time he’s set foot in a church. Clearly, he got the better deal.

He grew up without a TV. As a result, he is a voracious reader who whizzed through his law school books

What Triggers Your Trips Down Memory Lane?

I was googling "Mr. Ray's Hair Weave Commercials" earlier this week (more on why in a bit) and while I didn't find a clip of the original Mr. Ray's Hair Weave commercials that were so ubiquitous in the Metro area in the 70s (I could only find a couple of goofy ones from the 80s that were a bit over the top), I DID find a bunch of clips of other local commercials that are as much a part of my childhood and history as someone who grew up with television as the shows themselves. While national commercials do the same to some extent, it's really those low-budget, non-professionally acted gems that take me back to both time and place.

"Whatever you want, whatever it is, whatever you want, think BELMONT." Remember that? Or what about the nearly illiterate but classic Joe Jacoby Theatervision commercial? I found myself wishing that I had clips of those things on YouTube, and while I didn't find them, I did find this gem, the granddaddy of all the commercials from my childhood - the Jhoon Rhee taekwondo commercial. I got all excited and

How do we teach kids to give?

Once again I am in trouble as I sit here watching Oprah on TV. This time it isn't her talk show, but her Big Give show. I get all choked up when I watch shows like this, and I inevitably get thinking about one thing or another that's brought up in the shows. I'm not talking this time about the show itself, which has been criticized by some, but about the idea of charity. How should I go about teaching my kids to be charitable?

They are already aware on a limited basis (at least the 7 year old is) that not everyone has as much as we do. But how can we teach them to really give from their heart, and to understand the impact that they have when they do give? How can we teach them that giving is all about helping others, and while it gives you a fuzzy feeling, it isn't about us at all? How can we teach them to be more generous in their daily lives and to integrate giving into their lives on a regular basis? At what age can we start teaching them, and how can we play catch up if they are older than that? What's the best way to introduce them to the concept in a concrete enough way that they get it?

They are off to a very slow start in this area. But, they have show two instances of tremendous giving.