Around the Web…

Some links for your Tuesday afternoon:

• Kelly Rutherford reveals that the baby she’s expecting in June is a daughter — PEOPLE.com
• When schools cut busing, communities and students pay the price — CNN
• A 92-year-old woman with stomach pains discovers she has a fetus still in her womb — Jezebel
• Five things to know about the new “Grandma-in-Chief” — People.com
• A baby’s pacifiers go missing — and are found in the family dog’s tummy! — MOMformation
• Is yelling at your kids ever OK? — ParentDish

Comments

kids need discipline…and yes, sometimes corporal punishment. I am a proud member of the Spankers & former Spankee Club and therefore wholeheartedly agree with yelling if necessary. Parents and kids these days are too soft and the atmosphere of “everybody is a winner” is damaging competition, personal development, and character.

- Holly on January 20th, 2009

don’t mean to start a flame-war but I’m sure it will happen as most “modern mommies” on this site like to take the stance that kids only need soft-spoken redirection and time out on a rug. Ha!

- Holly on January 20th, 2009

I was spanked a few times when I was little…not bad, I remember it, but I am not scared for life…knowing me I deserved it LOL

I dont spanked my daughter, she has never given me a reason to, YET! lol but I have punished her and I have yelled at her a couple of times…I was so frustrated with her once because she was mocking me and I yelled STOP IT NOW!!! ahhh…lol

I’m not perfect…:)

- XOXO on January 20th, 2009

I want to comment on Kelly Rutherford.
Congrats on expecting a girl but her & her estranged husband seriously have to stop publicly washing their dirty laundry. They are only going to hurt their children in the future. They will have to continue dealing with each other for the rest of their life because of their children. They can divorce if they want, but they don’t have to be so ugly to each other. And if he has been so violent with her in the past, why would you get pregnant with his child a second time???

- Max'sMom on January 20th, 2009

I don’t think spanking is necessary. Most of the children I know are not spanked, and they are well-behaved, normal kids.

Yelling is never necessary. It’s funny, we expect kids to use “indoor voices” and then yell at them. No wonder they don’t listen!

- Chana on January 20th, 2009

HA! indoor voices…well, sometimes it is necessary to yell, when they don’t behave appropriately. THEY as children are always expected to talk quietly, it is not “up to” them

- Holly on January 20th, 2009

well-behaved, “normal kids” when you are around…are you with them 24/7? maybe they do get yelled at to stay in line..have you ever thought that your friend isn’t telling you the truth about what goes on

- Holly on January 20th, 2009

I do raise my voice when my child is disobeying my orders (pick up the dirty laundry from the floor,help me unload the groceries from the car,don’t run while crossing the street!)I do not yell at her but I use a more stern,severe voice to command authority and let her know that I mean business. It works like a charm.About spanking, I was spanked when I was young.I do not recall learning any lesson through it,but totally remember resenting my parents. Luckily,I’ve never had to spank my child,words seem to compute very well with her eventhough a different tone is necessary when she’s acting up.I do feel for the children that get spanked in public, particularly the older ones who feel more than a little humiliated bu the public scene and later by crying when everyone’s looking.

- eva on January 20th, 2009

…public humiliation is temporary, lessons learned are permanent

- Holly on January 20th, 2009

Holly, why are you jumping on everyone? Obviously you’re a bit sensitive.

Me and my siblings were only spanked a few times, when we were little. My mother was against it, but my father was raised on it. I don’t remember what I got spanked for, but frankly, my father is a big man, and I remember feeling absolutely terrified and not “punished.” My mother put a stop to it by the time we were 4 or 5. They used other methods of punishment, and guess what? None of us ever used drugs, failed out of school, got pregnant, or did any of those other things parents who spank see as things that happen when parents are too “soft” on their kids.

- Amy on January 20th, 2009

Oh, and as for public humiliation being temporary, it isn’t if someone remembers it for their entire life. If they still feel humiliated years later, that’s not right.

- Amy on January 20th, 2009

well,the lesson I learned was that everytime that I caused my parents’ anger they would express it by hitting me on the bum.Great lesson for a dog in training,but it was not until I was in my teens,when my parents actually tried talking that I ceased to act up.Of course,Holly might say that they didn’t spank me enough =)

- eva on January 20th, 2009

i think it’s important to distinguish the difference between yelling and emotional abuse. my mom occasionally yelled at us when it was important, to make us pay more attention. she never called us names or belittled us, and would apologize after for raising her voice. i don’t remember ever being humiliated by that, but i did learn important lessons.

my father was emotionally abusive. he didn’t yell. he screamed. he called my siblings and i names, told us we weren’t good at anything. i remember being publicly humiliated by him, and i did not learn lessons. i think public embarrassment and public humiliation are different things.

as for spanking, different things work for diff kids. i am not sure i was ever spanked, though once my mom made me wash out my mouth with soap. she tried once with my brother and felt so terrible about it she never spanked him again. i don’t think i’ll spank my kids.

- MZ on January 20th, 2009

I was never spanked, although I was yelled at a bit when I was a kid… Mostly I was pretty well-behaved; I had 3 older siblings who I got to watch and see what happened to them when I acted out. My parents weren’t spankers but my dad in particular had a temper and yelling was usually the first “discipline” technique he’d go to. I love my dad dearly (he died when I was 13) but none of us 4 kids were ever very close to him, probably because we were pretty intimidated by him. That being said, all of us turned out pretty well-adjusted and mature, but I honestly attribute that more to my mom, not to being intimidated by my dad. I think there are way better ways to discipline your child than yelling or spanking (especially as a first, or even second, resort). I can totally understand getting frustrated if your kid won’t stop acting up, and yelling, but like I’ve said, I don’t believe in using it right off the bat.

- Jane on January 20th, 2009

Oh, in my above comment I meant to say I had 3 siblings who I got to see what happened to when THEY acted, out, not when I did. My siblings definitely didn’t get punished when I was bad, lol!

- Jane on January 20th, 2009

Max’sMom- Who says the pregnancy was planned? Maybe it was a surprise (I hate using the word “accident” to describe an innocent child!)? Or maybe they wanted Hermes to have a sibling? We also have to remember that Kelly might not be telling the whole truth. Considering she and Daniel are both saying each other’s accusations are totally false, obviously neither of them is telling 100 percent the truth.

- CelebBabyLover on January 21st, 2009

Oh, but I do agree with the rest of your comment. I really, really, REALLY hope that this doesn’t turn into Charlie vs. Denise 2.0 (although it seems like those two have FINALLY quieted down a bit when it comes to airing their dirty laundry!). I thought that Jodie Sweetin and her estranged husband were going to become Charlie vs. Denise 2.0, but lately it seems more likely that Kelly and Daniel will take that title!

While Cody (Jodie’s former husband) has flung some nasty accusations at Jodie, at least Jodie has been acting very responsibly and isn’t stooping to his level. Good for you for taking the high road, Jodie!

- CelebBabyLover on January 21st, 2009

I also meant to say that I think we should try to be a little understanding in regards to Kelly deciding (if indeed it was a planned pregnancy) to have a second child with Daniel. I’ve never personally been in an abusive relationship, nor have I ever known anyone in one, but I DO know several people who have family members/friends that are/have been in abusive relationships. Therefore, although it may seem like the easiest thing in the world to simply leave someone who’s abusing you and stop having kids with them (personally I wouldn’t even want to, well, get intimate with someone who was abusing me!), believe me, it’s not nearly that simple! Also, I apologize for getting dramatic, but, as someone once told me, sometimes babies aren’t created out of love. Sometimes they’re created out of abuse.

If Daniel really HAS been as abusive as Kelly claims, then Kelly has been dealing with things that no one should ever have to deal with, and she needs our support!

- CelebBabyLover on January 21st, 2009

I can’t believe I almost forgot to comment on two of the other stories that caught my attention! The pacifers in the dog’s tummy actually doesn’t surprise me. I have a very mischievious puppy who tries to eat practically everything in sight, and I can easily see her doing something like that!

The other story that caught my mind was the 92-year old woman who’s been “pregnant” for 60 years. All I can say is YIKES!!!!!!!

- CelebBabyLover on January 21st, 2009

Okay, I need to vent. I just read on PEOPLE.com that both Kelly and Daniel are seeking sole custody of BOTH Hermes and the new baby. I cannot believe that Daniel would want to rip his daughter away from her mother the moment she’s born! And did he ever think that Kelly might be planning to breastfeed? I don’t think a newborn should be seperate from his/her mother unless there are extenuating circumstances, such as the mother being a danger to the child.

Does anyone think Daniel has a chance at getting sole custody of the new baby?

- CelebBabyLover on January 22nd, 2009