Tichina Arnold and Alijah Cut the Cake

Happy birthday Mom! Tichina Arnold‘s 5-year-old daughter Alijah Kai helps her slice into her Cold Stone Creamery cake as the pair, along with friends and family, celebrated the actress’ 40th birthday at Slate Restaurant in New York City last Sunday.

Tichina is currently starring as Evilene in NY City Center’s run of The Wiz, which closes tomorrow.

Courtesy Tichina Arnold/Cold Stone Creamery

Comments

sara on July 5th, 2009

Why include a woman (Tichina) who has openly said she abuses/spanks her daughter as a form of discipline and wants everyone to think its ok?? It’s not!

nettrice on July 5th, 2009

Sara, there is no way to discuss the issue of discipline without discussing differences in race and class. When I was in the 7th grade they were still using corporal punishment in schools. Although I was not spanked at home I can recall two instances in school, one with a white teacher and another with a black one. I am black and the white teacher got in trouble. The black one did not. As a result of my childhood experiences with corporal punishment I try not to judge others who choose to spank or not spank their children. I do see the line between spanking and abuse (there really is one) and I recognize the differences in how spanking is viewed in various groups/communities.

Erika on July 5th, 2009

Wow, I can’t believe she’s 4 already! And why should her discipline choice matter to this website? If you don’t agree with spanking, don’t spank your kids duh! (says a NON- spanker) And spanking does not have to = abuse so unless you know for a fact she ABUSES her daughter, how dare you judge. Wanna read about people who ABUSE their kids? Dreamindemon.com and grab a kleenex.

Anna on July 5th, 2009

Spanking does not equal abuse.

jessie on July 5th, 2009

this is a post about the little girl’s birthday, not her mother’s discipline style!

adc76 on July 5th, 2009

this is actually a post about the mothers birthday and if that picture on the cake is of Tichina as a child then…wow….her and her daughter are identical!!! Even down to the missing teeth! too cute! And I agree with anna….spanking is NOT abuse. I would Rather spank than have an out of control adult because they were never taught discipline as a child! A child can only listen and comply with words for so long until they challenge everything you say because they know no disciplinary action will be used. Though people should used common sense to know when too hard is too much.

Anon on July 5th, 2009

Wow Sara, how dare you!! What audacity.

I have no opinion on spanking pro or against. However, I will say that there are people of all races and education/class levels around the world who spank. It seems to me that educated people(me being in that group) are more swayed by ideological changes in things such as parenting. 30 years ago, there was a notion that kids could rationalize and should be spoken to like equals in fear of gross damage to self esteem. Now theres this 1-2-3 method. I personally think people should just do whats best for them and not waste their breath to judge other people.

kai on July 5th, 2009

I never understood those cakes with pictures on them. It looks so brutal with the big knive… I know, so random.

She’s very cute! And she’s got my name, too, so bonus points lol

Anna on July 5th, 2009

Kai, never thought of it that way! You made me smile

CelebBabyLover on July 6th, 2009

Anon- Um, children who aren’t spanked are hardly un-discplined! There are plenty of other forms of discpline! A few examples include time outs (for little kids), taking away privileges, making the child do extra chores, and natural consequences (e.g., if a child chooses not to do her homework, then she’s going to get a bad grade and very possibly have her/his teacher upset with him/her. As someone who’s school years aren’t that far in the past, let me tell you that the last thing you want at school is for your teacher to be mad at you!).

I do agree, however, that spanking is not abuse! Obviously everyone needs to do what works for them (as long as, of course, they aren’t going so far as to actually abuse their children!). I just wanted to point out that spanking is definently not the only discpline method out there, and I think it’s unfair to basically say that parents who don’t spank aren’t discplining their children!

CelebBabyLover on July 6th, 2009

Oh, and on a slightly different topic…Does anyone know who Alijah’s father is?

Mary on July 6th, 2009

what a nice cake. i think this is a fairly recent pic and Tichina is on the cake as well, but the way the pic is cropped, you only see Alijah.

on the subject of spanking, obviously you do what you feel works best for you and your child. some children may do well with just talking, and others may need more discipline. who’s to say one form of discipline is better over another. is yelling at a child and damaging them emotionally and mentally any better or worse than damaging them physically? so again, it’s all how you look at it. to each his own. i got both talkings and spankings growing up and i’m happy to say i’m not a complete wreck as an adult lol! i’m sure there are other celeb parents who used/have used spanking as a form of discipline for their children, they’re just not broadcasting it. so why judge one parent simply because she happened to discuss it in the midst of a blog.

Alijah’s dad is songwriter/music producer Carvin Haggins, with whom Tichina was previously involved.

Rach on July 7th, 2009

Kai, I agree. LOL. We are doing some early cake shopping for my son’s 1st and my dad put out this idea and my mom went on a whole spiel on how those cakes were wrong and “evil” in a sort of way and how creepy it was to be eating a part of your child’s face or likeness etc.. LOL, i’m not superstitious..but it is pretty creepy.. lol needless to say,I def looked at the cake a completely different way and I think we will be going with Bob the Builder instead lol

T on July 8th, 2009

My parents spanked me and I turned out just fine. Abuse is when you injure a child or leave bruises. If a child has to be hospitalized, then it is considered abuse.

CelebBabyLover on July 9th, 2009

T- I agree that spanking is not abuse, but a child doesn’t need to require hospitlization to be considered abused. Plenty of children suffer abuse in silence without requiring hospitilization. In fact, child abuse is sometimes called “the silent Epidemic”.

That is why daycare providers, teachers, peditrications, nurses, etc. are trained to be on the look out for signs of abuse, such as numerous bruises or bruises in places that don’t normally get bruised otherwise (such as the lower back), as well as signs of mental and sexual abuse (speaking of which, abuse doesn’t always mean bruises or marks on the body. It can mean “bruises” on the mind as well.).