Kids, we know you like to shirk your chores -- quite honestly, we all do (just take a look at the laundry pile). But, calling the police and telling them you're a victim of "forced labor" when your mom tells you to pick up after yourself, is going too far. German emergency dispatchers received a call from an 11-year-old boy who did just that. Luckily, they figured out what was going on before they sent officers to the house. Something tells us that if this kid thought his chores were bad before, he'll only be wishing he was back on toy tidying duty again after that little stunt.
Teachers who can't pump between the bells are out of here. A Colorado teacher was fired because of the "conflict" her pump schedule created. The secondary-school teacher, who had a full class load, pumped during a transitional break but needed 20 additional minutes to pump and took 10 minutes each from the classes before and after the break. She'd arranged for another teacher to supervise her classes while she was pumping and the arrangement had allegedly been working without incident for several months. Then, a supervisor told her to rearrange her schedule, which she said she was physically unable to do. She was then advised to switch her baby to formula. She responded by reminding her employer that she had a right to pump at work, for which, she was promptly relieved of her teaching responsibilities. Lawsuit, filed.
Lingerie, by any other name, is still inappropriate for a four-year-old. The French are at it again, and this time, younger than ever. You can call it "loungerie" all you want, but there are those who say that very young girls in provocative poses, wearing bras and lacy panties, should be called nothing but wrong.
Is "half-sister" a dirty term? Siblings sharing only one biological parent have been around since time immemorial, but the focus on the terminology surrounding these relationships is a bit newer. One mom, who has two children by different fathers, was dismayed when her son referred to his younger sister as his "half-sister." Turns out, he'd learned the phrase from a school nurse. The mom, who was angry about the new vocabulary, has worked hard to create a family without distinctions. What do you think -- do labels identifying the technicalities of a family's tree, subtly separate a family, or is it much ado about nothing?
Circumcision: Not a DIY project. No, watching a video on YouTube does not qualify you to attempt the procedure. The misguided mom who attempted to circumcise her three-month-old son, with a box-cutter of all things, has been sentenced to probation. Luckily, the baby is okay, but the woman has lost custody of all four of her children.
Dana Macario is a TODAY Moms contributor and Seattle mom to two sleep-depriving toddlers. She is currently developing an alarm clock that will start an IV coffee drip 10 minutes prior to wake-up time. Once properly caffeinated, she also blogs at www.18years2life.com.