Graffiti can be a real blight on a neighborhood. Taggers can give a community an unseemly appearance, making it feel unsafe and lowering property values. It's no wonder people like to crack down on graffiti artists. Especially the really young ones, armed with tubs of sidewalk chalk; defacing neighborhood sidewalks... The way those toddlers mark up public property with pictures of rainbows and hearts is "distracting and offensive." Oh yes, one neighborhood in Colorado is actually cracking down on kids and sidewalk chalk. The fun, summertime staple has been banned after neighbor complaints. It appears that the little artists are marking up a common courtyard with temporary drawings and some adults are taking offense to it. One mom, who's upset about the ban says they bought in the neighborhood because it was family-friendly. But, as CBS4 Denver reports, the artwork has been banned for now, until the matter can be discussed at a future residents' meeting.
Hockey mom storms the ice
Sarah Palin once famously said that the difference between hockey moms and pit bulls is the lipstick. One hockey mom outside of Boston recently showed that Sarah may have been on to something with that comment. As Yahoo! Sports reports, this no-nonsense mama took it upon herself to storm the ice after a fight erupted between the teams. While players were duking it out, one ref looked on and idly blew his whistle. Not satisfied with the efforts to end the brawl, this mom marched herself onto the ice and started yelling and pointing fingers at the ref. While she got herself kicked off the ice, the fight did break up as a result of her interference.
Father's tribute to his new son a home run
Father's Day is right around the corner. Soon, we'll be celebrating all of the dads out there with backyard BBQ's and ties a-plenty. We truly appreciate all dads and the work they do, but there's something about the joy and awe a new dad feels for his newborn child that can bring a tear to our eye. One new dad, who's a sports columnist for the Seattle Times, recently wrote an article to his newborn son. As a kid, this new dad used to prefer playing sports alone. He even managed to play team sports, like baseball on his own, using trees for basemen and a fence for a catcher, while he pitched, batted and commentated everything on his own. But now, with the birth of his son, he's suddenly finding himself a team player. While he hopes his newborn son will grow to love sports, even more, he hopes his newborn son is able to be a "fan" of whatever hobby he chooses. Because, for this dad, it's not the game, but the spirit of the game that's important -- caring passionately about something that will help you connect with other people and make you jump up and down for joy. Something that will help you connect with strangers and understand humanity. In a touching tribute, this new dad says he now understands why he was so picky about his own playmates as a kid; that there's only one person he can imagine being on his backyard team... his son. Aww, another great father was born! What makes your kids' dad a great father?
Fewer teens getting summer jobs
What's your teen doing this summer? Chances are, they won't be working. The old summer job, which used to be a common way for kids to earn a little cash (and stay out of trouble...), is becoming increasingly rare. As the New York Times reports, last year only 3 out of 10 teens were able to snag summer gigs. That's a dramatic drop from 2005, when more than half of 16 to 19 year olds had jobs during the long break. Thanks to the lousy economy, more adults and recent college grads are now competing for the jobs that used to be held by high school kids. Interestingly, teens from wealthier families were more likely to have jobs than kids from lower-income households.
Baby shower cakes gone wrong
It used to be that if you were hosting a baby shower, you'd head down to the local bakery, ask for a cake with either the blue stork or the pink stork and call it a day. No more. Now everybody's getting all Pinteresty and Cake Bossy with these prenatal confections. Most of the time they're adorable. Sometimes though, they can get a bit...awkward. The Huffington Post shared some uncomfortably hilarious baby shower cakes from the site, cakewrecks.com. The realistic baby cake is adorable -- until you think about hacking into that poor, sleeping baby with a butcher knife and eating it. The cake that looks like a blue-tinged baby with the umbilical cord attached (served on a metal tray, no less), must fill any expectant mom's heart with dread. We suspect that dieters will appreciate the cake graphically depicting a woman giving birth -- finally, a slice of buttercream heaven that's easy to pass up. Some of them are a bit disturbing, some of them will make you scratch your head, but almost all of them will make you chuckle. Enjoy.
Curse jar goes city-wide
Gosh, darn it -- people sure are sick of these foul-mouthed hooligans roaming the streets, dropping F-bombs and slinging words like s***. Residents in one Massachusetts town are so sick of the youngsters (and some oldsters) cussing all over carnation, that they've proposed a ban on profanity. As the Wall Street Journal reports, if the measure passes (and holds up in court...), potty mouths could face a $20 fine if they get caught cursing. The movement got started when one resident got sick and darned-tired of all the swearing. At first she tried scolding the offenders, whom she describes as "young people shouting the "F word" back and forth." She soon began talking to other like-minded people, who lobbied for the measure, leading to the upcoming vote on the matter at the annual town hall meeting. While some people find the proposal silly or even a violation of civil rights, many support it and think of it as a quality of life issue. One retired cop said, "Back when I was younger you wouldn't think of saying foul language on the street, but now it's [bleep] you, or stick it up your whatever. It's not unique to this town, but Middleborough at least has the tenacity to do something about it." Do you think kids (and a lot of adults, for that matter) have gotten to comfortable with cursing or are people just being a bunch of old fuddy-duddies?
Dana Macario is a TODAY Moms contributor and Seattle mom to two sleep-depriving toddlers.