Picket Fence Post

Item #1: ‘Mommy Porn’

That is not a typo. You have not inadvertently stumbled into one of THOSE sites, the ones that would get you fired if a supervisor happened to walk by and see it on your screen.

This item is entitled “Mommy Porn” because that’s the term Boston Globe columnist Penelope Trunk used in her blog, the Brazen Careerist, to describe the media’s fawning coverage of celebrity parents when they talk about how wonderful it is to balance work and parenthood. She says the media do not tell the truth about parenting and that the celebs who are interviewed likewise are tellers of tall tales.

An excerpt:

“So look, in the interest of truth-telling, I’m telling you this: people are not being honest about what it’s like to be with kids. People are scared to admit that they would rather be at work than with their kids, because work is easier than parenting . . . If I have to read about how much someone loves their kids one more time, I’m gonna puke. Because we all know that parents love their kids. It’s not interesting. It’s not helpful. It’s not even very relevant. For anyone.

. . . So with all the [celebrity] mommy porn, the media does a lot to make us think that work life balance is possible, in the same way anorexic bodies without treatment for anorexia is possible.

So there’s real damage from mommy porn. Everyone begins thinking that every woman should be parenting gracefully while working full time. This gives people the temerity to ask me, nearly every day: Who takes care of your kids?”

It’s a button-pushing post that is sparking debate around them there Internets.

Item #2: Obamas’ Canine Debate

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and his wife Michelle debated on national television whether and under what conditions the Illinois senator would keep his promise to his two young daughters to get a dog at the end of his campaign, the Los Angeles Times reported.

While speaking on Good Morning America, Michelle Obama said she thinks their 9-year-old is responsible enough to walk a dog. The senator, however, was not convinced, saying, “But whether they’re going to be responsible . . . in the middle of the winter to go walk that dog . . .” His wife jumped in, saying, “We’re getting a dog.”

Sounds like an average, American couple to me, arguing over who’s going to be getting up on those bitterly cold nights to walk the dog. Of course if Obama wins the race, he’ll have staff who can walk the dog, so he and his two daughters would be off the hook.

Item #3: Summer TV Season

Given the scheduling mess left in the wake of the writers’ strike (no new eppies of one of my favs, HBO’s Big Love, until fall!) there really aren’t “official” TV seasons like there used to be. In days of old, come fall, the weather would turn crisp, football season would start, school would commence, the smell of newly sharpened pencils would be in the air and a new slate of TV programs would begin airing.

No mas.

Shows start at all different times now, whether they were pushed back because of the strike, or the networks are trying different strategies. Some programs — like serialized dramas (think Lost and 24) — now start in January so they can run back-to-back episodes with no repeats or gaps in between. Others air new episodes in the summer, like Big Love did for its first two seasons. Then there are the rest of the shows, which start at various times throughout the year.

This week, for example, TBS is premiering the second season of the Ajax-clean family drama, The Bill Engvall Show (a therapist dad, a mom and their three kids have madcap fun in the Denver suburbs) and the quirky My Boys (a female sports journalist who covers the Chicago Cubs has a social life of baseball, poker and hangin’ with her guy pals).

So I suppose we could consider this the start of a staggered “summer season” where other summer fare, such as the fantabulous Mad Men from AMC, won’t start airing its new episodes until July. At least summer TV isn’t solely the domain of reality shows featuring people putting leeches down their pants. There are actually scripted shows to enjoy along with your margaritas. A reason to celebrate.