Four For Friday: HS ‘Pregnancy Pact,’ Michelle Obama Shops at Target, ‘Swingtown’ Rocks the 70s and Room Parent Conundrum
Item #1: HS ‘Pregnancy Pact’
I must admit, a question mark lingers over my head in a cartoonish balloon when it comes to this story. I’m sure you’ve heard about it if you listen to talk radio or watch cable chattering head shows (which I’ll be watching tonight while The Girl commandeers the “good” TV to watch Camp Rock on the Disney Channel). A large group of teens, all ages 16 and under, from Gloucester, Mass. made a pact to all get pregnant at around the same time so they’d all become moms at the same time. And 17 are pregnant. The story was featured in Time Magazine and makes my heart sick on so many different levels. Why would girls be focused on procreating instead of going to college or pursuing a career? (Don’t blame Juno as they made the pact before the charming, independent film about the teen who got pregnant by accident and gave her baby up for adoption, was released.)
The magazine reports:
“The girls who made the pregnancy pact — some of whom, according to [Gloucester High School Principal Joseph] Sullivan, reacted to the news that they were expecting with high fives and plans for baby showers — declined to be interviewed. So did their parents. But Amanda Ireland, who graduated from Gloucester High on June 8, thinks she knows why these girls wanted to get pregnant. Ireland, 18, gave birth her freshman year and says some of her now pregnant schoolmates regularly approached her in the hall, remarking how lucky she was to have a baby. ‘They’re so excited to finally have someone to love them unconditionally,’ Ireland says. ‘I try to explain it’s hard to feel loved when an infant is screaming to be fed at 3 a.m.’”
Item #2: Michelle Obama, Target Customer
US Weekly, which usually trafficks in sensational celeb-related garbage reporting, features Barack and Michelle Obama on its cover this week bearing the headline, “Why Barack Loves Her.” The story is largely a pro-Obama puff piece but has a number of interesting mom-related tidbits of info. “. . . [W]hen not on the road, the mom [Michelle Obama] can be seen in her Chicago neighborhood driving to Target for toilet paper and buying clothing for her girls at The Gap and Limited Too.”
The Obamas had difficulty getting pregnant, according to Us, and now are hands-on parents, when they’re home with the 6- and 10-year-old girls, a challenge these days for their presidential nominee father who’s on the road most of the time. Us said: “With the help of a housekeeper but no nanny, Michelle certainly has found her smart-mom shortcuts: She relies on headbands for bad-hair days, claims dessert at school potlucks so she can buy a pie and, until recently, packed Oscar Mayer Lunchables and juice boxes into her kids’ lunches. (She has now cut out processed food, after her pediatrician worried her oldest daughter ‘was tipping the scale,’ as she puts it.)”
Item #3: ‘Swingtown’ Rocks the 70s
So the major angle the folks at CBS are pushing for their new, light summer fare, Swingtown – set in a Chicago suburb in the summer of 1976 — is the “swinging” angle, how married couples sometimes spouse-swapped. But the show’s about more than that, as some critics have noted, HBO’s drama Big Love is about more than just polygamy. (A Big Love director works on Swingtown.) It provides a look at life in the 70s, at monogamy, at marriage. However I, a 70s kid, find myself getting lost in all the nostalgia. I wrote about the new show in my latest Mommy Track’d column. (Be sure to cue up the Captain & Tennille tunes and grab a pink can of Tab when you read it.)
Item #4: Room Parent Conundrum
I’ve been asked if I’d volunteer to be a room parent for one of my fourth graders’ classes in the fall. Specifically asked, not just asked in a general, all-school request. And, despite my near-constant bitching about how over-the-top things sometimes get in schools (like a party every other weekend and requests for parents to work as unpaid janitors and clerical staff), maybe this could be my opportunity to put my two cents in where it counts, try to influence things for the good and put an end to some of the madness. Or maybe I’m just deluding myself and come November, I’ll be bashing myself in the head for being so stupid.
I need to provide an answer soon so do you have any thoughts or advice for me?
Image credit: Us Weekly.
Local mom and author Meredith O'Brien gives you a peek behind the picket fences of modern day parenting. With humor and candor, it's her take on real parenting in the real world.
I was a co-room parent for my son’s kindergarten class this past year. Keep in mind I handled only half of the work with the other co-room parent.
Could you please specify what you mean about, “put an end to some of the madness” and “try to influence things for the good”? As room parent(s), you are typically the voice and the middleman for the teacher. If the teacher needs holiday party supplies donated by parents, you will likely be the one to contact parents for these supplies. If a teacher needs parent volunteers on a one-time or a regular basis, you will probably organize this, etc. Most of your work as room parent can be done via email (usually).
Maybe the role as room parent differs greatly from your town to mine. Is there much more expected from this role in your town? I’m wondering where the “influence” part comes in?
As a side note, my son’s 3rd (4th, and so on) grade classes do not even have room parents. Maybe that’s good…may not.
Comment by Kris Spazz — June 21, 2008 @ 11:48 am
One example of the “madness” comes in the form of having to coordinate three parties (or “events”) in the span of less than three weeks at the end of the school year in ONE classroom, where the poor room parents had to request volunteers and supplies for each. Maybe the “influence” part could come in if the room parent(s) would be able to gently suggest (with fingers crossed) that maybe three celebrations could be combined. That’s just one example.
Don’t get me wrong, room parents do a ton of work for which they don’t get enough credit (but get plenty of grief). I don’t fault them for the nuttiness that comes in the form of many, many classroom “celebrations” for which the the room parents have to coordinate and solicit stuff.
I’m still on the fence.
Comment by Meredith — June 22, 2008 @ 3:20 pm
I see.
It doesn’t seem like you’re completely sold on the role (?)
Maybe asking another parent to be a co-room parent would help divy up the work.
When do you need to decide?
Comment by Kris Spazz — June 27, 2008 @ 9:12 am