Strollerderby : adults

Pregnant Woman Arrested For Fighting At Chuck E. Cheese

Brett Singer — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:00:00 GMT

The Chuck E. Cheese in Susquehanna Township Pennsylvania was the scene of a violent altercation last week between five women and a minor, all of whom were arrested. One of the women involved was pregnant. A video of the fight was posted to YouTube but has been removed.

WGAL says that this is the 12th time this particular Chuck E. Cheese has had to call the police to calm everybody down.

Growing up in New York City, we didn't have Chuck E. Cheese. I didn't miss it because, well, the pizza sucks. But clearly those places are dangerous.

PennLive.com says that the incident continues what "police describe as a disturbing and bizarre crime trend: escalating violence among adults at a place designed for children's birthday parties."

Twelve calls to police in one year does seem like a lot. But I don’t know if I'd call it a "trend", since all of those problems were at the same place. The Susquehanna Cheesery has hired a police officer to be on site every Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully that will get the adults to behave themselves.

I've seen bad parental behavior, but nothing quite like what these articles describe. Anyone seen grown-ups behaving badly at kiddie establishments recently? Is this a trend?

Source: WGAL, WGAL again, and PennLive.com

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Why Are The Grown Up Costumes For Women So Slutty?

Brett Singer — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:00:00 GMT

When I asked the question "do you dress up for Halloween", I received a couple of unexpected answers. From the comments:

Manjari: They don't sell costumes for adult women that aren't bedroom wear.

Alice: …the costumes are all too trashy these days. Sexy Ragdoll? 70's Afroqueen? Gimme a break.

Looking at most of the costume pictures I found – I didn't do extensive research but still – I think we're on to something. Look at these:

This one is listed under "Women – Occupational":

2 Piece Black Fire Woman Costume

What's her occupation, stripper? This looks like, um...what's the word? Porn. Plus that is OBVIOUSLY a white lady (I know, bad joke).

This is under "Women – Period":

3 Piece Indian Girl Costume W/ Tomahawk

Again – this looks like something from "Zack and Miri Make a Porno". "Poke-Her-Hontas", anyone? Plus the proper term is "native American", everyone knows that.

Even the pic I used on the "do you dress up for Halloween" is clearly meant to be suggestive, although the costume covers far more skin. Compared to some of the Fire Lady and the Tomahawk Queen, it's practically a burka.

The men's costumes from the same store (Ricky's in NYC) are much less revealing.

After an admittedly quick perusal I found only one semi-nekkid costume:
Borat Mankini Green Lycra

The others are mostly clothed -- police officer, etc.

Now, as a guy, sure, I find the porno lady costumes pleasant to look at. And I'm not going all moral majority on you. But who is buying these things? Am I off base here? And when did this trend start?

Plus, won't those women be chilly? It is October, after all.

Source: Ricky's Halloween, Babble commenters

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More Bad Halloween Costumes for Kids

Brett Singer — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Shine has a list of some of the worst kiddie costumes. Mike covered a lot of these in his brilliant post The Return of the Halloween Baby Slut Costumes. (Sample: "Would anyone ever sell a Chippendale outfit for young boys? Would a parent ever buy one?") But there are a few more in the Shine list that are worthy of attention, and I found a couple of others I wanted to share.

Baby Whoopie Cushion Costume

I have to admit, I think this is hilarious. I mean, I wouldn't put this costume on my child. But it's a funny picture. The only way that a parent could get away with something like this is if they were some sort of a lovable doofus – think Joe Isuzu. (You either get that reference or you don't. Here's a video if you're curious.) Maybe if you own a novelty store – I can imagine Christopher Walken's character in 'Hairspray' putting this on an infant Tracy Turnblad. Of course, those are both fictional characters, which probably means that parents should avoid this outfit.

The Joker from The Dark Knight

The Joker was always a scary character. In the Batman comics, he's a guy with no powers that is feared by heroes and villains alike. Why? Because he's just that crazy. Even so, Heath Ledger's performance in 'The Dark Knight' took that madness to a new level. (“Want to see me make a pencil disappear?” If you saw the movie, you know what I'm talking about.) In the comic book, Joker's perma-grin is the result of a fall into a vat of mysterious chemical goo. In Ledger's interpretation, it's a scar. As in, cut with a knife. Ew. This one will probably be popular because the movie was monster hit, but I wonder how many little kids actually saw it (it really wasn't a kids' movie, but that doesn't always matter). Dressing up as Ledger's Joker would be OK for an older kid I suppose, but if a parent buys this costume for a little one they either didn't see the movie or are a weirdo. Or both.

Zombie Skate Punk Child Costume

This one is on sale. BIG surprise. What's weird about this costume is the shirt, which I guess is supposed to show scars and tattoos and other “punk” things. If you really wanted your kid to dress up as a “punk”, you could just get an old flannel shirt, rip it up, put a Black Flag t-shirt under it. Maybe some ripped jeans with safety pins. A heroin needle. You know, easy.

Batman Muscle Chest Costume

This isn't on Shine's list, but I'm going to add it because it annoys me. I wore a Batman costume for years, and I never thought, “Boy, I wish this had big fake muscles.” Do we really need to make kids feel bad about their bodies this early? There's plenty of time for them to be insecure when they get older, start losing their hair, many years from now... You know, when they hit 30.

Source: Yahoo Shine, mrcostumes.com

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Do You Dress Up for Halloween?

Brett Singer — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Continuing with the Halloween theme (it's this Friday in case you forgot), I'm wondering if the grown-ups out there are planning to dress up.

I stopped wearing Halloween costumes my sophomore year of high school; I went to school as a made-up superhero called "Golden Boy" in a costume I sort of made myself. It was pretty lame and the whole thing was just… I don't know. It wasn't fun anymore. (I attended High School of Performing Arts, aka LaGuardia, and Halloween was a big deal there for the artsy kids.)

My first year of college I was talked into wearing a costume that some girls put together for me. I dressed up as Eurotrash, with a big "L" pin. The tag line was, "Hi, I'm Lawrence. Like the L?" Again, very lame. Lost interest quickly. Didn't even get any, um, candy from the girls. After that, if I was invited to a Halloween party, I would show up in a sweater and say I was Hamlet in a modern-dress production. That didn't go over well, although it was more helpful in terms of dating.

In case you can't tell, I don't do anything now, but I know that some parents do. Do you? If so, what do you wear?

On a related note, does anyone else feel like Halloween is overshadowed by the election this year? Not that it matters, but I actually had to write myself a note to make sure I remembered that Friday was trick-or-treating time.

image source

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Should We Let Our Kids Be "Free Range"?

Kelly Mills — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:32:00 GMT

You might recall the controversy that got kicked up by a New York Sun reporter's account of allowing her nine-year-old to ride the subway alone. She was both pilloried by people who compared her behavior to child abuse, and praised by people who want more freedom for their kids. In response to the whole thing, she started a blog called "Free Range Kids," to promote the idea that kids need the same independence and freedom previous generations enjoyed.

While this gets hyped as a battle between helicoptor parents and free range parents, it is true that many kids are not allowed to do the same things their parents did at the same age, like walk or bike to school or go to the park without an adult. And as the free range advocates point out, a good deal of this may just be due to the increased media attention on abductions and crime, while crime has actually dropped in most instances. I tend to fall more on the free range side, though putting theory into practice is always a different matter when my six-year-old is involved. What do you think: Are we basically stalking our kids out of their independence? Or are the risks of allowing solo activities not worth it?

You're Doing It Wrong: Date Night

Madeline Holler — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:34:00 GMT

You know "date night"? You're doing it wrong. Or someday you will be. This is what brain scientists are telling us and they should know, right? They're all in happy, sexed-up relationships.

But you like your date nights? You look forward to them? No you don't. And if not now, someday you won't. You're going to get sick of them just like you're going to get sick of your partner. (But remember, that's OK.)

So what can you do on date night to get sparks flying? Well, you're going to have to make some changes. Quit going out to the same restaurant, quit going out with the same couples. Find something -- anything new -- and go do it together.

From NY Times' The Well:

"...couples need to tailor their date nights around new and different activities that they both enjoy, says Arthur Aron, a professor of social psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. The goal is to find ways to keep injecting novelty into the relationship. The activity can be as simple as trying a new restaurant or something a little more unusual or thrilling — like taking an art class or going to an amusement park." Yes, but won't the kids be pissed when they find out?

It turns out the brain likes novelty, and new activities stimulate the brain's reward system and flood it with dophamine and norepinephrine -- the chemicals released when you first fall in love and also those involved in drug addiction and obsessive compulsive disorder.

So couples in the study who were told to pace the floor together reported a lower marital satisfaction than the couples who were told to chase a ball while their ankles and wrists were bound. I'll bet they did!

Granted, this study was for older couples in their 50s, but still. Younger parents might want some excitement too!

Personally, I hate the term "date night". I also refuse to utter "girls' night out" but that's just me and my hang-ups with language. Both are worthwhile endeavours that I don't do often enough (calling babysitter right now ...).

Go Ahead and Take Young Kids to Racy Movies

Madeline Holler — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:20:00 GMT

Because I have no clue what I'm doing as a parent -- and I mean that sincerely -- I am susceptible to taking parenting advice from New York Times movie writers and anybody else who tells me what I want to hear. Dangerous? Sure, but I figure, if a guy from the Times is wrecking his kids, can't I?

Today's questionable advice, which I believe has led to the opening of a tightly sealed floodgate for me: screw movie ratings, take your kid to grown-up movies. OK, I will!

He writes:

"... while I am happy (or at least willing) to take my children to the latest animated or tweener-star-driven “family” movies — with their singing chipmunks and chirpy Loch Ness Monsters — we gravitate more and more toward age- inappropriate fare, exploring the grown-up realms of PG-13 and even, sometimes, R."

His daughter is in the third grade and his son is in the sixth and they've seen it all. Or a lot of it, he bravely discloses. You know what? Good for him (actually, good for them, the kids, the family.) His son loved the international intrigue of Charlie Wilson's War and thought Sweeney Todd was just great. He doesn't think The Kite Runner, after all, a story about a close friendship, should be adults-only.

"... children, more than critics, are receptive to anything that doesn’t bore them. Mine were enchanted by “Persepolis,” for instance, which is after all the story of a rebellious young girl contending with unjust authority. It’s not so different from “The Golden Compass” (which they also liked), except that instead of taking place in a computer-generated fantasy world full of armored bears it is set in the real country of Iran, which is rendered in beautifully drawn ink-washed two-dimensional animation. “Persepolis” is also in French, but don’t let that put you off. If your children can read just-right books, surely they can read subtitles too."

One of the big trade-offs with having kids for me was cutting way down on movie-going. It's expensive when you have to budget for a babysitter, and you have to do a little more planning than in the olden days, when I could just show up and see whatever, whenever. But one thing I have been looking forward to is when the older girl gets old enough to come with me -- to movies I want to see. Hey, I guess she already is! A guy in the New York Times said so! (Though I think I'll put There Will Be Blood in my Netflix queue, just to be safe.)

What about you? When are your kids going to be old enough to see your movies?

Photo: www.ageowns.com

Parent's Night Out: New Clothes, Good Friends, and Great Times

Patti — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 12:25:00 GMT

People, it's springtime. A time of renewal, of new life. And I'm going to ask you to make a springtime promise: That you will make the effort to get out of the house, just you and your best friends, and go do something totally un-family-oriented on as regular a basis as your lifestyle will allow.

It's so easy for parents to set that part of our lives aside. So easy for us to adjust our social lives around kid-friendly restaurants, clothes that don't need to be drycleaned if they get spilled on, home by bedtime, and always, always, together as a family. I'm asking you to change that. I'm asking you to put aside some time to go out and be you, not you-the-parent. And I'm not asking you to have date nights, which you should already be doing and if you're not, maybe start there instead. No, I'm asking you to leave the kids at home with your partner, and make sure your partner gets the same opportunity.

I'm asking you to take a look at your wardrobe and decide if Mama (or Daddy) needs a little more sass for such an occasion, and if you don't know the answer to that, maybe start here. I'm begging you to make it an event, to check out the best restaurants in your town and pick one that would never, ever offer crayons to its patrons.

I am asking you to wear uncomfortable shoes that make you feel like a goddess. Just for the evening.

Lately I've been making a big effort to get out with My Girls instead of just my daughters, and now I don't know why I waited so long to make it a priority. Don't make that mistake--get on the phone, send out an email, reach out, put it together. Get your groove back. And if you're already doing so, keep on keepin' on and make sure you're encouraging your friends to get out there, too.