Let's not be so quick to criticize.

It happens ALL THE TIME.

I put both the kids in the car and then realize I forgot (fill in the blank).

I get out of the car, take my keys (to open the house) and lock the car before going inside.

But today, a mother did not take those steps.

She put her baby in her running vehicle and went back inside the house.  When she came out, her car and baby were gone!

Can you imagine??

Her mind instantly racing.  Trying to catch a description of the person who snatched her baby.  Calling police and having to tell them HOW this happened.  The story plastered all over the media! Her license plate number on highway signs.

And praying that a momentary mistake won't cost her her child.

Thankfully, the baby was found unharmed.

So of course, the trolls come out.

"She shouldn't have left her baby alone!"

Well, that is NOT always possible.  Take for instance removing groceries from the car when it is just you and a baby.  At some point, the baby MAY have to be left alone either in the car or in the house.

"She shouldn't have left the keys in the car!"

No, she shouldn't have. And I'm sure she never will again.

We need to stop being so quick to demonize the woman and use her ordeal as a learning lesson.

None of us are perfect parents.  We all make mistakes.

And luckily for this mother and little girl, they will be able to remember this lesson together.

Avoiding violence by removing love.

Is this really what the world has become?

I have never heard of such a stupid idea as the one happening at St. Mary's County school district in Maryland.

They are banning....hugs.

If you're a parent and it's YOUR child, hug them all you want.  But if it's another child...maybe your kid's best friend...HANDS OFF!

You can't push another kid on the swing, you can't put a band aid on their knee.  NO TOUCHING OTHER  KIDS!!

And this idea is in response to the massacre at Newtown.

Give me a break.

Kids need hugs.  They need love.  And they need to know the difference between what is the "right" kind of touching and the "wrong" type of touching.

But this HANDS OFF policy is actually just going to hurt kids.

I can't imagine my child crying at school and a teacher not being able to console her because she is not her child.

It is wrong.

The world needs more love, not less of it.

Nothing wrong with Daddy's (or Mommy's) money

The newest outrage among mom bloggers is these new shoes from Sketchers called Daddy's Money.

These writers are apparently upset that 

1) They portray young ladies as just spoil brats that get anything they want from daddy.  Or (gasp!) their sugar daddy.

2) The two inch wedge hidden in the heel of the sneaker is bad for a developing young girl.

Whatever. 

It's funny how people aren't up in arms over those license plates that read "daddy bought it but I got it". It's the same message right?

And the two inch wedge is all of a sudden a problem?  Are these mothers making their daughters wear flats to the prom?  Give me a break.

My dad was the first person to really teach me the value of a dollar.  He got me into the habit of having separate envelopes in my dresser drawer for things like rent and gas and bills.  And that really came in handy during those waitressing years.

But he was also the one who in high school gave me five, ten, twenty bucks every time I asked right before going out with my friends.  

Did it make me spoiled?  Maybe if I wasn't also getting the financial education. 

I wanted a new car.  He made me pay him 300 bucks for almost a year before he would co-sign. Just so he could see that I could make the payments.

It's called balance.  

There is nothing wrong with buying your kids what you can afford.  But at the same time, there needs to be a lesson in the value of money.

As for those shoes, at the worst, calling them Daddy's Money is an insult to all mothers out there.

Mommy's Money actually has a nice ring to it.