"A friend confessed to me that she didn't need to build credit. If the need for a loan ever arises, she told me, she can go to her parents or—as she secretly hopes—a husband who will take care of it."
A generation of twenty-somethings ponder when, or if, they will begin their financial independence from their parents.
posted on Jul 25, 2008 - View this thread

Days with my Father
posted on Jul 24, 2008 - View this thread

Ze Frank asks when the first time you saw your parents as just being human was.
posted on May 20, 2008 - View this thread

H.P. Papercraft (SLYT) "I knew putting internet in the basement was a bad idea!"
posted on Apr 4, 2008 - View this thread

For The Bible Tells Me So. (documentary, Google Video. Trailer.)
posted on Mar 8, 2008 - View this thread

PBS Frontline explores Growing Up Online. Here's what they learned.
posted on Jan 31, 2008 - View this thread

In 1974, Martin Scorsese interviewed his parents on film, prompting them to discuss their life together as well as their Sicilian ancestry. The resultant documentary was entitled Italianamerican. Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. [Inspired by...]
posted on Sep 4, 2007 - View this thread

A parent advocacy group is upset that Transformer toys are being marketed to children. Group also rumored to dislike the fact that water is wet and that the Pope wears a big hat.
posted on Jul 2, 2007 - View this thread

The ethics of infertility: After taking fertility drug Clomid, Ryan and Brianna Morrison conceived sextuplets. Their religious beliefs steered them away from undergoing a selective reduction procedure in favor of bringing all six fetuses to term. Four of their newborns have died; the remaining two are in critical condition. This mother of multiples says that while she's grateful that insurance and Medicaid covered her million-dollar hospital bill, her "quest to have a family resulted in a significant drain on society's resources."
posted on Jul 2, 2007 - View this thread

A salute to my Dad and all the good Daddies out there for all the sacrifices you made for us; for making us laugh; for letting us come to work with you to help drive the bus; for looking after us and teaching us things; for never being a phony; for all the awesome things you were and for all the awful things you weren't, well for all that, we have a few words we'd like to say to you.
posted on Jun 15, 2007 - View this thread

Indian Government proposes bill to penalize children for neglecting their aged parents.
posted on Feb 23, 2007 - View this thread

According to a recent Zogby poll, parents would rather their daughter meet a date at a bar or a Star Trek convention than through online dating.
posted on Jan 31, 2007 - View this thread

Forget the Career. My Parents Need Me at Home.
posted on Nov 23, 2005 - View this thread

Won't somebody please think of the children? Oh, don't fool yourselves! Americans under the age of 12 now spend or influence the spending of $565 billion a year - up from $2.2 billion in 1968, and kid-spending has roughly doubled every ten years for the past three decades, tripling in the 1990s. Which means someone is always thinking of the children. The American Association of Pediatrics (pdf) cites this bludgeoning of kidvertising as creating in children "a fever for shopping and spending, swollen expectations about material needs, decreasing immunity to the assaults of advertisers, self-concepts defined by brands of clothing, and a rash of of debt by the time they leave college". [more...]
posted on Sep 19, 2005 - View this thread

some lunch boxes have a DEADLY SECRET
stolen from metaefficient
posted on Sep 16, 2005 - View this thread

"A generation ago, adult children visiting their parents' homes might have left with a Tupperware container of lasagna. Today, many of them stealthily make off with toiletries, groceries, sometimes clothing and even furniture. It is an apparently widespread practice, born of a sense of entitlement among young adults - and usually amusedly tolerated by parents - that gives new meaning to the phrase 'home shopping.'" Guilty as charged.
posted on Jul 29, 2005 - View this thread

From Minnesota to Nigeria - Marty was born in the USA and adopted at three years old. In his late 30s he found his biological parents, a woman named Kathleen and a Chief from Nigeria, making him a Nigerian Prince. via Chookooloonks
posted on May 30, 2005 - View this thread

Eye Color calculator.
posted on May 10, 2005 - View this thread

A Parent's Guide to Anime includes a few hundred informative and opinionated reviews, organized by rating. Found via this thread at the Christian discussion site Arts & Faith, whose users included Waking Life, Bad Lieutenant, Life of Brian and Fight Club in their list of the Top 100 Spiritually Significant Films.
posted on Mar 21, 2005 - View this thread

Playground Finder is a community service created by Ben and Suzette Hosken. The parents of two young children, they saw a need for a service providing details of playgrounds within their local area as well as when travelling. This idea grew into Playground Finder. [found while eyeballing loobylu]
posted on Feb 1, 2005 - View this thread

Momblogging. The NY Times (reg. required) looks at some blogging mamas. As someone who's regularly losing friends to the new-parent netherworld of suburbia and early nights, I had previously had little interest in reading about childrearing. I checked out Bad Mother because I'm a fan of the author's husband - the novelist Michael Chabon - and realised it was a hoot. I also like the Pessoptimist. So what other good bringing-up-baby blogs are out there?
posted on Jan 29, 2005 - View this thread

High-school bans traditional crossdressing day because parents complained it was part of the "homosexual agenda." It's replacement? The manly "Camo Day" complete with military fatigues and combat boots. No word on whether there is a "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
posted on Nov 17, 2004 - View this thread

California bill to ease "move aways" by custodial parents pulled. Until a recent CA Supreme Court decision, it was easy for custodial parents to move themselves and their children far from their ex-spouse. The Court reversed the old rule and held that the move could be blocked if the non-custodial parent could show that it would interfere with his/her relationship with the kids. Legislation to reimpose the old permissive standard passed through the State Senate, but has now been pulled off the legislative calendar after an outcry by father's rights groups.
posted on Aug 18, 2004 - View this thread

Another touching, sad, chilling account of obesity in America. The story of Anamarie Regino, a 3-year-old who was abnormally large for her age. Anamarie was taken out of her parents' custody because, it was determined, her life was in jeopardy because of her size. This despite a 550 calorie/day diet and obvious signs that "too much food" wasn't an issue.
posted on Jul 19, 2004 - View this thread

Gay Princes defeat NC Parents. Parents object to library book about two gay princes, concerned because being gay "is not part of their beliefs." Presumably books which discuss other things not part of their beliefs could also be an issue. Is this a basic confusion about the purpose of a library, or is any temptation just too much temptation?
posted on Mar 18, 2004 - View this thread

A court in the Netherlands has awarded damages to a severely disabled girl for having been born -- a so-called "wrongful life" judgment. While we discussed French suits like this a while back (1 2), this decision seems noteworthy because it allows the child herself to receive damages, not just the parents who must pay for her care. In my mind, that opens up a whole new can of worms, both in terms of the message it sends and the incentives for doctors that it creates.
posted on Apr 15, 2003 - View this thread

Do you dread bringing your S.O. home for the holidays? Maybe next year I'll host the festivities and make mom and dad sleep in separate rooms. Nah, they don't have sex anyway.
posted on Jan 8, 2003 - View this thread

Parents charged in death of girl forced to drink water - Forcing a 4 year old to consume large amounts of water seems like an odd way to promote family bonding. Death by over watering can happen, but this sounds more like an episode of Law & Order.
posted on Sep 18, 2002 - View this thread

Yoga in the classroom? EGADS! That reeks of religious implications, say parents in Aspen, Colorado. "For some families, the chanting that accompanies a selection of yoga techniques creates a challenge for separation of church and state." Aspen Elementary says the pilot program "was proposed as a way to help kids cope with their return to school. Rowdy tots could be calmed and readied for class work after recess using a series of relaxing breathing and stretching techniques."
posted on Aug 28, 2002 - View this thread

Girls seek "divorce" of lesbian mother The Scottish paper seems to take a fairly serious anti-gay stance, where as the report in the Houston Chronicle seems to be a little more factual and less hysterical. But, in either case, do children have the right to demand that their parents "stop being gay"?
posted on Aug 20, 2002 - View this thread

Remember the little fiasco of those child/preteen "model" sites? Well, finally the husband and wife of one of the children have been sent to jail. Two more site operators have cases pending against them. Nude videotapes of the girl found in the couples home is what they were finally convicted for, not the web site itself.
posted on Aug 5, 2002 - View this thread

Convicted Hockey Dad Killer to get only 3- 5 years? i know he only threw a few punches, but he was 275 lbs and his victim was 165 lbs. I'm sorry, but killing a guy nearly half your size in front of children - in front of both of their children even - is reason enough for throwing the book at this thug. 20 years = 10 years if he stays cool in the pokie - a pittance if you're the victims kids. Hopefully the Mass judge will make an example out of this totally unneccessary tragedy.
posted on Jan 11, 2002 - View this thread

For Paranoid Parents everywhere. A global satellite positioning wristwatch, in happy-happy day-glo colours, that you can security-clamp onto your kid's wrist. Then, at your office terminal, you can find out exactlywhere they are. Love the 911 button. How about actually playing with your kids, rather than launching them out into the urban wilderness, on a wireless tether? "Latch-key" takes on a whole new dimension.
posted on Jan 8, 2002 - View this thread

As Harry Potter tops all box office records, it seems that some parents don't want their kids to watch the film because some think it promotes witchcraft. Are separation of church and state arguments valid here, or are the parents a bunch of wet blankets?
posted on Nov 18, 2001 - View this thread

Start saving for your little MeFite babies! With the UPromise service, every time you make a purchase with a participating company, a percentage of the amount will be contributed to a college fund.
(more inside)
posted on Aug 3, 2001 - View this thread

Nepal's Crown Prince Dipendra kills family, self over arranged marriage dispute. Proving the astrologers wrong, who had predicted that the king would die if the Crown Prince was allowed to marry before the age of 35; the 30 year old Eton educated prince disputing over his choice of bride, killed his parents, brother, sister, and other relatives in what is labeled as the worst mass killing of royalty since the Romanovs. more.
posted on Jun 1, 2001 - View this thread

The estate of a divorced father is freed from paying a failing son's tuition. Basically, the ruling establishes (at least in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts) that children have obligations to parents. OK, if you want your parents to pay for your college education, you should at least try to graduate. But what are the other consequences of this ruling? What's the point at which a child's bad behavior releases a parent from their obligations as a parent? If your divorced dad is the Great Santini, can he cut off your child support if you hit him back?
posted on Apr 20, 2001 - View this thread

Parent's name their baby "Espn" after the all sports network ESPN. One of my pet peeves is when parents name their babies something "unique" or "cute." I read somewhere that the director Robert Rodruiguez named his kid Rocket. Don't these parents understand how much teasing their children are going to have to endure? Aargh.
posted on Apr 5, 2001 - View this thread

Pennsylvania School cut father's opportunity to lunch with his son after he has been there every day for four years. Due to his work schedule this is the only time he has to spend with his son.
posted on Feb 2, 2001 - View this thread

A concerned Vermont parent wrote an interesting letter to the editor regarding the gay rights conflict.
posted on May 12, 2000 - View this thread