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Strollerderby
How similar is friendship to the mother-daughter bond?
A guest post from Dana Rousmaniere:
Have you seen the previews for Thursday night’s Barbara Walters interview with Oprah Winfrey? (A Barbara Walters Special: Oprah, The Next Chapter airs Thursday, December 9, 9:00 – 10:00 pm ET, on ABC.) In a preview video, Oprah is asked to describe her relationship with her best friend Gayle King and says through tears:
“She is the mother I never had. She is the sister everyone would want. She is the friend everyone deserves.”
Oprah has spoken very little in public about her own mother, Vernita Lee, who was an unwed teenager when she became pregnant with Winfrey. Oprah has stated that she respects her mother for choosing to go ahead with the pregnancy, even though it was difficult, but she has widely credited her father, Vernon Lee, for helping to raise her and make her the woman she is today. She once commented that she had chosen not to be a mother herself because she had not been mothered well.
Oprah and Gayle King have done countless segments on the show about mothers and daughters, and the tenuous relationship that often exists between the two. It’s a complex relationship, to be sure. So, what is it about Gayle King’s relationship with Oprah that’s strong enough to make her the mother Oprah never had?
Strollerderby is proud to introduce three new bloggers. We hope you’ll be as excited to read their posts as we are!
Robin Aronson co-wrote The Whole Pregnancy Handbook with Dr. Joel M. Evans and The Skinny: How to Fit Into Your Little Black Dress Forever with New York Times food columnist Melissa Clark. She also authors the blog Local or Express and is a former editor-in-chief of Parents.com. All of this in addition to being the mom of Helen and Elliot, whom she and her husband David are raising in the wilds of New York City.
For those not already reading her posts on Babble’s BeingPregnant blog, Danielle Elwood is a Connecticut mom to two boys, Camden, and Benjamin, and wife to William, a volunteer firefighter and veteran marine. She is expecting her third and very unexpected child in May 2011. Danielle’s personal blog Momotics led to such projects as Lamaze’s Giving Birth with Confidence, and Pregnancy.Pampers.com. She’s also a Lamaze-educated Childbirth Educator in Training, and doula. You can find her on Twitter @BirthBabiesBlog.
When it comes to the institution of parenthood, John Cave Osborne was baptized by fire. In a span of just thirteen months, he morphed from consummate bachelor into father of four thanks to marrying a single mom, then quickly conceiving triplets. He chronicled that whole experience in his recently released book Tales from the Trips. John lives with his loud and delightfully dysfunctional brood in Knoxville, TN. On the rare occasions when he is not with his family, you can most certainly find him somewhere in the woods, most likely backpacking along the Appalachian Trail.
Please join us in welcoming Robin, Danielle, and John to Strollerderby’s amazing crew of parent news hounds.
-The Editors
If you haven’t already, Babble readers have a few more days to enter for our Holiday Gift Guide giveaways! We’re giving away tons of gifts in every category, so make sure you read through them all.
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In an interesting story from The Coloradoan, a family illustrates how texting may not be so bad after all. As long as it’s not sexting or texting while driving, of course. You see, these parents use texting as a reliable and discreet source of communicating with their kiddos and they seem to be on to something big.
Let’s say you’re an elementary school teacher and your students’ moms show up to a parent conference in low cut shirts, mini skirts or tight jeans. Would it be appropriate to write a note asking them to dress “discreetly” for conferences instead? A rather humorous letter was sent to advice columnist “Ask Amy” in The Los Angeles Times earlier this week…
Natural disasters like earthquakes and floods certainly make us sad, but I don’t think the terrifying reality of something like this hits home until you read a chilling story like this one… Continue reading »
I’m always amazed at the crazy things people do to prove a point and this story is no different. I happen to be a huge fan of UFCU (University Federal Credit Union), and I recently came across a special contest they’re doing for college students. It’s called, ‘What Can You Do With $20.09?‘ and the premise is what can you do with $20? In this economy, how creative can folks get when it comes to pinching pennies? Creative, indeed.
One student in particular, David Lee, a senior at the University of Texas, has decided to see if he can exist for 20 days with only $20. David is originally from Houston and he’s an advertising major working at FG SQUARED in Austin, Texas. His trick is trying to survive for 20 days on $20 worth of food. (Does this tug at your mommy heart strings or what?) He’s doing it to prove $20.09 is nothing to scoff at!
He’s keeping the world apprised of his hunger-riddled journey on his blog, which he update regularly. He even lists the stringent rules he will be following like not accepting free food from people, although he is allowed to munch on sample foods that may be available at the grocery store. Refer to pic of waffles above for visual! He said he won’t steal and he won’t go dumpster driving. What a sweetheart.
The best tip he has received thus far is someone told him he could buy a jar of peanut butter at Kroger’s for $1.75. Another tip he was banking on to emerge thin, yet victorious, was he could buy 10 pounds of chicken legs for $4. Unfortunately that tip feel through because it was a special at Albertson’s and Albertson’s grocery stores aren’t in Austin.
Parents, this is your opportunity to share your thrifty two cents with someone who desperately needs it! Remember when you were a broke college student? If you know any good recipes for eating cheap and I mean really cheap, drop David a comment on his blog. Let’s help this courageous college student dazzle the blogosphere with his uncanny ability to survive for 20 days on $20! Right now he has 8 days to go with only $5.15 left. Can he do it?
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