Parenting I don't understand: Suri Cruise Still Takes a Pacifier

Cutie Suri Cruise, 4, and mom Katie Holmes enjoyed a hamburger outing this past weekend in Vancouver, Canada where dad Tom Cruise is busy filming scenes for the upcoming Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol.

After eating it seems Suri needed her pacifier. We have seen Suri drinking from a bottle way after pediatricians suggest doing but a four year old with a pacifier?

Say it isn't so!

Whitney Houston's Parental Nightmare: Daughter is caught doing drugs!

It is quite funny when you become a parent because all the proclamations you yelled at your parents on how you would never do that to your kid creep into your life. Like when you tell your parents your kids will not have a bedtime. How quickly you eat those words. How about when you say your kid will never have to make their bed? It creeps up slowly but soon an unmade bed become one of the ugliest sights you lay your eyes on.

Somethings your parents did to you, you promise you will never do to your child. My mother would drag me into bars every now and then when I was in my teens. This wasn't a late night thing where she was partying down and I became the designated driver but it was something I hated. While her friends and her gossiped over cocktails and a band raged in my ear, I swore I would never be that mom. When she looks back on what she did, she apologizes. A friend of mine says her parents would smoke around her as a kid. She vowed she would never do that to her child and never picked up the habit. As parents we all make mistakes but some more detrimental than others.

Whitney Houston is probably smacking herself right now as pictures of her only child, Bobbi Kristina, have surfaced showing her snorting a white powder substance. While Whitney Houston has supposedly been clean and sober since she checked herself into rehab in 2009, her child was raised around a world of drugs. As many remember, Houston and her ex-husband, singer Bobby Brown, had a tumultuous relationship that included multiple run-ins with the law to include drug use and abuse.

We can only hope Whitney Houston and Bobbi Kristina's father will step in and save their daughter before it is too late. Good Luck!

Things my preteen doesn't know: Don't Share Lip Gloss

If you have one, you know they think they know everything. The attitude of "all knowledge" begins abruptly. So quickly in fact, you don't realize it has struck. But then the eye rolls start and the "What the heck?" questions begin, soon to be followed by doors slammed in disgust. All the while, you as a parent ask yourself, "Where did my sweet child go?"

They may think they know everything but you know they don't. Isn't it funny how quickly you think you know how the world works and at some point later after your world has been turned upside down multiple times throughout the college years and then into your mid to late twenties, you thank God you don't know everything?

The other night, my daughter was having a friend spend the night. As I passed the room the girls where gossiping in, I noticed they were passing lip gloss to each other. I stopped in my tracks. They have no idea this is a way herpes can be passed, I thought. No idea that a simple sharing of a tube of lip gloss can change their lives forever. Instead of these beautiful lips they want to share with the world, sores and blisters could rear their ugly head and they will be crying in their beds. Forever they will have to worry about break outs happening at the most inopportune time. As a parent, I had to tell them something they didn't know and I wondered how I would be received.

When I mentioned this news to them, they looked in horror at me and then to each other. This was a great time to explain to them how sharing, though nice, can have consequences. After our discussion they both thanked me.

Sometimes things you don't know will hurt you. I'm pretty sure, they will remember not to share lip gloss and lipstick with others . Its kind of nice to know more than my preteen even though she still thinks I'm an idiot.

There will come a time...

Picking Out Your Engagement Ring Before You are Engaged? Jennifer Love Hewitt Has!

She may not be engaged yet, but Jennifer Love Hewitt is making it easy for her lucky guy when he does ask her. She has picked out three rings, just in case.

"I actually have three because I feel like I am doing the guy a favor." She explains to Ellen on her Tuesday appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show. "Women are very confusing. We never know what we want and we're not very good at nailing it down for them. I feel like I don't want to be upset if he picks a bad ring." [UsMagazine]

Hewitt hasn't been married yet. Her engagement to Ross McCall was called off in 2008. With public love affairs with bad boy John Mayer, MTV host Carson Daly and Scream actor Jamie Kennedy, it seems Jennifer Love Hewitt is never far from her next love. Hopefully her dreams of becoming some one's wife happens soon. If not for her, for us.

Did you pick out your engagement ring before you were engaged?

A Rule We Should Live By: Don't ask a woman if they are pregnant.

Nothing can ruin your day quicker than a fellow human being asking,"When are you DUE??!!" when you are not pregnant.

Before Christmas I am going to admit, I fell off the watching what I ate wagon. French fries for breakfast, sure! Ten cookies instead of two, okay! They sure do taste good. Why not just one more, no one will notice. This lead into a nibble here, a nibble there, a handful of candied pecans here, pudding before bed there.

I was awful, I admit it. The funny thing about overindulging is, it does catch up to you. I could tell my dresses were hiking up in the back a little too much from my tummy approaching my breast line but nothing could bring me to stop this munching. The end occurred when in one month, I had three separate people ask me if I was expecting. THREE!! After the third, I wrapped up my overindulgence and stepped away from the refrigerator. Wii Fit is my friend and I'm getting there. Hitting the over thirty market sure puts your weight into a whole new perspective. For some reason my old diet of eating what I want, drinking what I want and only exercising when I'm dancing at a club just don't cut it any more and that really stinks!

BUT:

It still gives you no right to ask a woman if they are pregnant unless they make it known. I mean make it known by wearing those cute but obnoxious shirts that say,"Baby on Bladder" or "Stand Back! Crazy Pregnant Lady Coming Through" or "His swimmers can swim."

Start a new rule in your life today. Don't ask a woman if she is pregnant.

Selena and Justin Dating: What's wrong with dating a younger guy?

When I was in the dating era of my life, I hooked up with guys that were younger than me. Age was never a deal breaker.

My best friend however, throughout high school loved to date older guys. It was something she was in to. I, on the other hand was in to dating whoever was hot. It didn't matter if they were younger or older; if they were good looking and had something intelligent to say, it was on.

Selena Gomez and Justin Beiber are reported to be dating and to signify his emotions towards her, Justin even gave her a diamond bracelet for Christmas. [Hollywoodlife.com] On many of the sites that are reporting their affair, in the comment section people are dogging her out for dating a younger guy. Granted she is 18 and he is only 16, I think they are cute together. As she receives death threats from outrageously ridiculous fans with "Beiber Fever," I ponder this hate she is receiving because she is older than him.

What's wrong with dating a younger guy? He is a successful cutie and so is she.

An Electric Toothbrush Under $6? Thanks Colgate!

Electric toothbrush prices have always been out of my reach. With three kids, a husband, a dog, two cats, a hamster and fish who keep reproducing, my budget hasn't allowed me to purchase an electric toothbrush. With prices that reach from $15 (Crest's Spinbrush) up into the hundred range (Philips' Sonicare), my teeth have only been met with the tried and true manual toothbrush usually bought in the family pack.

Colgate has a new Electric Toothbrush in cool colors like green, blue and pink with a price under $6! ActiFlex SonicPower is the first powered toothbrush with a flexible bridge. It glides along your teeth, cleaning away debris leaving your teeth feel smooth and your breath fresh!

When I received this toothbrush, I was excited! Like I said before, my budget hasn't allowed me to purchase an electric toothbrush. I ripped open the package and went right away to scrubbing. My husband saw what I was using and he was excited too. He said, "I'm stealing that!" Not a chance mister.

Colgate has made it's competitors a little nervous with this invention. I'm happy they have! I can afford the benefits allowed only to those who use an electric toothbrush. Regular toothbrushes only remove the food and plaque from the surface of the teeth and gums. An electric toothbrush can penetrate more of the teeth and gums resulting in better plaque removal. [articlebase]

Happy Brushing and Happy Holidays!!!