zFabulous! A Hip Canadian Mom Blog

Hot Topic Friday: The Golden Compass

For my hot topics, i try to stay impartial. Well, as impartial as I can. I try to present all sides of an argument and not really give my own opinion. most of the time it works...but sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes, when it's a topic that hits close to home, i can present the facts, sure, but i also feel it's a necessity to tell you how i really feel.

Halton's Catholic school board has pulled Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass from its library shelves.   Apparently, an internal memo was sent to elementary principals that said "the book is apparently written by an atheist where the characters and text are anti-God, anti-Catholic and anti-religion." Principals were also directed not to distribute the December Scholastic flyer to students because The Golden Compass is available for order.

This has become a topic of great debate. People are getting very angry and feelings are being hurt. Now, I have opinions, of course, and i respect those of others. All i know here is what i believe.

This is what i believe.

As a writer and an editor, in general, I don't believe in book censorship or book banning. (There are, of course, exceptions to this rule. Would i want "Young Nazis for Dummies" to be removed from my children's library shelves? certainly. but would i want a book written by a Holocaust denier to be removed? No. I will, at some point, want my children to understand that there are people out there who deny that the Holocaust exists. It will be something I will have to discuss with my children. Something i WANT to discuss with them.) I believe that not allowing children access to a book only makes it all that more attractive and enticing to readers. Aren't we better off using the book, if the child even chooses to read it at all, as a starting point for discussion?

As a parent, I believe I have the right to choose what my children read. and what they don't read. but, i do not have the right to make that decision for someone else's child. The Golden Compass is an award-winning book that has received praise and critical acclaim. It is, in my opinion, an excellent piece of fiction literature for YA; something that is not easy to find these days, trust me. It challenges children to think. Isn't that what we want? (as a side note, Pullman's book was published in 1995. How come it's only now, in 2007, that the book is being reviewed? Where were all the school boards then?) If a parent decides that his child isn't ready to deal with concepts yet, that's up to the parent, NOT up to the school board.

As a Jew, with immediate family members who are atheists, agnostics, jews, and christians, i don't believe any book written by people of other faiths about other faiths (especially FANTASY stories) would turn my child on or off of any religion. Books don't do that. Faith comes from within...not from books. Children read the books for what they are...and it's probably only once they are older that they will really 'get' the religious or non-religious connections. It wasn't until i was much, much older that i even know of any sort of religious factor in The Chronicles of Narnia. As a kid, they were fantasy stories. About children and animals and different worlds. They were not about religion to me. And The Golden Compass will not be about anti-religion for many, many children.

Now, I know many people who have completely different views on this matter, including our very own Beck. She and I are friends online, and even a little bit offline (I know her kids' names...neener, neener). I respect her opinions, no question. And I assume she'll respect mine. So, I'm opening up the floor for some HEALTHY debate people. I, of course, respect people of all faiths and people without faith, and I know some of the lines are non exactly clear-cut.

But what do you think about this?

computer virus

this post was going to be about Kate Walsh and her disgustingly amazing 40-year-old body. look at her stomach! just look at it!

today was going to be all about inspiration. the body i have (something britney-ish, just not quite as doughy). the body i think i could have (Hayden Panettiere). the body i will never have (Jessica Biel).

but alas...

yesterday, i stupidly made some jokes on several blogs...several blogs about barf. i joked that i shouldn't get too close...they might be contagious.

well, karma is a bitch, my dears.

because guess what my son did last night?

yeah...i don't even think i need to tell you. he caught the internet virus that's going around.

(but, lucky for me, the husband, who had been out until 2am, playing Rock Band with his friends, got to deal with it. as he put it, "it's amazing how quickly i can go from zero to hero" no truer words were ever spoken. i. don't. do. barf. i dealt with Isabella from 10 until 2, when she croup-coughed herself awake and refused to go back to sleep. so we watched House. i dealt with Josh complaining that his throat felt funny. and that his stomach was hurting. i dealt with the prayer - the prayer because i KNEW he was going to barf...and i was praying that he'd just hold out until Daddy was done being 175th best in the world at singing In Bloom. and alas, he pulled through. yay Josh!)

(in case you're wondering, he only went one round. barfed in bed. and slept until morning. and he felt fine. i think we got off easy this time. but i still kept him home from school. because i am a good samaritan. i HATE moms who send their kids to school after barfing episodes. keep them and their little germs at home please!!!)

roadtrippin' it

do you know what French Dora is??

NOT Dora, at least according to my 2-year-old.

do you know what French Shoppers Drug Mart is?

Pharma-Prix. (we got a good kick out of this one....)

do you know what French for FREEZING is???

Every time we set out on a family road trip, we forget how un-fun they are. We forget that our kids don't sleep in the car. We forget that i get carsick unless i'm driving. We forget that the kids will not a agree on a single movie to watch. we forget that isabella throws her sippy cup 350 times, as a game. we forget that Emily's hollow stomach begs to be fed for x straight hours.

we forget, and that's why we still continue to do it.

and every time, we say that surely the next time will be better. and surely, it isn't.

we think that if we leave at night and drive through, the kids will sleep.

we think that if we drive in the morning they will be happy and awake and not tired.

we are always wrong.

How do you you all do it? Do you simply have really well behaved kids? or do you have special tricks? any tips for next time (since you know that while i'm thinking sensibly now, something else will come up and one of these here road trips will be in our future. GREAT)? Is there an optimal time to start out? do you stop for meals? do you stop for a short time or a long time? do you sleep over somewhere to break up the trip? do you drug your kids or give them gravol or anything?

ps. i have a very special news bulletin. my laptop breathed its final breath in Montreal and was given a lovely little burial by hotel room garbage can. poor thing. i'll miss her.

Hot Topic Friday: Where Were You When

Tonight we had our annual Thanksgiving dinner with the transplanted Americans-living-in-Canada. The crowd is always the same and it's always great, the food is always amazing, and this year there was a baby to hold. (i love holding babies)

We started talking about how yesterday was the anniversary of the death of JFK. and how everyone who was alive during that generation knows exactly where he or she was. home. school. work. people remember what they were wearing. what those around them were wearing. One of our friends' fathers was actually thrown out of class because his teacher thought he was lying about the shooting.

now, none of us sitting around the table were alive on November 22nd, 1963, but there are some events and dates that we all know exactly where we were when.

On January 28, 1986 the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds into its flight. I was in my second grade classroom, watching it happen on our tiny 17-inch tv. A bunch of 8-year-olds crowded around a tiny tv watching what was supposed to be a joyous event.

On August 31, 1997 Princess Diana died after a high-speed car accident in Paris. The husband and i were dating...and were at Newtonbrook bowlerama.

On September 11, 2001 American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center, respectively. I was at home, playing on the floor with my 6-month-old baby Emily. We were watching the Today show when Matt Lauer announced the breaking news.

Three tragedies. Three very vivid memories of where i was.

We seem to remember the bad things. the explosions, the deaths. Why do you think that is? Why is it the bad events stick out so much more than the good ones? Why don't we remember what we were wearing when Michael Jordan led his team to a three-peat championship? Why don't we remember the day we watched the last episode of Cheers?

Where were you???

white thanksgiving...

brilliant:

(seriously. i'm not kidding. there's not enough love for the dude who invented the umbrella.)

not so brilliant:

i don't own an umbrella.

i'm wet. i hate being wet. i suppose it could be worse. it's supposed to snow tonight. real, actual snow. boo. i hate snow.

actually, that's not true. i like snow.

i like to sit in my living room and watch giant snowflakes fall while i sit and drink pumpkin spice lattes.

i like to ski on snow.

(yes, that IS me, skiing in Mont Tremblant in my outfit that i bought in size 14 kids. HOT)

i like the rare occasion that it snows in Atlanta. so my stepmom can experience a white christmas.

(but usually we only get the artificial winter wonderland....)

i don't like DRIVING in snow. especially in my non-wintertired, non-automatic Honda Civic. I don't like other cars driving near me in the snow. They scare me.

i don't dressing for snow. the hats. the gloves. the scarves. the boots.

i don't like the slush. and the dirty, black snow.

oy. i think it's going to be a LONG winter.

i guess being wet isn't all that bad....

how my daughter's losing teeth and how i'm channeling my inner girl-scout. (i'm prepared)

(have you read my interview yet?? if you haven't, i highly suggest you visit here...)

We have a loose tooth in our house.

thank god.

I was beginning to feel like we were in a bad episode of Arthur. Remember the one? Arthur's tooth? Where he's the LAST ONE in his class to lose a tooth? There's also a book, in case you were worried.

but the loose tooth is just about ALL we hear about. She even went so far as to ask me to take pictures of it so i could sent them to "the tooth fairy" who she already knows is daddy. my first thought was "are you mad?" but my second thought was..."a post for Fabulous!!"

I want to just pull it out of her head, give her the money, and move on with life.

because with Emily, as many of you already know, everything is about her. always.

For instance, there was a huge sale at The Disney Store on Sunday. Not as big as their black friday sale this coming friday (FYI: they open at 7am) but pretty big. I found this for Josh

and this for Isabella

they were each only $14.99...which i was super excited about. Purim costumes for this year; Halloween costumes for next year.

Emily, of course, was all "where is MY costume??!"

It doesn't matter that we already told her that she's getting a Jasmine costume for Chrismukah.

that. she. asked. for.

she wanted something THAT DAY.

she wanted something that bad that when Isabella lost interest in the rat costume...Emily put it on. It's a size 2/3. She's almost 7. makes perfect sense to me.

she managed to make it all about her.

i hope this tooth falls out soon.

Hang On To Your Hairspray....and a Contest!!

I love my 6-year-old. She's an awesome, awesome kid but when it comes to our interests, we have little in common. I like The Office, and she likes The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. I rock out to the stylings of Damien Rice and Pedro the Lion, and she rocks out to High School Musical and Hannah Montana.

But when the delivery guy from Alliance Films showed up with an advance copy of the new 2-disc "Shake and Shimmy Edition" Hairspray DVD, I am not sure which of us was more excited.

(I'm pretty sure it was me. but it could have easily been her.)

(the DVD will be released to all of you folks on Tuesday. I highly recommend picking up a copy for yourself. I also highly recommend you enter urbanmoms.ca's Hairspray contest, courtesy of our good friends over at Alliance Films.)

And she was actually JEALOUS of me this morning. Not many 6-year-olds are jealous of their moms. But, then again, not many 6-year-old's moms get to spend their mornings interviewing Adam Shankman and Elijah Kelley.

I would hardly call it an interview, though. I sat and talked with Adam and Elijah like we were old friends; like they are guys I would hang out with in my real life; like guys I would go bowling with to celebrate Adam's 43rd birthday next week. I feel like I can call them by their first names, now that I know what kind of underwear they wear.

(I know you're dying to know. Adam wears boxers, while Elijah wears boxer briefs)

And why would we stop at underwear when we could discuss both hair and tight clothing? It only makes sense, since Hairspray truly is a story of big hair meets big dreams. I figured that the entire press circuit was likely asking about the big dreams part, so I figured I'd go the road less travelled, the more refreshing angle.

"I had been growing my hair for the role, but man, I didn't know I was going to have to get a, erm, process done," Elijah said. Not only did he have to get permed up for the role, but he had to get an extra "wiff" of hair put on the front. He can now appreciate what some women have to go through. But not the women of Hairspray, because they got to wear wigs.

(courtesy of Alliance Films)

Adam says that when it came to recreating the styles and the look of the 1960's, they went through hundreds and hundreds of magazines from that time period. They also searched through high school yearbooks from that era and that area, aka Baltimore. They nailed the look, much to Mr. Kelley's dismay. He didn't enjoy the hair, and he also didn't like the pants that were too tight.

(I assured him that the Urban Moms enjoyed the tights pants just fine.)

This version of Hairspray is not a remake of the John Waters' 1988 original movie, nor is it a remake of the stage production, but a re-invention of the two. It fuses together many elements of each. When I asked Adam what John Waters thought of the film, he was happy to report that Mr. Waters loved it! He even went as far as to leave a message on Adam's machine saying, "You've made me the happiest grandfather!" It is only now, hours after the interview, that I get the grandfather joke. and it's funny.

I talked a little bit with both men about the star-studded cast. I mean, seriously, John Travolta, Christopher Walken, Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latifah...and that's just the older set. There's also the likes of Zac Efron, Amanda Bynes, Brittany Snow.

When I asked Elijah who he was most excited and most intimidated to meet, he gave me the PC answer of "everyone." However, upon further probing, he assured me that Chris Walken was as non-verbal and creepy and fascinating in real life. He also mentioned he was excited to meet Dana (that's Queen Latifah to those of you who aren't in the know...).

Watching the Hairspray DVD was certainly good times for me and my daughter. The movie is fantastic. The colors and sets were literally glowing. The musical numbers were beautifully choreographed (by my new best friend Adam Shankman). The story was funny, and touching, and envelope-pushing. The veteran celebrities shined in their roles (even John Travolta, who had BIG shoes to fill as Tracy's mother Edna Turnblad) and the newcomers didn't miss a beat.

And it most certainly was good times at the Park Hyatt this morning.

Elijah told us of his love of older women (you hear that ladies?!?!!!). I even got it on film...

and Adam told us of his disdain for elective c-sections and how they are unnatural. and that was the point where I'm pretty sure I mentioned something about women squatting in fields to give birth. (what. on. earth.) but I had both men in hysterics...so I guess that was positive.

I got Elijah to say "I'm a little bit uncomfortable right now. but in a good way." because he didn't realize how awesome we moms are. (also, i mentioned being nervous about the girls popping out during the interview. yes, THOSE girls)

and yes, people, I did ask Adam Shankman your #1 question - "Let's talk about So You Think You Can Dance..." Adam had a great time on the show, and had no idea how much of an impact him being on the show would have on people. It has now made him a household name, which, as he says, "was so timely because of Hairspray." And while he loved being a guest judge, he had a hard time when it came to the eliminations. He didn't like having to be the bad guy and send people packing. So, right after the show, he went upstairs and got them agents!!

Up next for the boys include an album for Elijah and an Adam Sandler movie for Adam. And if he decides to make a sequel to Hairspray, i hope that Adam Shankman will look my way. I may have lousy photoshop skillz, but I'm sure I could rock a 1960's updo like no one can.

the little black dress

Next week, my company is having a holiday party. The first annual. Usually, they only do a Children's Christmas party. It's always a movie - this year it's Enchanted - and it's always at the beginning of December. This year, however, they decided to make all adult-only party too. I'm looking forward to it (even if the drinks are not free. boo to cash bars.)

but i have NOTHING to wear.

i swear. nothing. i'm going to have to go this party naked, i think.

i do have one possibility. this one.

but there's the slight issue of le pooch. and the dress is probably, erm, 6 years old. i want to wear something new. and more trendy. also...this picture was taken when i had only a little belly, and no boobs. my body is soo different now.

so i went to stores. many, many stores in search of a little black dress.

my first stop was Jacob, where they had all sorts of lovely little numbers. this was my favorite (in black, of course)

there was only one problem. i normally wear a size 2. pretty much exclusively. occasionally, i'll buy pants in a 4, or a skirt in a 0, but i'm DEFINITELY a 2. so, i took a 1/2 and a 3/4 into the dressing room. and i couldn't zip it. so, i asked the saleslady if she could kindly get me the 5/6 to try on.

and when i couldn't even get that zipper up past my midsection, i gave up and walked out of the store.

then i tried my go-to store, RW&Co. where i tried on every single dress you see here. and not one of them fit. the ones that fit in the body were too big in the bust. the ones that fit in the bust her buckling in the back.

i tried every store in 2 malls. and came up with NOTHING.

i'm convinced my body is NOT meant to wear dresses.

please help! i'd hate to have to show up to this thing in the nude.

do you have a perfect little black dress? what does it look like? where did you get it? have you seen any great dresses in the mall recently? where? have you ever had issues getting into dresses in your normal size?? (please say yes, please say yes, please say yes)

ends badly.

my weekends are usually such a blur. they involve a lot of running and multi-tasking. and they always start and end the exact same way. i get home from work on Friday and the first thing out of Emily's mouth is, "What's our Friday treat?" and the last thing out of her mouth on Sunday night (when the husband and i get home from our weekly night-out with friends) is always "My stomach hurts. i had a baby throw-up in my mouth and i feel like i might barf"

every weekend. and i seriously wish i was joking.

well...she went to the Royal Winter Fair with her Daddy, while i worked at the Today's Parent Baby and Toddler Show. where, i'm sure, there was no shortage of treats

(note the ever-growing mullet on Josh in the photo)

and every sunday morning we take the kids out for breakfast. We are big fans of a restaurant called Kiva's...but we do occasionally take them to Tim Horton's. and Emily always manages to get several donuts out of this...she eats. her sister and brother don't. she's the victor - she gets the spoils. no shortage of treats.

we also made a birthday party for Joshua. We took all the boys in his class, and Emily and his one girl choice (too cute) to see the Bee Movie. In a word, it was CHAOS. but the kids had a good time. and i sat next to Emily and once she finished her popcorn, she ate mine. and once she finished her drink, she drank mine. so, again, no shortage of treats.

(ps. movie was adorable. i highly recommend)

and then she went to a bowling birthday party. where, say it with me, there was no shortage of treats.

so, it comes as NO surprise to me that Emily has a stomach ache every.single.sunday.night.

(but, of course, it still doesn't make me panic any less and pop the zantac AND the xanax with anticipation of a vomit-filled night that NEVER comes to fruition.)

how was your weekend?? :)

Hot Topic Friday: That time of day

Earlier this week i made reference to that time right before Isabella's bedtime. I said it was my most favorite time of day.

and then came the comments. and the emails. the shock! favorite time of the day?? how is it possible?

Well, i'm here to clear up and clarify.

I've pretty much been single mothering it for the last, oh, 6 months or so. the husband works long hours. long hours. typically, he comes home somewhere between 8 and 9. sometimes later, depending on his hockey schedule. at first i was annoyed, and then i got upset, and then i learned to accept it, and now i've learned to love it.

We've got ourselves a lovely little system going. I come home. we have dinner together. the four of us. well, Emily and i eat, and Isabella and Josh turn their noses up at whatever I have made (or Haydee has made, depending on the day) They have become experts in the non-eat.

Then we go upstairs. This is my favorite time of the day. We wrestle. we take pictures. we watch tv. we talk about our day. the sky's the limit. all three of the kids have my full attention and i have theirs. i love it.

Then i put Isabella to bed. Let Josh play Xbox or webkinz or Wii while i do homework with Emily.

okay, seriously, anyone out there have first graders? Emily gets a TON of homework. and she has to wait for me to get home because there's things she can't do on her own AND i have to sign everything.

and at 7:30, we brush teeth, read stories, do the tuck in. and they are allowed to play/read/whatever in their rooms until 9. 

You see, what it comes down to is this. I work full time. and my time, any time, with my kids is so precious. and this is MY TIME. and i love having them all to myself.

sure, sometimes i get annoyed. when isabella won't stay in her bed. when they won't listen when i say it's time for bed. when they wake up isabella. when josh comes into my room for his 7th hugkiss of the night. when emily can't find something and doesn't want to go all the way to the basement to get it. when they take advantage of my single motherhood.

they might be a couple of monkeys...but they are MY monkeys

what's your favorite time of day?

what's your LEAST favorite?