Photo by rockerchic

One mom's question about whether or not to pierce her 4-year old's ears sure sparked some debate over in The CafeMom Newcomers Club recently.

What's interesting to me is that age wasn't the controversy, it was gender — her child is a boy. So in an era when many CafeMoms agree that little boys should be allowed to do ballet, many at the same time believe that earrings are only for girls, not boys.

Wow. What year is it?

Does your little one always want her fingers and toes painted just like Mommy?

Lots of moms are worried about their toddlers putting their hands in their mouth and ingesting the chemicals from regular nail polish. But there is a natural solution...

Want to see a video of the greatest dad in the world? Click this link of the toddler who throws the ball back. (MLB is pulling the vid from You Tube and other places, but this one still seems to work.)

The first thing he does after his little girl throws the foul ball that he just caught back to the Philadelphia Phillies is smile, laugh and give her a hug.

Ah, the patience he must have when she waters the rug or draws on the dog.

I wonder if all sports fan fathers would have such a c'est la vie reaction?

Photo by kassifur22

A post in the Heated Debates group recently about a non profit fighting for a woman's right to go bare-chested in public made me think of my 4 year old daughter. She'd join that cause in a heartbeat.

She thinks I'm totally unjust for not allowing her to go topless in public when her older brother can.

Huge tantrum over this at the soccer field the other day.

My husband and her brother were playing ball shirtless, and when she proceeded to peel off too, I shut that girl right down. "Girls have to wear shirts in public. I know it doesn't seem fair,  but men and women are different. Life isn't fair. Men can't have babies. It's the way it is."

Pink Daisy Garden bedroom Pottery Barn Kids

When my daughter was born, we didn't have the time or the money to give her a proper nursery. We just threw her crib, an old dresser, and a used changing table in a former guest room. 

To this day there's still nothing hanging on her walls. For the past four years, the poor thing has been looking at matronly floral curtains, a dull beige area rug, and a very un-girly back-and-white framed photo of the Civil War that we never managed to take down.

An episode of Toddlers and Tiaras

Photo from TLC

Now that Jon and Kate are off the air, tot TV aficionados can tune into Season 2 of Toddlers and Tiaras, which starts up again this Wednesday, July 22, at 10 p.m. on TLC.

Here's a sneak peek of Toddlers and Tiaras Season 2.

It's the show that many moms around here love to hate.

"I think that whole show is ridiculous and stupid," says one CafeMom. "It's disgusting the way these moms 'pimp' their babies to win a few bucks."

Photo by IFN Goff

courtesy of InStyle Magazine

You wouldn't think that the 3-year-old daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes would have affordable style. But Suri Cruise's cute summery look is more accessible that you might think...

Toddler Bedding Set from pomme

This floral toddler bedding set is a beauty—and it's not Dora the Explorer or pink!

Photo by NonnieJ

My 4-year-old daughter's new favorite phrase is "You're not the boss! Daddy's the boss!"

I don't know where she got that grave misconception, but my point in telling you this is that at least one thing in most mother/daughter relationships has been fairly constant through the ages: Daughters don't like to listen to their mothers.

Not even on Mother's Day. ("Honey, that milk is going to tip." "No, it's not." Spill.)

Sigh. I'm not saying that everything mom says is always right, but you'd think daughters would have learned something from all the guilt and regret of gazillions of generations before us.

Moms in The CafeMom Newcomer's Club are listing all the good mom advice they wished they'd heeded but didn't. Just imagine how different things would have been if you'd listened when she told you as a kid to ...

Photo by LisaAnnM

I'm not a huge Princess fan, and never was as a girl. Nothing against them, but my heroes were adventurers like Joan of Arc, Wonder Woman, and various brave women of my imagination who rode wild horses, shot a bow and arrow, and swam with dolphins.

Princesses just sit on their pretty pink butts, comb their hair, and wait for some guy to come along -- how totally boring is that!

Speaking of which, I'm ready to enroll my 4 year old daughter in the local chapter of Princesses Anonymous. Pink, pretty, bejeweled, delicate, feminine, is her entire world. Yesterday I tried to put a perfectly girly orange corduroy skirt on her and she had a conniption.

And today she informed me she doesn't want to wear clothes that she's already worn before -- in other words, she wants brand new clothes every day so she doesn't have to wear the same thing twice. Yes, and on which planet do you reside again, Sweetie?