Black and White Twins: A Study in Prejudice?

It may be hard to believe that these two adorable girls are twins. But, In April of 2005 Kylie Hodgson gave birth to two gorgeous, healthy daughters Remee and Kian. Both had blue eyes, but little else about the girls identified them as twins, let alone even sisters.

Remee is blond and fair- skinned, while Kian is dark haired and dark-skinned. Their picture elicits a double-take: Did someone make the dreaded switch in the maternity ward? (I think Mom worries about this one...) Kylie and her boyfriend Remi were reportedly shocked at the profound difference in their twins. Relatives assured them that Remee's fair skin would darken. However, the differences in the babies only increased as Remee's skin became lighter and Kiana's eyes turned brown.

Mary Kay is Not Okay

Gosh...I thought that this was obvious: teachers should never, ever sleep with their students.

Period. Unremitting passion and true love declarations do not make it okay. Ever. I think of the over 350 teachers I interviewed for my latest parenting book, The Mom Book Goes to School: Insider Tips to Ensure Your Child Thrives in Elementary and Middle School, and the amount of passion they felt about their students. Non-sexual passion, that is.

A recent People magazine featured an update on Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Faulau who have just celebrated their first anniversary as husband and wife.

The Church of Scientology & Its Parenting Snafus

In looking into exactly what Scientology is (and unfortunately, I am still trying to understand just really what it is), I discovered why celebrities are the only people I know who actually practice the religion.

Tom Cruise and new wife Kate (no longer Katie, thanks to Tom), John Travolta and Kelly Preston, Kirstie Alley, and Leah Remini are all stars who support what was first started by American science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard as a self-help philosophy in the early fifties. Today the Church of Scientology presents itself as a religious non-profit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of the human spirit. Interesting.

Furthermore, the Scientology website proves why, I think, celebrities are on the Scientology bandwagon. In one of the main tenets of Scientology, entitled Communication, the religi-cult states its central belief that the artist, painter, or musician is a cut above man because of his or her ability to communicate with the masses.

Brangelina: Out of Africa

By now the entire world has been alerted to the birth of Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. Has any recent child's birth been more anticipated? It has provoked a war between all the tabloid magazines over who will get the rights to publish their first baby pictures. Time Warner, as the highest bidder, shelled out $4.1 million for photos that will appear in People in the USA, Hello! in the UK, and Who in Australia. Advance pictures have already been circulating the Internet. Worldwide, the pictures will generate about $20 million that will go to a charity of Brad and Angelina's choice.

While I really respect all of the humanitarian work Angelina and Brad have been doing in Africa and in other nations struggling with poverty and health care woes, it is sometimes hard to separate the personal from its publicity value. Plus, we have to keep in mind that just a few short years ago Angelina was the ultimate Hollywood "bad girl," wearing a bottle of Billy Bob Thornton's blood around her neck and recovering from everything from drug use to Oscar sibling kissing to Dad hatred. And let's throw in for good measure the accusation of stealing Brad from poor, sweet, un-vixen like Jennifer.