17 year old actress Dakota Fanning recently modeled for Marc Jacob’s new perfume, ‘Oh, Lola!’ If you’re thinking the name ‘Lola’ is reminiscent of a certain controversial book, Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov, you’d be right. In fact, Marc Jacobs himself has described Dakota as a ‘contemporary Lolita’. In the ad, the actress is leaning back [...]
Oh dear, oh dear, is this what happens when you no longer have a camera crew following your every move (and no doubt tons of people on hand to wrangle your 8 children for you)? The other day the former reality star got into hot water with child safety groups when her 7 year old [...]
17 year old pop sensation, Justin Bieber seems to have finally graduated into that illustrious world of grown-up stars: someone’s accusing him of being their baby’s daddy. Now, who knows if this is true or not – I’m leaning towards not. Not because I don’t think young Mr. Bieber is a saint and above such [...]
With the school year back in full swing, I think most of us have had to listen to disparaging comments from our kids concerning teachers, and even complimentary comments concerning teachers. I don’t know about you, but all this school talk reminds me of my school years, and the good teachers along with the bad. [...]
By now, most parent know and understand the term ‘sexting’, and the potential seriousness of the matter when teens are caught with compromising pictures on their computers or phones, not to mention the fact teens aren’t known for discretion and a sexy photo sent by a girlfriend to her boyfriend will often make the rounds [...]
There are many different spaghetti bologneses out there, and every dad needs his very own ‘spag bol’ in his repertoire. This is based on one my mother made. We all loved it. It’s easy, and it’s fun enough that kids will love. This isn’t a helping recipe for younger kids, but if you decided to [...]
There was the recent photo shoot in French Vogue of 10 year old model, Thylane Blondeau, where the girl was photographed for a 15 page photo spread. And now there is the loungerie line from Jours Apres Lunes, lingerie and loungewear for girls aged 3 months to 36 months, and 4 to 12. What is [...]
Hello Everyone!! As you know, we’re continually looking for guest bloggers here at cafe FeelSecure. We want to continue to embrace our wonderful community and be a great place where parents can come to relax, to learn new things, read opinions and what’s happening in the world today – because things change so fast. We’re [...]
Many towns and cities across the US have been implementing curfews on their youth, to try and tame their out of control youth. But does it work? Well, yes and no. Ultimately, the implementation of curfews must come from the home. It’s all too easy for underage kids to get fake IDs – not [...]
As every parent of a teen with a mobile phone, sexting is a problem. Not just a problem of racy photos and racy messages getting into the wrong hands, or the recipient being the one to pass the sext around, but a problem with the law. In many cases, a sext pic of a scantily [...]
In many ways, the Internet has made us even more aware of the plight of people, particularly women and children in countries less fortunate than our own. And, unfortunately, aware of the plight of people in our very own backyards who are also suffering. We have websites devoted to what’s happening in in the Congo, [...]
Financial advice for kids? Well, yes. Don’t panic, people. This isn’t a boring class on savings and finances and shopping. It’s a fun little piece on savings and finances and shopping. It’s never too early or too late to teach your kids about the way the world works in terms of money. I don’t mean [...]
When I first saw the phrase, ‘helicopter parenting’ I thought it was about super rich parents who ferried their children about in helicopters. Which, when you think about it, apart from being grossly over the top, would be pretty cool. I know a number of kids who would love that as their mode of transport. [...]
As a Dad, I’m loving the fact fatherhood’s an excuse to revisit all my old childhood faves: books, toys, collector figures, games and TV. One of my absolute favorite things is sharing these things with my kids – whether it’s reading books together, playing with the toys and arranging the action figures, playing the video [...]
Jamey Rodemeyer’s tragic suicide has made him posthumously famous across the world. If there’s one good thing that’s come of it, it’s the pushing our modern day plight of bullying and cyberbullying more into the public eye than ever. Being a teen is a personal world of angst, isolation and the pervading sense that no [...]
I’m not going to lie. I love Apple products. I have ever since I got my first ridiculously expensive laptop in the early 90s (actually we can all thank my father for that, as I begged and borrowed the money to buy it from him, even though he knew I’d never get around to repaying [...]
I’d known for a while Steve Jobs had been very sick, battling cancer, but when news of his death broke it was a shock. And now, a few weeks on, it still seems like a dream. Like millions of others, I did not have the privilege of meeting him. But he impacted my life in [...]
People, I’m filing this one in my official WTF filing cabinet (the virtual one, in my head). I mean. Wow. A woman, a regular, human being type woman, one without any special super powers or magic (that we’ve been told about, anyway), ran a marathon while pregnant. And when I say pregnant, I mean heavily [...]
The Art of Manliness recently posted an article on 3 reasons why fathers need to dress sharp, and be the man you want your children to remember. I like the idea of taking pride in yourself, no matter how harried you might be, nor how young your kids are. Dressing well, dressing sharp says much [...]
Yesterday, one of my favorite stars, NPH tweeted ‘Things I dig: our twins Gideon and Harper, who are one year old today! They are glorious. So proud to be their Papa.’ If this doesn’t bring the ‘aaaws’ out, then his following tweet just might: ‘And I’m in awe of, and so grateful for, @davidburtka. He [...]
If anyone is trying to work out whether they’re parenting well or parenting poorly, here’s a mini quiz for you: 1) Do you let your 16 year old daughter chat to men older than their fathers on line? Y/N 2) Do you encourage your 16 year old daughter to look like a cheap stripper in [...]
While reading something else online, I saw an article on Jezebel about a couple in Oklahoma, who wanted to return their 11 year old adopted son, because it turned out he had severe mental disorders. The couple said they adopted the boy two years ago [the article was from December 2009], but he spent the [...]
Okay, okay, okay, I don’t really want to be writing this. It’s embarrassing. Last week was my first week of getting fit. Well, attempting to get fit. Erm, thinking about getting fit. Which should count, right? It’s hard when you’re a single mama with a kid and a cat. Kid runs around full of energy, [...]
Zachary Quinto, star of the latest Star Trek movie (he played the young Spock), and the TV series Heros, recently and quietly came out as gay in an interview for New York Magazine. I want to talk about it here on a parenting site, not simply because he came out (and I thoroughly support and [...]
Seriously, it’s no wonder Lindsay Lohan is such a wreck. Yes, the girl did mess up her probation by not bothering to go to her assigned community service, and yes, the judge basically whooped her butt in front of everyone by stating ‘I hear you’re an actress, apparently’, then informed Lindsay any community service she [...]
It’s that time of year when families head to the local pumpkin patch, to buy a big pumpkin (or lots of different sized pumpkins) to carve. The pumpkin patch is a place for families to go and look about and have fun. Enter 17 year old child bride Courtney Stodden and her creepy 51 year [...]
Halloween is literally upon us. It’s a magical time for kids, where they get to scare themselves and each other, dress up as all kinds of beasts, ghosts, creatures, and characters, and they get to literally take candy from strangers. While the last part is something that preys upon a parent’s mind, so does the [...]
Ah, kids. You gotta love them. The thing is, you gotta protect them, too, and often from themselves. It’s not an easy job, being a parent, but hey, that’s okay, in the end it’s worth it. We do our bit, we’re often not loved in-the-moment for it, and we’re not going to win any my-kid’s-best-friend [...]
This recent article was shown to me by a friend who said it was yet another case of cyberbullying. I say, yes and no. Cyberbullying is slightly different, but make no mistake, online or cyberharassment is no better than cyberbullying. Not at all. In fact, this whole case is something all parents of teens, especially [...]
The other day I saw an article on HuffPo about a new Barbie doll and how she might be a bad influence on young girls. Why? Well, she’s Barbie, and all girls have Barbie in their lives, it’s a rite of passage, or peer pressure, or something, because every little girl has a Barbie (unless [...]
The other night on his late night TV show, funny man and presenter, Conan O’Brien, got himself ordained online as a non-denominational minister, and then officiated the marriage of his costume designer, Scott Cronick and Scott’s long time partner, David Gorshein. While some cynical souls out there have said this was a ratings stunt, such [...]
The Orange mobile phone ads in the UK are pretty brilliant. Their latest one is clever and brings up the whole phone etiquette in the cinema dilemma. Orange.Co.Uk – a mobile phone network company has a series of ads that show before movies, basically telling people to turn off their phones. Their latest ad is [...]
When I’m tooling about on youtube, I always read the comments. It’s always interesting, sometimes frustrating, and at others, well… there’s this: The girl you just called fat?… She is overdosing on diet pills. The girl you just called ugly?… She spends hours putting makeup on hoping people will like her. The boy you just [...]
Oh, Hollywood, you’re fast making me lose faith in the justice system. Our favorite mess of an ex-teen, Lindsay Lohan, who was sent back to prison for violating her parole (remember when she simply couldn’t be bothered to turn up because she didn’t particularly like the assignment, oh, and there was also the time recently [...]
Recent Comments