Need a break from fitness? Check out my parenting column this week from Redbook:
10 Things I Hope My Kids DON’T Learn From Harry Potter (So far the only 3 comments on there call me an idiot – had to know that was coming. You do not insult the Boy Who Lived on the eve of his last movie. Sorry, Harry!)
Babies Banned From Cafes, Airplanes and Now Museums? Apparently carrying your baby in a sling is the new controversy.
Would You Do a “Bump Portrait” While Pregnant? (Plus: Victoria Beckham names her baby.) Pregnancy glow my stretch-marked heinie, all I felt was crappy when I was pregnant. So no, there are no sexy photos of this mama.
Anti-Depressant Use During Pregnancy Linked to Autism: What’s a Mom to Do? I took anti-depressants when I was pregnant – if you’ve been reading here for very long you will remember why – so this research really shook me. But then Reader Alyssa (and mom of two gorgeous kids with autism) set me straight. Read this one just for her quotes – she is amazing!
NOW. Important things: the outtakes from the Weird Gym Equipment You Should Be Using photoshoot for Shape.com
Ah, books, my specialty. Let’s do this! 🙂
I agree with several of your points in your Harry Potter article; but I think that listing what you DON’T want your kids to learn from that series, without also listing what you DO want them to learn, might have been a mistake (and left you open to mean commenters).
The second commenter was spot-on. There are many people that Harry can’t trust, some of whom happen to be his teachers. But there are so many more people who stand by him, come hell or high water. Rather than learning the lesson “Don’t trust your teachers” from the books, I’d much rather my kids learn “Once you find friends and mentors who you CAN trust, stick with them, and they’ll stick with you.” I’d want my child to have friends like Harry’s, so that they could surround themselves with people they love and who love them.
And although the third comment was rather harshly worded, I have to agree with that person as well. If one of your children has become convinced that his teacher is hiding Voldemort somewhere, he’s probably not old enough to understand that the Harry Potter books are just stories.
As someone who has a passionate loathing for book censorship, part of me hates the idea of not letting my child read a series of books that everyone has read, is talking about, and watching the films of. But sometimes it’s a good idea to at least consider it, I think.
Series like Harry Potter and Twilight (content notwithstanding on the latter) are great for kids who are relatively the same age as the characters. I was about 11 when the first Potter book came out, and about the same as Bella in the first Twilight novel when it came out. Because the characters “aged” at the same rate as me, I never ended up reading something that scared me too badly, or for which I didn’t have a frame of reference. But when series’ like that are completed, and all the books are available at the same time, it’s impossible to do that. I was fine reading Twilight at 16 or 17, but I wouldn’t have been ready to read Breaking Dawn at that age; just as I wouldn’t have been ready at 11 to read Deathly Hallows. Not because I wasn’t intelligent, but because there are so many scary aspects and themes, and scenes that are difficult to explain to someone that age.
I am heartily glad to know that you’re not taking your kids to see the final movie (I wouldn’t let my child see it if they were under 13 either). I’d much rather spend time re-reading the first few books together, and watching those movies, and talking about the lessons shown, and save the later books and films for when my child was several years older. (This is, of course, in a world where keeping a child from doing something that everyone else is doing is not, in fact, practically impossible).
Good points! I mostly meant the post to be humorous but that definitely got lost. There are a million things I love about Harry and 10 I kinda don’t like – next time I’ll just stick to focusing on the positive! And good call on Twilight – I love that you read it when you were the same age as Bella.
Your bloopers photos are hilarious! Thanks for sharing.
On the Harry Potter piece…OK, I don’t have kids, so what do I know? But as someone who used to be a kid (and who has read Harry Potter and seen the movies just for fun), I think that maybe a point you missed is that a lot of kids feel very alone or misunderstood, sometimes for good reasons. In my case, for example, my mom was an alcoholic, and my dad dealt with it by becoming very distant and unattached…as a Navy brat who moved a lot, I didn’t fit in at school either. Some of my teachers really didn’t “get” me — I failed English class in sixth grade because I was too bored to do the assignments (meanwhile reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Wuthering Heights on my own), and another teacher was upset that I wore a Catholic medal (her religion — her husband was a pastor — was the sort that believes that “Catholics aren’t Christians.”) So for kids like me (I loved fantasy; can you blame me?) a Harry Potter type story can help us feel “connected” to other the way we aren’t in real life. Which, in my case, I think helped me get through (not Harry, I was too young for him, but other similar stories — MY gripe with the Potter franchise is that it is actually quite derivative.) And for less estranged kids–well, it’s still a good story. And as one of the posts pointed out, there are a lot of adult authority figures. Harry makes a lot of mistakes because he won’t listen to others; this “lesson” is part of the story arc.
Anyway, that’s my take (as a non-parent) on Harry Potter. Obviously you know what’s best for your kids, but I felt that the overall message of the books was very positive.
Oops, I meant I was too OLD for HP…must’ve been a Freudian slip! Those books came along when I was in my thirties!
Haha – I knew what you meant! I actually meant the post to be humorous but the funny kinda got lost I think. There are a million things I love about Harry Potter – truly, we’re big fans. Next time I’ll just stick to the positive;) And your teacher who got upset about your medal is outrageous, I’m so sorry!
On the Autism & Anti Depressants during pregnancy. Two pregnancies. With both I was NOT on antidepressants. Both have had the same vaccine schedule. My oldest is normal. My youngest has Autism. Just another article to spark fear in women. One day there will be answers but it’s not today.
Thank you for sharing your experience with me! And thank you for the reality check. There are just so many unknowns with autism…
Love the pics! On belly photos; I did do fully clothed silhouette photos and treasure them. Would never expose my big fleshy white belly for the camera, however. I couldn’t enjoy that.
On baby carriers; it did remind me of when I walked into the post office, baby in the Bjorn with a light blanket thrown over the top of her. It was days after 9/11 and the postal worker turned all pale and nearly peed his pants. He told me to take the blanket off so he could see what was underneath. I revealed the sleeping baby, he breathed a big sigh of relief, and a wave of comprehension washed over me as I realized how our world had just changed forever.
On Harry Potter – and this is coming from the biggest mom fan ever. (I brought my children to Barnes and Noble for the book releases, in their Hogwarts robes w/ baby covered in feathers wearing a “Hedwig” sign.) Yes, I am that mom. I think you made the right call about the movie. I would never take a child to the last 5 movies unless they were well beyond the need a nightlight / something’s in the closet / bad dreams phase. Those movies are very, very intense and it ruins the experience if a child comes crying into mom and dad’s room in the middle of the night. Wait until it can be enjoyed together with no repercussions. And that age will be different for every kid.
Ok, who would ever mistake a baby carrier for a suicide bomb?!? Seriously? Man. And you know that we love Harry Potter around my house:) I meant the article to be funny… I think I missed.
Wish I could have seen Hannah as Hedwig!!
I love the photos. I keep on looking for some goofy gym buddies but the people in my turbo class take their turbo very seriously, so I don’t think they are up to goofiness. Maybe when I come out for kitchen and work out time.
As for Harry Potter, DB has shown no interest in the books. I think that the books are so big that he finds them intimidating. Maybe I should load it on the kindle and let him try that.
I have nekkid preggo photos and have posted them on my blog. We took them during the time after the puking and before the heartburn and hemorids the size of Montana kicked in.
And as for the autism links, its more guilt and fear stuff for moms. Once the people know something for sure, then I will pay attention.
There are some turbokickers who take themselves VERY seriously. It kinda creeps me out. Man I wish you could work out with us!
I LOVE Harry Potter. But I’m 32. And even I finished book 7 with my head swimming a bit in confusion. I like to think I’m a fairly smart person (Hi, PhD in biology), so I can’t imagine being a 7 year old and understanding all the nuances. Plus, um, violent movie, Harry Potter? YES. Every single one.
Please tell Meg that photo just made my night.
Oh I will! It made my night too:)
I just can’t believe how many of my favorite things are included in a single post: Harry Potter, fitness, very mature cone is a penis humour….I mean, really. Plus I was catching up on posts, so in the same evening, I had the pleasure of reading this and the one containing the muffin recipe. have you ever done an aerial class of some kind? trapeze? fabric? hoop, etc? could that be the next experiment?
I’ve done a mini-Experiment doing aerial silks, trapeze, tight rope and trampolining. It was, hands down, the most fun I’ve ever had working out!! And SUCH a great workout. I was sore for days. The only reason I haven’t done it for a full month was I only got 1 trial class for free and the fee they wanted was outrageous… I’d love to do it again though.
I’ve never read Harry Potter nor do I care to. My boys haven’t read it either. So far we’ve stuck with C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and other more classic books. However, I just agreed to let my oldest read it. We went to the library to get it and it was checked out. Oh well.
I did do nude pregnancy photos although my long hair was strategically placed. We used infrared film and they turned out super cool! Not at all the stereotype feminine preggo photos. They sort of have the same look and feel to them as the movie Moulin Rouge. Not that they look risque by any means but the colors are rich and saturated and moody. Very few people have ever seen them but I’m glad I have them.
Oh how I love C.S. Lewis!!! My fave book ever is “Till We Have Faces”… And knowing you I bet your belly shots were magazine worthy! You are such a gorgeous babe!!!
Nude pregnancy photos? Um, no way. I have some clothed bump photos, but my pregnancy butt is not something I care to preserve for posterity…
i think the article was meant to be semi-humorous, no?? i mean, animals that take care of themselves?? really? and while some points might have been things you truly believed, i don’t think any young child will pick on them. those are things we tend to notice now that we are old and mature! 😉
YES!!! Thank you! I meant it to be funny but it so didn’t come through like I’d hoped. I love Harry Potter for the most part. Ah well, lesson learned: next time I’ll stick to focusing on the positives!
LOVE the pics here & on shape.com! What fun & great memories!
Thank you Jody!!
I started reading Harry Potter shortly before the 4th book came out. Yes, I was in my 30’s at the time and I bought a set of children’s books for myself. My husband teased me about it until the 1st movie came out. But as an adult, I still enjoy reading the Chronicles of Narnia now and then, and Harry Potter seemed like something I would like.
Anyway, fast forward to last year when we bought a blu-ray player and my Husband bought a set of all the HP movies that were out at the time on blu-ray. I had them all on DVD at that point, so I sent the DVDs to my sister who has 3 kids. I told her I thought the later movies would be too scarey for her kids (who hadn’t read the books) but she said they watched them all and loved them. So what do I know?
Thank you!!!!!!!
The Harry Potter series came out when I was in my late 20’s. I bought the first one thinking “I’ll just get this for, um, any kids we might have! Yeah, that’s it! The kids! And, um, I’d better read it myself. In case, y’know, there’s anything scary. Yeah, that’s the ticket!”
Of course, now we DO have kids, and I’m not letting them read it yet. (Not that they could, yet.) But I went (by myself) to see the final movie yesterday, and loved it. I am, after all, just about 42 and don’t scare easily (yeah, right!). I did cry at a few points though…
As far as not letting babies in to certain places, don’t they realize that babies cause a whole lot less damage than most adults? If our nearby coffee place had told me my kids weren’t allowed when they were babies it would’ve gotten UGLY! I was a new mom and NEEDED my caffeine fix, lol!
Your bloopers photos are hilarious! Thanks for sharing.