Funny you mention Mann Coulter, because that was who I was reminded of while watching Caitlin. She is a snotty, hypocritical, bore. I pity the poor maid and nanny who have to put up with her bullshit. Hopefully they don't read the bile she spews. Inside she is still a 12 year old nursing the psychic wounds caused by mommy going back to work. The only way she's found to deal with that is to crap all over working women. Housewife, my ass. She's a working mother. End of story.

I love ya Video Dog, but enough with the idiotic ramblings from the likes of this cretin Hill and the faux housewife Flanagan. Ugh. It's not even good snarky fun.

I guess I'm in the minority, but I'm surprised that parents would bring an infant to a theater performance, symphony, etc. I don't go to many live performances, but have never seen an infant at any of them. I sympathize with nursing mothers, but it seems like there are bigger battles to fight. It's not like you're going to be away from them for that long.

While it's true that a nursing baby can be pretty quiet, they aren't going to be nursing for 2-3 hours straight. Like others have said, parents need to exercise some common sense. If the performance is for adults, why bring children?

I have had experience with babies/children at movies and we got so sick of going to R rated movies where underage kids were present that we've mostly stopped going out to movie theaters. Like lots of other people, we would rather rent a DVD than take a chance on dropping $20 and having a shitty movie-going experience. Again, it's common sense. I feel for the guy who works in a theater and has to deal with the clueless parents.

When I see Tom Cruise in a movie, I am so aware of TC's presence that I seldom buy any character he plays. He doesn't seem to have the range, really, to pull off diverse characters and quite frankly, movie execs and the movie going public probably only want to see TC as the hero with daddy issues who saves the day. Personally, I find it boring he plays the same thing over and over. Born on the Fourth of July is one exception that comes to mind. I thought he was ridiculous in War of the Worlds because I couldn't buy him as a working class guy. I have the same reaction to nearly every Julia Roberts movie I've seen. I love actors who sink into the character and you forget for the length of the movie who they are in real life. Heck, I thought that is what being an actor meant. TC is surrounded by an amazing cast in this movie and it might be worth watching to see how PSH pulls off an evil mastermind role. But, I can wait for the DVD.

The previous post is the silliest thing I've read in this thread. Sure parents have to sacrifice things to raise their children, but they certainly don't have to sacrific who they are as a person. I know plenty of parents who have struck a good balance. It depends on the person. And, what's Kristin supposed to do with her existing children, give them away so she can have her new childless marriage. Too funny.

Intersting story, but not enough there to understand exactly why there was such ill will between them. The daughter questions every single gesture by the mother, it's pathetic and very sad.

Something that came to mind reading all the letters is that the intense focus on parenting and what accounts for "good" parenting is a relatively recent phenomenon. Upper middle class parents, in particular, seem to have a lot of time to navel-gaze on the subject. Walk into any bookstore and you'll find an overwhelming number of magazines and books that delve into every possible aspect of parenting. My mother never read any parenting books and certainly her mother didn't either. They went on gut instinct, pretty much. It find it hard to be tough on parents of my mother's generation, unless they were truly horrific and toxic. I think many people don't cut their parents enough slack.

My mom wasn't perfect by any means, but I didn't expect her to be. She wasn't the cuddliest, warmest person, but she tought my sister and I to be strong and independent. My biggest regret is that she died right about the time I was beginning to develop a true adult relationship with her. It is really sad the Dani and her mother couldn't work through their demons before her mother died.

I'm child free by choice. I have nothing against parents, I'm not a child-hater, I generally enjoy kids in small doses. I understand that they're our future and I have no problem supporting creative ways to give parents (not only Moms) a work/life balance that works (e.g. where the child-free don't have to pick up their slack). But, does it really make me an awful human being to not want babies at the workplace? There are children in nearly every public aspect of my life, movies, stores, restaurants, airplanes, etc. etc. The one place where I expect not to have kids around is at my place of employment. On-site daycare? Great. Babies in the cubes? No thank you.