ThePlanetMom.com

WBLI's Dana, Randy and Drew feature Planet Momas a Hersday Hotlist gift for Mother's Day!

I love this answer

So Maria Shriver was interviewed by The New York Times reporter Deborah Solomon regarding the HBO four-part series, "The Alzheimer's Project" which Shriver co-produced.

Solomon asked, "Are you a member of the Alzheimer’s Study Group, whose chairmen are Newt Gingrich and Bob Kerrey, who are trying to devise a national plan for conquering the disease?"

Shriver's response DELIGHTED me:  "You sound like my mother. You think I’m not doing enough. I’ve got four kids, three of whom are teenagers and one of whom is 11, and I have a full plate as first lady of California. I also have two sick parents. I have a miniature horse and three dogs and a pig. That’s why I can’t be on the Alzheimer’s Study Group."

Amen.

A girl can dream, can't she?

It's Disco tonight on Idol.  To see Adam perform this would be beyond exquisite.

New lines in time for Mother's Day!

If you think moms know best (or want to score points for saying so):

Are you tired of hearing that parents shouldn't yell at their kids?  This tee yells it like it is:

Next time the bank teller at the drive-up window chastises you for asking for the complimentary lollipop to placate your crying child.  Before 9 a.m.:

Why Adam Lambert is a role model for my son

So I was hanging with a bunch of moms while our sons were at soccer practice. 

Yapping with moms is one of my all-time favorite pastimes, especially after the weekend I had.  Besides hosting Easter, a huge undertaking as any mom can attest, I had spent the long weekend spring cleaning.  And by spring cleaning I don't mean light dusting and running the vacuum.  Making sure all the game pieces are in the Battleship box, or it was tossed.  If the stuffed animal didn't have a name, gone.  I managed to reduce my children's wardrobes by half.  I felt fantastic afterward.  But wiped.  So eager to talk with my peers about anything, just to recharge.

After catching up on our weekends, sharing recent kid happenings and getting an update on the Little League Opening Day festivities, we got down to business.  We talked American Idol.  Or more specifically, Adam Lambert.

We're suburban moms.  I bet you think you know what we discussed.  His hair.  His nail polish.  His song choices.  His supposed sexual preference.  Sure, we did.  But mostly we agreed that Adam Lambert was a role model.  Who cares if there are pics of him posted all over the Web, in drag, at Burning Man.  We could care less.  We care that he's original.  Takes risks musically.  Is over-the-top theatrical on the the most popular (read:  mainstream) show on TV.

One mom went on to say that wouldn't it be great if, someday, our sons could set themselves apart from the pack, like Adam.  Whatever they choose to do, do it in an unique, inspiring way.   To love what they're doing.  And so comfortable in their own skin, that they have THAT confidence.  Adam confidence.

Soccer practice over, our boys ran to their SUVs and minivans, maybe watched ESPN's Sportscenter before eating chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese for dinner.  Played Wii before going to bed.  Maybe watched Drake and Josh.  And as they drifted off to sleep, maybe one of us moms remembered today's earlier conversation, Adam Lambert as role model, and wished her son sweet dreams.

Wanting, just for a few days, to be Michelle Obama

This is not about politics.  This is about making a BIG splash overseas.  I'm talking wardrobe.

First there was the custom ivory tulle tweed coat with grosgrain piping as she left the White House to embark on her trip.  According to Style.com, "The coat is a completely off-collection piece created custom by Thakoon Panichgul for the First Lady. While it looks like tweed, it’s actually a silk tulle that’s been flocked to resemble the classic fabric, following in the designer’s penchant for witty, trompe l’oeil materials; the trim is black grosgrain ribbon."

Where is she headed to again?  Oh yeah, that G-20 summit in London.  Let's get back to the clothes.

Flying over the Atlantic in Air Force One, she changed into a yellow dress and a belted black coat.  Or as the New York Times called it, "a chartreuse silk crepe sheath dress by Jason Wu paired with a black coat duster by Michael Kors, cinched at the waist by her signature Azzedine Alaia studded belt."

I'm swooning.  To have access to those clothes, just for a few days, would be outrageous.

But here's where she owned, at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, in the Junya Watanabe asymmetrical cardigan.  Wow.  Wow.  WOW.  What First Lady has the cojones to be sporting a plaid number like THAT on a world stage?  Fabulous. 

Have Mercy Madonna!

  Madonna never fails to disappoint.  She's always the center of a three ring circus orchestrated by herself.  Her latest escapade finds her back in the African country of Malawi, looking to acquire (oops, I mean "adopt") another child.  This time, it's 4-year-old, Mercy, whose mother has died and whose father is MIA, but who does have a grandmother.

  I don't mean to imply that Madonna isn't perfect mother material.   She is committed.  After all, rumor has it she dumped her 22-year-old boyfriend because Malawian officials didn't think it was appropriate for her to be dating a man who is young enough to be her son.   Is that really the only thing about Madonna that seems inappropriate?  Perhaps they missed her tongue kissing Britney Spears on stage or... just about everything else she's ever done.

   But, behind every cloud there is a silver lining.  She has put Malawi on the map, so to speak.  (I'll be the first to admit, I'd never heard of this country before.)  And, she is working on a documentary about the effects of AIDS on Malawi.  In a country of fewer than 14 million people, there are reportedly 1.5 million orphans afflicted with the disease.  Interestingly, Madonna did not choose to adopt one of those children. 

   What is it about celebs wanting to lay claim to other people's children?  (this is admittedly a non sequitur, but go with me...)   Supermodel Gisele Bundchen has recently been reported as saying that husband Tom Brady's son who was born to actress Bridget Moynahan is, "100 percent" hers!  "I already feel like he's my son, from the first day." She actually said, "I feel it is, 100 percent (my child.)"  It?  Maybe it's the language barrier.   Call me sensitive, but if I were Ms. Moynahan, I'd be livid.