The former Alaska governor and ‘08 vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin’s new book, Going Rogue and subsequent media tour has been all the rage lately. Alas, there’s another underlying story here.

You can guess where I’m going with this one, can’t ya’? Palin dishes about her daughter Bristol’s unexpected pregnancy. Palin told Walters they were devastated when they found out she was pregnant. Although Palin and the baby papa, Levi Johnston (soon-to-be Playgirl model), have had a war of words in the media, the thing about Palin is she has certainly been able to keep her cool when it comes to the fam’.

Like her or not, the veep candidate was apparently very candid with Barbara Walters about her public life and political aspirations. While she mentioned the shock related to not even being aware that Bristol was having sex, she seems to have handled this piece well in the spotlight.

Could you imagine being in the public eye like that while juggling issues like this? Instead of dodging questions about it, I give her props for taking it head on and being truthful. She certainly set a high standard for her kids as her 15 year-old daughter, Willow, told Walters it would “be cool” to see her mom become president some day.

What do you think? Do you think Sarah Palin could have handled the parenting situation differently while on the campaign trail?
[Photo: AP]

In honor of The Cute Kid’s Halloween photo contest extension to 11/19/09 (get with it — you can win $500), here’s one more fun, albeit a little sad Halloween post…

If you were like most Americans, you watched the news reports with shock and disbelief. Could a homemade balloon really have taken off with a six-year-old on board? And then, of course, came the real news story. The hoax!

As the horrific saga began unraveling, one can’t help but look toward the parents with a huge sense of shame. “Tsk, tsk, tsk!” Are you really that desperate to get on TV? Why would you want a reality TV show to dish about the bizarre details and unethical ways you raise your sons? That’s right, boys, let’s lie to the authorities. Oh, and while you’re at it, curse a little as well and we’ll post that video on YouTube. Sheesh!

Words cannot express my outrage toward the irresponsible Heene’s. But… as you can imagine, at least there’s a sense of humor to it all. That’s right… I’m talkin’ about what proved to be a popular costume this past Halloween season. In addition to Bernie Madoff costume for adults, the buzz here in Manhattan was a Balloon Boy Halloween get-up for kids! Some kids went dressed in a little box (as in, let’s pretend to hide in the attic the entire time concerned public officials are trying to track me down and ensure I’m alive). Others walked around with a basket around their waist.

All we know is this: the more creative they were, the better. Which brings me to a reminder to enter the CuteKid Halloween Contest no matter what your kid’s costume. Check it: It’s free and the grand prize is $500: http://www.thecutekid.com/halloween2009/

Since Halloween is my all-time fave holiday ever (behind my birthday, of course), I simply must ask: What did your kids dress up as?

RadarOnline.com

As much as I adore New York City, when you combine it with my favorite holiday, Halloween (yes, that’s right, Halloween!) you have one spooktacular night in full effect! Imagine, however, being an actor. You get paid big bucks to dress in costume and assume someone else’s persona day after day!

And when you’re an A-lister like Brad Pitt and have six children, well, dressing up on Halloween is simply a no-brainer. That’s right: the father of six kids, along with partner Angelina Jolie, went trick-or-treating old-style. They went to a residential neighborhood near the Hollywood Hills and were not to be missed!

That’s ’cause he wore a high-octane orange jumpsuit and put beads in his beard in order to impersonate DJ Lance Rock. The DJ is the host of Nick, Jr.’s show, Yo Gabba Gabba!

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, DJ Lance Rock couldn’t have been more thrilled. He told UsMagazine.com, “Brad Pitt looked AWESOME in my costume!” He also invited the Jolie-Pitts to hang in his ‘hood. “If he, Angelina and the kids want to come hang out in Gabba land, they’re welcome anytime!”

Nevertheless, Halloween always seems to be a festive time of year. As fun as it was to see the Pittster in costume, did you have a fave celebrity costume this year? Perhaps someone you know actually dressed up as Jolie or Pitt?

WireImage.com

Whether you like them or not, Jessica Simpson and Ashlee Simpson-Wentz are in the public eye for singing and, yes, acting. Here’s the neat thing about paparazzi parenting. Remember when Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton proclaimed a long time ago that it takes a village to raise a child? Well, in Hollywood I’d like to think that pap parenting isn’t only limited to parenting. There are siblings, the extended family, and even the people you grew up with who were always like your aunt and uncle (even though they weren’t technically blood-related).

Kudos to Jessica Simpson for sticking up for her sis! When you’re in your twenties it’s not like your parents are gonna come to the rescue 24/7 (nor should they!) so you gotta be the big sis and speak your mind. You may not know this or may not even watch it, but her sis, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz was recently cut from the revival of Melrose Place on the CW.

Although Ashlee did the professional thing and issued a statement essentially saying she was grateful for the opportunity, yada yada, her sister did the opposite. That’s right, she hit up Twitter!

On Sunday night Jessica tweeted, “Who writes this crap? i have had bad scripts to work with, but this? thank God my sister is amazing and got you some press.” Although Jess’s rep did not respond for comments on her behalf, I give her props for speaking her mind and sticking up for her sister. If she doesn’t do it, who will?

That said, do you think it crossed the line and was in bad taste or to heck with it! She has her sister’s back and that’s all that counts.

Photo by Vicki Salemi

Ah, Motherhood. As in the movie, not the actual thing. Even though the movie actually resembles the real thing. Okay, as a singlista in Manhattan I can’t honestly say that I could relate to the film but I do know this: every mama I spoke with said it resonated loud and clear.

As this film was released into theaters nationwide yesterday, I couldn’t help but wonder how the blogosphere of mom bloggers would write about the flick. In it, Uma Thurman plays a multi-tasking madre and mom blogger, Anthony Edwards is her hubby, and Minnie Driver is her friend. As an entertainment reporter, I had the fortunate task of attending press day interviews with the celebs! It’s a tough job but someone’s gotta do it. <grin>

What I found interesting about the flick is how Manhattan served as a character. Minnie was super-sweet and dished about how your location can really create additional challenges to being a mother. Sure, women in suburbia have challenges, of course, but in a city like Manhattan there are additional roadblocks. Like the movie shows, buying tons of party paraphernalia for your daughter’s six-year-old b-day bash crammed in a bike as you trek up your fifth-story walk-up in one full swoop.

Another theme of the movie is about your identity. In the flick, it’s clear that Uma was previously a writer in her BK (”before kids”) life. Along the way she loses her craft of writing fiction even though she manages to squeeze in time for quickie blog posts on her blog, The Bjorn Identity (yes, a total play on words from the stroller company). As such, a resonating theme of the flick is a contest she enters defining motherhood. I specifically asked Uma what motherhood means to her and she responded, “It’s the greatest love I’ve ever known. Love is it.”

So, faithful reader, I’ll ask you the same question. What does motherhood mean to you?

I’m gonna rant a bit. And rave, too. Ready?

Let’s go! If you’re a fan of the Real Housewives of New York (heck, even if you’re not), you’ve probably heard of fan favorite Bethenny Frankel. She’s sassy, she’s smart, and she’s certainly not a typical housewife (whatever that is in this day and age). Well, she recently announced her engagement and soon thereafter it sounds like she was forced by celeb blogger Perez Hilton to reveal her pregnancy.

So not cool. Of course, once the news leaked about her two-month pregnancy, she did the classy thing and approached PEOPLE with the exclusive and tweeted about it, others wrote about it, voila! It became public fodder.

When certain things in life are sacred and you don’t even have the chance to tell your in-laws yet, there are lines that must be drawn that you don’t cross as a media hound. Sure, you’re in the public eye but two months pregnant means you’re barely showing and are praying everything is okay since you haven’t even heard the heartbeat yet. Was it truly necessary to force the story? Why not just let things be and allow Bethenny to tell the world on her terms? There are very few things other than a pregnancy or engagement that could be less personal, don’t ya think?

Would love to hear your thoughts. Do you think it’s par for the course by being in the public eye or do you think Perez crossed the line and violated her privacy?

[Photo: Patrick McMullan]

Splash News Online

Remember when the stunning Princess Diana was alive and she did her best to shield her princes from the spotlight? You gotta give her props for wanting them to grow up as normal as possible, all things considered.

Not to compare her to Jason Priestley or anything but hey, 90210 alums are in a class by themselves! <grin> Jason was spotted at the international airport in Toronto with his wife, two-year-old daughter, Ava Veronica, and three-month-old son. Unnamed. Well, suffice it to say he has a name but we don’t know what it is! Rumor has it the kid is named Dashiell, but they haven’t confirmed their son’s name yet publicly.

Jason’s goal is to keep his private life private. You know what? Good for him. I’m not sure if that would include something as basic as a child’s name versus perhaps revealing details about his private life on a more personal level but whatever it is, he is protecting his private life and consequently his family.

Could you imagine what it would be like to open a weekly magazine to see your family’s faces all over the place? Granted, I’ve heard some celebrities yearn for the face time because these mags keep their personal stock on the high end but when it comes to shielding their privacy, he’s certainly trying to keep things hush-hush and, in this case, the cutie pie on the QT.

So, whaddya think? Does being public about the basics of your personal life come with the celebrity territory or should more celebrities draw the line in the sense that work is work and personal life is off limits?

WireImage

Ah, the power of celebrity. Is there a war going on in Iraq? A health care debate here on American soil? The pending World Series at our fingertips? That would be yes, yes, and oh, yeah. And then there’s the world of Tinseltown. Consider it escapism if you will and how refreshing it is to simply hear about celebs instead of life or death serious situations.

Such is the case of Suri Cruise. We haven’t heard about the little offspring of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise now, have we? They’ve managed to keep her somewhat out of the spotlight from time to time though the occasional photo op does not disappoint. I had to wonder though: what happened to his adopted daughter and son, Isabella and Connor?

Do they feel like the ugly stepsisters a la Cinderella since they’re hardly ever photographed or in the news? Or perhaps they prefer to fly under the radar and consider it a blessing since their dad is uber-famous? Hmmm. You gotta wonder why we hardly ever hear about the 17-year-old and 14-year-old kids. Maybe they just like going to soccer practice and studying for the SATs without the photogs snapping away at their every move. Or maybe there’s not as much of a demand since Suri is genetically produced from Katie and Tom (ok, how awkward did that sound? haha) and Isabella and Connor aren’t?

I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem like equal opportunity shine time to me. What do you think: do certain siblings get “star” treatment while others get shafted?

What do you do if you’re a Major League Baseball player’s spouse who just went into labor as your husband is on the mound in the playoffs? If you’re Heidi Strobel, you send a text message to the team’s traveling secretary, that’s what.

“I’m in the hospital going into labor. Could you please tell Cole as soon as he’s done pitching?”

Her husband, Cole Hamels, was the starting pitcher of Game 2 for his team, the Phillies, as they duked it out with the Colorado Rockies. Heidi sent the text at approximately 4 p.m. when she went into labor and actually told the team’s traveling secretary  to alert her husband after his time on the mound was done.

At the end of the fifth inning, he was pulled out of the game as  a pinch hitter took his place in the line-up. At that point in time, Cole got word his son was about to enter the world and off he went! Cole left Citizens Bank Park to jet to Lankenau Hospital in the suburbs of Philly.

Their healthy first child, Caleb, was born and, without skipping a beat, his ballplayer Dad will not miss a rotation. After all, he’ll join his team in Denver for the third and fourth games of the series. Since he’s a starting pitcher, it’s likely that he won’t pitch again until the next division series, assuming the Phillies prevail over the Rockies.

[Photo: Fox]

Here’s a hypothetical question for you: If you were in labor and your husband was on the mound or in an intense meeting of his profession, would you interrupt it or let the show go on until his work was done?

The Duggars

Okay, by now you’ve heard of them, right? Surely, you have heard of the Duggars. They’re the stars of TLC’s brand new show, 18 Kids and Counting, featuring their household of kids (dare I say it? More like two baseball teams) and now they’ve welcomed their first grandchild into the world.

In fact, a special will air this Tuesday at 9 p.m. as the First Grandduggar. Mackynzie Renee is the first grandchild to Jim Bob and Michelle and has arrived in the world with 17 aunts and uncles! Plus, another aunt or uncle will be born in 2010 as Michelle is expecting her 19th (yes, as in 19!) child this coming spring.

Mackynzie was born in her parents’ house, Joshua and Anna, as a midwife and doula attended the birth. With this many kids and an unusual family size, you simply have to wonder: Is this family cashing in and leveraging their kids as bait to the network? Is it a way for them to earn a living like any other family or are they sensationalizing their story? Hmmmm.

As peculiar as it is, at least Josh has had his share of child-rearing. As the eldest of their brood, he likely grew up helping his younger siblings with their homework, assisting with household chores, and the like.  That said, one can only imagine how they won’t lack in the department of finding a babysitter or nanny to help watch Mackynzie!

Do you think this family is cashing in on their unique circumstance or do you think all’s fair in love and war in terms of making a living however they can get it?