It's hard to feel much sympathy for a man who has fathered 30 children. Nonetheless, 33-year-old Desmond Hatchett from Tennessee had the cheek to request state assistance in order to make child support payments. (Dare I say, the state should have funded a vasectomy a long time ago...)
According to the Los Angeles Times, Hatchett had the brood, which spans from toddlers to a 14 year old, with 11 different women.
Not surprisingly, Hatchett who's currently struggling to make ends meet in a minimum-wage job, asked the court to "give him a break on his payments." (His earnings are reportedly split among the 11 mothers, some of whom receive as little as $1.49 per month.)
Apparently he had four kids in the space of a year -- twice. And even though he a local news station in 2009 that he was "done" with having kids (he had 21 at the time), he clearly wasn't.
As far as serial fatherhood goes, Hatchett isn't alone. 28-year-old NFL player Antonio Cromartie apparently fathered 10 children by eight women in six states. And Hatchett has a ways to go to catch up this man's record. Then again, he's only 33. Plenty more time.
I can only assume this guy's some kind of real life Don Draper or Deuce Bigalow. How does one man manage to sow quite so many oats so recklessly? Did these women have no idea about his past, or was he just such an unbelievable stud that they didn't care?
The good people at TIME Magazine are at it again: making you question whether you are a good enough mother. (As if we moms need any help when it comes to guilt-tripping!)
If the photo of this woman with a grown child dangling from her breast wasn't enough to make you doubt your worthiness, then this piece by Dominique Browning will. In it Browning claims that smartphones are making today's parents stupid. Basically, although we think we can, we can't successfully multi-task, and only wind up neglecting our kids.
“[Cell phones have] become handy tools for avoidance," writes Browning, "and it’s our kids who are getting the bad end of the deal. I’ve heard them begging their parents to stop, disconnect. I’ve watched children start to whimper the moment the mobile is picked up, off the dinner table.”
Somewhat ironic, isn't it? We strive so hard to regulate and watchdog our kids' social media consumption, yet we often overindulge ourselves. Yes, being a parent has its dull moments, and it's tempting to squeeze in a text or two... But as Browning sagely points out, “those boring moments are what you will miss the most once your children are grown.”
When it comes to screen time, I'm no angel. However, since I deactivated my Facebook account, I hardly miss it. And I don't (gasp) own a smartphone of any kind, just a simple pay-as-you-go.
Do you set limits for yourself and practice what you preach when it comes to phones and screen time?
Get ready to wiggle... With some new faces, that is. Those Aussie coloured-shirt clowns are in for another lineup change. But will your tot even care?
Three out of four members of the preschool supergroup the Wiggles are about to retire. Only early education pioneer Anthony Field (the blue-shirt wearing one with the blindingly white teeth) will remain in situ because he "loves it too much."
Can it really be 21 years since Jeff Fatt (purple) Murray Cook (red) and Greg Page (yellow) entered our lexicon?
"It's time to hand over our purple, red and yellow skivvies to a new generation of Wiggles," Cook announced in a special video.
Newbies include members of the live show, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, and the first female 'wiggle' -- 20-year-old dancer Emma Watkins -- who will don the yellow Tee. (Discounting Kylie Minogue, who was declared an honorary pink Wiggle in 2009.)
It's not the first shift change in the Wiggles's history. Founding member Phillip Wilcher took leave after the first album and became a classical pianist, while Page took a six-year sabbatical due to ill health.
Though Page has recently returned, it's not likely that many fans (given the demographic) will have noticed he was gone. But the parents certainly have.
Believe it or not, what started out as a college band known as the Cockroaches, evolved into an kids music outfit that net the members an estimated joint income of $32m. (No wonder Field is always flashing those pearly whites.)
After two decades of recording and touring, the retirees are ready to hang up the coloured shirts, though they will continue to contribute material to the group.
"The touring and performing over the past 21 years has meant that we've spent a long time away from our own families and friends," Cook said in the video. "We miss them and want to spend more time at home, which is a major reason why three of us decided it was time to hand on our skivvies to a new generation."
For those wanting to catch the Wiggles (as we know them), a last hurrah tour called the Celebration Tour will make a pit stop in North America before returning down under.
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