Only one more day until Christmas.

This time of year is a funny one in the PunditMom household — we celebrate Chanukah and Christmas. Plus PunditGirl’s birthday is just two days shy of Christmas, so gift-giving takes on a whole new meaning around here.

Each year I try to figure out how to best deal with the present trifecta, but I still come up short — how can I share the true spirit of giving and the holiday season while not going overboard and not creating a feeling at Chez PunditMom of the materialism that Charlie Brown agonized over? Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s my “sad” tale — I just traded the five-speed red BMW with the moon roof for a Honda CRV (it still has a moon roof, though).

I say things to my second-grade daughter like, “Because I said so.”

I like my sensible shoes.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my mother. But I fear I have fallen into the “I’ve Become My Mother” syndrome that I swore would never happen. And I’m scared.

Is it reversible? Read the rest of this entry »

In 2004, George Bush beat out John Kerry for the White House by just over three million votes.

The 2008 race is bound to be a close one, as well. I know the candidates are a little preoccupied with Iowa and New Hampshire at the moment, but with a margin of victory so slim, wouldn’t you think that the candidates would be interested in over seven and a half million women who will probably be voting?

Catherine Morgan at Informed Voters can’t believe that those of us who write and read blogs are being ignored by the candidates.

And Erin at Queen of Spain is banging her head against the internet firewall.

Why? Read the rest of this entry »

Right smack dab in the middle of the holiday season, President Bush has vetoed for the second time the extension of federal funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

But is it worse that Bush vetoed it again or that the Congress doesn’t have the backbone to stand up to the President and make sure that millions of children don’t lose what meager coverage they have just days before Christmas?

Or that Congress is willing to go along with the President’s demands for yet more money for the Iraq war, yet won’t allow a fraction of that money to help children who need health insurance because — GASP — that would mean raising the cigarette tax to fund it! Read the rest of this entry »

We just finally got around to watching Sicko, Michael Moore’s movie as indictment of our health care system in America. All I have to say is, now that I’m a tad closer to 50 than 40, I may have to rethink where we’re going to retire just on the basis of dealing with the medical issues that can come in later decades.

Yes, I am a Michael Moore fan, but I am able to admit that there are times he can go a little too far over the edge when trying to make a political point.

But after watching Sicko, I am worried sick about my semi-retired parents, as well as what the “golden” years hold for us here in the United States when it comes to health care. My dad, who has been a farmer all his life, drives a school bus part-time just so he can hang on to his medical insurance and not have to rely on Medicare and Medicaid. But, as Moore shows us, not even having a premium insurance policy will guarantee us needed treatment. And that’s what makes this documentary part horror movie. Read the rest of this entry »

Nigella Lawson has apparently hit a nerve in Britain. Some of her fans think she’s crossed the line from her figure being “womanly” to just plain old fat.

Sound harsh? It’s no secret that Lawson, the cookbook queen and self-proclaimed domestic goddess, is proudly on the zaftig side. But according to one news report, viewers of her latest show have been complaining that they think she’s packing on the pounds in an unhealthy way.

Nigella’s response? Read the rest of this entry »

I keep wondering what Barack Obama’s mother would think about her son’s presidential campaign. Unfortunately, she’s not around for anyone to ask that question — she died of ovarian cancer in 1995.

But there is one photo I keep seeing again and again of a young Barack and his mother, Ann Dunham. It’s featured in this week’s Time Magazine cover article on Obama — a pretty young woman holding lovingly and protectively on to her young son so he doesn’t fall off the fence he’s perched on top of. It’s really a lovely photo and captures one of those fleeting moments of life that are common and special at the same time.

Surely, she would be proud as any mother would be. But I can’t help wondering how she, his Caucasian mother, would react to his campaign’s focus on the African-American part of his heritage? Read the rest of this entry »