“Movies about taking in kids that aren't yours - Kansas City Star” plus 1 more

Movies about taking in kids that aren't yours - Kansas City Star

Posted: 07 Oct 2010 05:20 AM PDT

By MADELEINE MARR

McClatchy Newspapers

Raising kids is tough. Especially when they're not yours.

"Life as We Know It," which opens Friday, is one of a long line of romantic comedies about single people becoming parents for the first time. Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel play two free spirits who become reluctant caregivers to a baby girl when their mutual best friends die in a car accident (a common death in this genre). A look at some other first-time parents:

-"About a Boy" (2002): Hugh Grant is his charming stuttering self as a wealthy bon vivant who pretends to have a son to impress women. He ends up befriending a single mother (Toni Collette) and her 12-year-old son. The guys bond over buying shoes and keeping bullies at bay. One of Grant's all-time best roles.

-"Baby Boom" (1987): Corporate big-shot J.C. (Diane Keaton) sees her world turned on its head when she inherits an adorable baby girl from a distant relative. J.C.'s maternal instincts eventually kick in, and she gets Sam Shepard as a reward for her lack of sleep and spit-up on her suits.

-"Big Daddy" (1999): Like Grant, Adam Sandler adopts a kid to impress his girlfriend. Scary thought. But his puerile imagination comes in handy. Telling a kid to wear a pair of "magic sunglasses" to make him invisible and ease his anxieties is genius.

-"Martian Child" (2007): A widower/sci-fi writer (John Cusack) decides to adopt a 6-year-old boy who thinks he's from Mars. At least the tyke is low maintenance, preferring to shield himself from sunlight by hanging out in a box.

-"No Reservations" (2007): After her sister dies in, yes, a car accident, a hardened New York chef (Catherine Zeta Jones) is in for a challenge when her niece (Abigail Breslin) comes to live with her. Not only does ZJ end up caring for the girl, she improves her palette. Aaron Eckhart helps her in the kitchen and elsewhere.

-"Raising Helen" (2004): After her sister and brother in law die in yet another car accident, a high-powered fashion exec (Kate Hudson) takes in their three kids (Abigail Breslin, again). While most men might run for the door, John Corbett is up for the surrogate dad job. Well, if you look like Hudson, anything is possible.

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Hunterdon kids: The fuss over picture day at school - NJ.com

Posted: 07 Oct 2010 05:56 AM PDT

Published: Thursday, October 07, 2010, 8:48 AM Updated: Thursday, October 07, 2010, 8:59 AM

School Picture Day: Some kids love it. Most kids hate it. How about you?

What does it take to get one good picture? When it comes to school picture day, it takes a lot! On the night before, I lay out my outfit. After going through what seems like a million combinations, I finally find one that fits and looks good together. Of course that changes the next morning when I have to find a new outfit because something goes wrong with the last one. By the time I shower and dry my hair, I barely have time for breakfast.

At school it doesn't get easier. I always seem to have gym third block, which means I have to suffer through two classes and lunch before I can take the actual picture. I'm not sure how it happens, but I seem to be able to get through gym without any stains or messed up hair.

Then there is the picture. Easy — not so! The last part is the hardest. After freaking out over losing my picture order form, I somehow am able to stand in front of the camera and smile. But that's not good enough. I am now instructed to tilt my head back and forth until it reaches the perfect (and most uncomfortable) angle. Snap! The picture's taken, but just as I begin to relax, it's not right and we have to retake it — about 57 times.

A month or so later we actually get our pictures. Mom smiles and says how good I look. I think back to the day and cringe. All that work and effort for one not-so-great picture!
I close my eyes and think, "Gosh I hate picture day!"
CAROLINE
J. P. Case M.S., Grade 8

I definitely hate picture day! It starts the night before when my mom sends me off to bed with a head full of rollers. In the morning, she wakes me up extra early to add even more curls with a hot curling iron. Then she wastes most of my morning combing and fixing my hair. I barely have time to eat breakfast. By the time she's done, my head is so heavy from all the hairspray, it feels like I have a cement head.

The worst part is that pictures are taken at the end of the day … after all my curls have fallen out because of gym and recess. Then the camera man combs my hair the wrong way and I look like Frankenstein! And every year my mom says the same thing, "We should have added more hairspray to hold your curls."
ALESSIA
Copper Hill School, Grade 4

I don't hate picture day but it seems like my picture is always bad. The worst part is, it seems like in the class picture, I'm surrounded by people who take the perfect picture. I try my best, but I always either blink or my smile just looks odd. In the one from fourth grade, my hair was all messed up. My pictures always look horrible. Think I'm exaggerating? I'm not, trust me!
JUSTIN
High Bridge M.S., Grade 6

I'm upset because I have gym first and my hair gets frizzy. But otherwise I'd love pic day!
KYLIE
Three Bridges School, Grade 3

School picture day is a bad one for some people. I think it's because some kids have a bad smile. Or they're ugly. Some moms drench their sons' hair in gel. I can't smile good at all unless it's not forced.
DANNY
Califon Public School, Grade 5

I hate picture day because you pay money for pictures that you can take yourself. If you have PE that day, you need to get changed. You cannot keep on your picture day clothing because it may get dirty. If you are bullied about the clothing you are wearing, you will hate your picture because it will be a bad memory.
NATHAN
Union Twp. M.S., Grade 6

I don't like picture day from start to finish. Mom wakes me up asking which collar shirt I want. I don't want to wear any collar shirt because it's gym day! I don't mind brushing my teeth but Mom makes me brush extra long on picture day and if I don't the yelling begins.

I go in the bathroom to spray and comb my hair. I think I am all ready to go. While I tie my shoe, the foot comes down and Mom asks "What do you do to your hair?" and she spikes it up. I don't say a word while I walk out the door. My hair is flattened as quickly as you could snap a finger when I am out of her sight.

When I get to school, we first have the class picture. The man says "One, two, three" and we're all blind. Then there's still the single picture to take. The kid in front of me gets his hair combed by the picture people. Now it's my turn, but no one touches my hair. I take the picture. I guess I got a free pass this year so the finish wasn't that bad.
AIDAN
Valley View School, Grade 4

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Thursday, October 7, 2010