Urban-Anthro, Thank you so much for your wonderful comment. You added many great points that I failed to mention in my article. Thanks for helping to educated more people.

Thanks Amy. I also have seen too many good kids get into trouble because of this law. My younger son will turn 21 in less than 2 months and I can't wait. However I still plan on crusading this cause for as long as it takes.

I love your story and can totally relate. Living in NYC, anytime I ever to to any type of bar or event, I feel like the oldest one around. Since it often seems like women over 50 are invisible, the fact that you and your friends were noticed is a pretty good sign.

I totally agree that motherhood is devalued, and the reason for this is because mothers are women. All jobs that are predominately done by women are paid lower than those done by men. Librarians and teachers are paid incredibly small salaries and both of those professions require masters degrees. The only reason is because these jobs are filled mostly by women. Both families and women are devalued here, but with the government made up of mostly men, this is unlikely to change

Your story really moved me. I'm sorry that I didn't form a closer relationship with my mother's friends. I feel like I have almost no links to my family's past and my childhood anymore.

It amazes me that anyone can enjoy being pregnant. I had bad morning sickness, all day long, and felt terrible most of the time. However, maybe to make up for 9 months of not feeling well, I had very quick and easy labor and deliveries.

Now that most video games are multiplayer, I find they are great for interacting. Have 2 boys, video games were a big part of their play dates. But as long as they were able to play the games together, I found there was great interaction. Probably more talking then when they did other things.

My family never wears shoes inside. I never even had to make that a rule with my kids, they must have taken after me and loved to not wear shoes. And, when their friends come over, they all leave their shoes at the front door also, even though never told to do so. However, I never thought to ask our adult visitors to take their shoes off and never knew that Canada had this custom. Very interesting.

Although there are many less blogs for parents of tweens, there are tons of websites for tweens themselves. Tween girls are a very big market now and they are being catered to. Maybe eventually sites for their parents will catch up.

To me, unfriending or unfollowing is no big deal. I understand that sometimes too much info is coming at us and we need to weed down our lists. But, I would be upset if somebody actually blocked me. I really can't understand the reason for it unless the person did something extreme.

Rob, TV has gotten both better and worse in recent times. Reality television, which is the furthest thing from real, really does put TV in a bad light. However, there have also been some of the most intelligent, yet entertaining shows on the air in the past few years also, i.e. Lost and Battlestar Galactica. These are shows that make you think, ask questions and discuss matters such as science and philosophy, far outside the realm of typical tv fare. There is no reason to give up television, you just have to find the shows worth watching.

Rob, TV has gotten both better and worse in recent times. Reality television, which is the furthest thing from real, really does put TV in a bad light. However, there have also been some of the most intelligent, yet entertaining shows on the air in the past few years also, i.e. Lost and Battlestar Galactica. These are shows that make you think, ask questions and discuss matters such as science and philosophy, far outside the realm of typical tv fare. There is no reason to give up television, you just have to find the shows worth watching.

I've never had trouble with retinol or retin A products but Alpha Hydroxy Acid products give me a rash so I can't use them. I don't use tons of products, I just make sure that I always put on moisturizer and eye cream after I wash. And I do think that lighter, more natural makeup is definitely better as we get older.

My husband and I never went to sleep away camp. While my kids were growing up attending day camp, I always assumed that they would go, since almost everyone in our neighborhood did. However, neither one of my sons wanted to go. I think it was because they weren't very into sports and liked the creature comforts of home. However they still went away most summers during their teens. They just chose travel camps and University programs instead. They never acquired those long lasting friendships that come from seeing the same kids each year at sleep away, but they met tons of new people, had great times and saw many different places. Not a bad tradeoff.

I've recently begun to experience this with my older son and I love it. Last weekend when I went to Chicago for BlogHer, he went to San Diego for Comic-Con. It was great filling each other in on our conferences, although I think I was a bit more interested in his than he was in mine. The last time that I visited him, he picked out nice restaurants and actually treated me to dinner. My baby has definitely grown up.

I can not believe that this type of thing is still happening. I am disgusted by this. Are some people so racist that it doesn't bother them to hurt little children like that. Will we ever stop looking at color and just see people. I guess that even though we elected Obama as president, we still have a very long way to go.

Cindy, I completely agree with you. My desire to look younger is totally internal and all comes from being vein. I have always cared more about how I look than I should.

The first time our kids do anything new is always scary for parents. Just wait until they start driving. I don't think that there is anything scarier than that.

Starlife, my closet is a mess by the time I am ready to go out usually, because I have to try on so many items before I find something I am not unhappy with.

While parenting teens is often challenging, scary and frustrating, it can be very rewarding also. My youngest is just about to exit his teens, and although I do admit my life has become easier, I miss having my kids around. Give the books that she is reading a try, you might like them and you will have so much more to talk about if you do. Jennifer http://connectwithyourteens.blogspot.com/ 50-something Moms blog

I recently had a similar experience with my older son. He is almost 23 and moved cross country for a job. I went to visit him a few weeks ago and we went out to dinner every night. He insisted on treating me for the nicer dinners. He seemed like such an adult. It is really strange to have your child pay when you are out with them. I also know what you mean about being the oldest of your family. My father passed away about 7 months ago and even though I'm over 50, I feel like an orphan. It is a strange feeling.

The real crime is that every time this type of thing happens, it becomes harder and harder to trust people online. In real life, I am a very trusting person and usually give everyone the benefit of the doubt. But online, I can't be that way.

I saw a demonstration of the Activeion on one of the morning shows recently and I thought that it looked too good to be true. But now I really believe it. I'm very big on only using water to clean, I dust with those miracle cloths only so I don't need any kind of dusting product. I love the idea of cleaning everything with only water. And what a financial savings not having to buy all those cleaners anymore.

Hi Natasha. Thank you for voicing your opinion. I agree that we shouldn't make our decisions based on what people think. But, to me, our children are not just people. They are more important to me than anything else in my life. It didn't even occur to me that I would need to explain my reasoning more than that.

I would love to win printer #1. I am in desperate need of a fax machine, and my printer is quickly fading also. This HP looks fantastic. I also tweeted about this contest: https://twitter.com/jenwag57/status/1740708458