Raising a child takes at least 18 years, though some would say it is a lifetime’s work. Why then, has television representation of LGBT families focused primarily on the initial stages of family creation, and not on the later years? Almost every adult lesbian on television has had a storyline revolving around her attempt at […]
There’s not much parenting going on in The L Word this season, so I’m going to cover two episodes at once here. In Episode Two, Tina spends most of a blind date talking about little Angelica (and by association, Bette), bad moves both. Yes, if you’re a dating single mom, it’s important to let any
Helen and I are going to tackle the season opener in our vlog this week, so stay tuned till Thursday for a full analysis of all the parenting scenes, storylines, and suggestions. The fifth season in fact kicks off with a big ol’ parenting scene. After a fantasy introduction in which Jenny imagines her thinly
Season Four flew by with all the speed of a toddler after cookies. In this last episode, Paige’s son Jared says he doesn’t want his mom to be a “lez.” This seems rather crass of him given the lengths Paige (and Ilene Chaiken) went to to give us a sensitivity lesson back in Episode Seven.
Last week’s episode featured the clever parenting trick of using code words to deceive your children. This week, we see yet another childhood staple—kids plotting with one parent to deceive the other. It’s not as evil as it sounds—I’m talking about surprise birthday presents here, not anything with malicious intent. Shane conspires with Paige’s son
Children are minimal this episode, but it nonetheless touches on one of the great arts of parenting: hiding parts of a conversation from your kids. “I’ve missed you,” Paige tells Shane as they sit at a table with Paige’s ten-year-old son Jared. “And I’ve missed our, um . . . our, um story time. That
“I’m his father. Any court will look favorably on that.” (Warning: spoilers below.) So says Shane’s ne’er-do-well father Gabe, who has reappeared from nowhere after running out on his family at the end of Season Three. Gabe wants to take back his son, Shane’s nine-year-old brother Shay, whom Shay has been parenting for some months
The common thread in the parenting narratives this week is time. Children show that Bette and Jodi have been spending time, Helena and Catherine have no time, Shane and Paige are trying to find the time, and Shane’s dad has bad timing. (Warning: spoilers below.)
(Minor spoilers below.) Shane is livin’ la vida loco parentis this week. Her nine-year-old brother Shay and his friend Jared got into a fight with some kids who teased them about their moms being gay. Shane goes with Jared’s mother Paige to meet with the school principal, and they argue that the school must teach
Parenting as excuse, aggravation, interference, curse, and finally blessing. This episode has it all. In the opening scene, Shane tries to get out of the launch of her Hugo Boss underwear campaign by saying “Well, I don’t know if I can get a babysitter in time.” She ends up going, however, and leaving kid-brother Shay
