Do these childhood obesity prevention ads go too far?

You may have heard about some of the controversy revolving around the Georgia-based Strong4Life anti-childhood obesity campaign. The anti-obesity program targets childhood obesity with a direct, almost religious fervor. If you thought the egg-meets-frying pan "This is your Brain on Drugs" PSAs were direct, Strong4Life takes that approach and raises the stakes with their message.

Sometimes my sense of humor borders on warped. We've all received spam e-mails from faraway countries promising us thousands of dollars for our bank account information. The more broken the English, the funnier these spam e-mails are to me.

Three TV Shows that Need to Come Back

I've been on a bit of a retro kick lately with my columns and I love watching TV. I came up with some TV shows that I would love to see grace my television once again. These shows haven't seen the light of day in decades but I think may do well if brought back. One show on my comeback list is a pipe dream that could no longer exist in today's world of reality TV. If Hollywood can re-hash movie ideas from the 80s, why can't TV executives do it with more classic TV shows?

Three TV Shows that Need to Come Back:

The nostalgia bug bites me every time I walk into my kids' elementary school to drop something off or volunteer. The smiles on the kids' faces are the same but so many other things have changed since I was in school. As my kids progress through the ranks, I see more and more ways school has changed.

This isn't the first time I've written about how much the school experience has changed over the years. In the past I've covered: Combatitive Sports gym class, naked swimming classes, cool field trips and high school smoking patios.

Here are some more gems I would guess won't be making it back through school administration building anytime soon...

BB Guns for Girls

I bought my seven-year old daughter a shocking pink Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. I really didn't think much about purchasing the BB gun for her until I started getting what I thought were strange reactions to the news from people I told in casual conversation.

I had originally given the BB gun idea to relatives that were looking to buy my daughter a Christmas gift. I was hoping to help them in their ideas for Christmas presents but they all politely declined or flat-out said "I'm not getting her that!" You can bet I heard "you'll shoot your eye out" more than five times in these conversations.

Celebrity Apprentice Predictions 2012

NBC's Celebrity Apprentice returns for 2012 on February 19th and, thanks to the announcement about the new cast members, I can make my annual Celebrity Apprentice predictions early. Outside of last season, I've done pretty darn well with my Celebrity Apprentice predictions. I'm hopeful about this season's picks. I have zero "insider knowledge". I just go by my hunches and have fun trying to predict the future. I'm excited about the 2012 Celebrity Apprentice cast.

2012 Celebrity Apprentice Cast Rundown and Predictions:

I see so many fantastic opportunities open to children these days when it comes to youth sports and after school activities. I had ample opportunties to participate in sports and activities when I was kid but it all seems primative to me now when I look at all the opportunities out there for kids these days. The competition level is also heating up.

My son is pretty fickle when it comes to his interests. He wants to try them all and darn near has. He plays guitar, baseball, flag football, tennis and is always hounding my husband and I to take part in different sports camps. Even though my son is only 9 years old my husband thinks he should start zeroing in on a particular interest now if he ever "wants to take ______ to the next level." It's strange for me to think at 9 years old that he may want to make up his mind soon about what (if any) particular sports or activities he may want to focus on.

My mom never bought sugar cereals for me, my brother or sister when I was little. Her version of splurging on sugary breakfast cereals was buying us Golden Grahams or Cinnamon Life.

I had some funny conversations about the kids eating sugar cereal dilemma recently at one of my kids' school functions. Many of the moms I talked to were raised without them and forced to eat Cheerios or Corn Flakes every day while secretly yearning to gorge on Capt'n Crunch or Count Chocula. The lucky ones who were able to enjoy the yummier cereals bragged that they'd chow on chocolate pop tarts in addition to their Froot Loops.

The classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Christmas Special was my favorite holiday special growing up. I'm happy to report that Rudolph is also a favorite of my kids. In honor of 40 Nights of Christmas Movies, here are some neat facts and trivia about the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Christmas Special: