Tom and Katie criticized again

[Ree]

This latest round of criticism comes because Suri was seen drinking from a bottle on the set of Katie's new movie.

Suri is 3 years old.

Critics are saying she's too old to be on a bottle, and should have been weaned long ago...at 9 months old, in fact.

They're also criticizing her because Suri was seen playing with an empty Starbuck's coffee cup.

Give me a fucking break.

First of all, why should we care, but secondly, I know lots of children who still drink from a bottle at 3 years old.

My granddaughter started drinking from a sippy cup before she was a year old, and shortly after that, was completely off the bottle.

My daughter's boyfriend has a 3 year old daughter, and while I personally feel she should be off the bottle, she still drinks from one.

I just don't understand why everything they do as parents becomes a subject for public scorn, just because they're slightly wacky.

Also, as for the Starbuck's cup thing, big hairy deal. I have pictures of my granddaughter playing with a takeout coffee cup.

So, should Suri be off the botlle?

Should we really care?

[jackfaire]

Exactly. I know people who judge celebrities all the time and then even determine what they will or will not watch based on behavior that has nothing to do with their jobs.

Guess what people I don't care I watch a movie for the good writing, acting, etc. What they do outside of the office I don't care.

[BroomJockey]

Should we really care?

No, but cult of celebrity says everything a famous person does needs to be examined in exquisite detail.

[Ree]

Well, it's sickening.

When all is said and done, they're just parents trying to do the best they can for their child. They're going to make mistakes. All parents do.

I guess maybe Tom brought some of it on himself by being such a vocal know-it-all when it comes to Scientology, but I get sick of it.

I just get tired of opening my "news" page, and seeing stories like that in the headlines.

[blas87]

People are still surprised and outraged by weird celebrities doing weird things?

[kiwi]

I weaned from the bottle at 18 months but I would NOT give up my sippy cup until I started going to school. Everyone is an expert at raising children (or so they would have you believe) and they always think their method is better.
I personally think Tom is a creep but as long as he is providing food, clothing and shelter then people should stfu about how "terrible" this is or how "wrong" that is.

At least she wasnt playing with a fake ciggerette and a empty bottle of gin.

[blas87]

Or chugging from daddy's can of beer at toddler age, like all the Wisconsin kids were ;)

[Peppergirl]

<hangs head in shame> My youngest was damned near three when I FINALLY got him off the bottle. I was embarassed and frustrated, and never allowed him to have the bottle in public. lol

Kidding aside, it was horrible. My husband worked 60 hours a week at the time and I worked 50, and (granted, we waited too long) he would scream all night for it till we gave in. Manipulation? Sure..but I fell for it hook, line and sinker because I was sleep deprived. I finally had to take a week off from work, and my husband and older son stayed at my parents, just to wean him. Ridiculous, I know - but that's what it took.


So, although I think Tom is a freak of the highest order, I refuse to judge them for the bottle thing (or the coffee cup, which is fucking stupid).

Ya know, judgement of parenting back when MY kids were little was bad enough, but with all the PC-police and helicopter parenting going on now, I don't think I could deal. Seriously.

[LadyMage]

oh dear a kid does not want to get off a bottle at three, and plays with random stuff she finds on the ground call the fricking cops *facepalms*

unless the parents are neglecting or abusing the kid I don't think media should be making a big deal over this stuff, but then the media now is mostly about ratings and kids of celeberties get ratings

[RecoveringKinkoid]

She probably IS off the bottle. However, she could be drinking out of it for any number of reasons.

1. Like both my daughter and my nephew, she might find it fun to drink out of a bottle sometimes. My kid sometimes asks to drink from one...she thinks it's fun and different, and probably reminds her about how she was "a baby long ago".

2. Convenience. When I travel with my kid, which is often, I keep sippy cups around. She can drink out of them in the car and I don't have to worry about spills. I can carry them places. If I could'nt lay my hands on one, a baby bottle might work in a pinch.

3. Maybe she just likes drinking out of one. So what?

And what is so shocking about her playing with an empty cup? Really, I honestly am not getting why that is bad. I grew up playing with empty bottles, packing materials, bubble wrap, cardboard boxes and plastic berry cartons. I don't get it.

[Ree]

I'm guessing the Starbucks coffee cup thing was because people were concerned that there were remnants of caffeine in the cup. :rolleyes:

[RecoveringKinkoid]

But I bet the morons would not blink if she gave the kid chocolate.

Yeah, can't you just see a three year old falling all over herself to lick the taste of delicious, delicious coffee out of a cup?

Coffee is to little kids as gin is to most everyone else.

[kiwi]

or soda, what the heck comes with a mcdonalds happy meal

at least the coffee has milk

[jackfaire]

what the heck comes with a mcdonalds happy meal

In my area apple juice or milk

[JuniorMintz]

Personally I think the problem is not the cup itself, but what is *in* the cup.

Scientology is crazy, and they request/require that children be given formula that the church itself created. Who knows what the frick she's drinking?

(Not me, for one, because I'm too lazy to try and look it up. :p )

Frankly I'm more freaked out at how controlling Tom Cruise seems to be of his wife. Talk about a Napoleon complex!

[kiwi]

In my area apple juice or milk

You can get soda in my area for the happy meal and we don't know if the 3 year old had a fluffy (hot steamed milk) in the cup. They are very popular in our neighbourhood so the kids can be a "grown up".

[jackfaire]

You can get soda in my area for the happy meal

You can get soda here too it just isn't the standard.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I don't care if it was the residue from a Dirty Martini. Geeze, it's just residue. Considering the horrors little kids put in their mouths at that age, they are pretty lucky this is all it is.

[DesignFox]

I don't get why any of this is a big deal.

And RK mentioned cardboard boxes. Oh man, when I was a little kid, if my parents had those huge boxes...something like what a big appliance came in...I was in my glory! :D

There are also photos of me playing with a beer can piggy bank when I was about 3. It looks like I'm enjoying a beer! XD good thing my parents weren't famous. They'd have been raked over the coals for the joke.

Seriously, no one should care about this shit.

[jackfaire]

When I was a kid I cut off one of the handles of my jump rope so I could use it as my whip on my playset (built it myself with my dad and uncle) to play Indiana Jones.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

There is a photo of my husband feeding my child with a can of either diet pepsi or Mich Ultra with a nipple attached to the top of the can (I can't remember which, it was something scandalous).

It's a joke photo, of course. He stuck the nipple on there and then posed with her for the shot. She was a newborn.

I'm sure there are idiots out there that would break a nail in their zeal to call CPS over that.

[Flyndaran]

Tom Cruise is a dangerous lunatic. I will scrutinize everything he does as it might be signs of something that could be used to rescue his child.
But the original topic? That's below even my level of criticism.

[IDrinkaRum]

As a general rule in my family, children can't start drinking coffee until they're 1 year old. :lol:

My daughter loves coffee! She doesn't care whose coffee cup she drinks from, but she definitely doesn't like it sweet like Mr. Rum likes his coffee.

My daughter was a little over the age of 2 before she gave up her bottle for sippy cups. She gave up sippy cups right before she started kindergarten.

[Boozy]

That's funny! I developed a taste for coffee as a young child, too. It's a strange thing for kids to like, because it's so bitter, but I loved it (and stil do).

I'd have to steal little sips from my mom and dad's cups, because obviously they wouldn't let me have my own.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I used to drink sips of beer from daddy's glass at an early age; it made me feel all grown up. XD

Wow, I guess I had a terrible upbringing then, according to all these people. XD I always liked the taste of beer as a child, tho I hated wine; and still do, actually. :p My parents didn't see the harm in letting me have a sip or two, rather than refusing to let me have any and making beer seem like some forbidden fruit. I think it's this attitude that's the reason why I've got such a good attitude towards alcohol as an adult.

[blas87]

Me too, Lace. I have hated wine ever since the first time I ever had communion.

I really don't know what induces vomit more, wine or tequila. Both of them, the second it hits my tongue, I gag.

[jackfaire]

My mom would make a huge deal when I was a kid that coffee would stunt your growth. Of my four siblings I am now the shortest and the only one that didn't drink coffee.

[McDreidel09]

Lol jack.

I was a year old when my grandpa spoon fed me cold coffee with milk in it. I have been drinking coffee for years. I am 5'9". When people tell me that coffee stunts your growth, I look at them weirdly and say " Wow. Then maybe I should have been 6 foot something..."

[blas87]

Coffee stunting growth is just an old wive's tale so that kids won't drink coffee.

I don't like coffee, save for frappuccinos, and I quit growing when I was 14....long before there was even a Starbucks around this part of BFE.

[jackfaire]

Coffee stunting growth is just an old wive's tale so that kids won't drink coffee.

I don't like coffee, save for frappuccinos, and I quit growing when I was 14....long before there was even a Starbucks around this part of BFE.

I used to go to Starbucks for italian sodas but they stopped carrying them and another coffee shop makes better hot chocolates (three kinds of chocolate mmmmmmm)

[Lace Neil Singer]

I didn't drink coffee til I was 18; I just didn't fancy it. Just beer. XD

[jackfaire]

lol all that stuff your supposed to want cuz you can't have until your an adult, beer, liquor, coffee etc. I have never liked any of it. Half of my friends didn't like it at first either but they kept drinking it cuz they weren't supposed to until they developed a taste for it.

[blas87]

I don't care for beer, either. I only drink it when I'm already drunk and running low on cash, since beer is cheaper than mixers.

Beer makes me burp, fart and bloat....not sexy when you're trying to have fun with friends or get busy with your sweetie.

[LewisLegion]

The only thing I would take exception with regarding Suri is the few pics I've seen of her wearing high heels. If it's just a momentary thing for dress-up that's fine but kids her age are clumsy to begin with and wearing high-heels at that young can't be good for her foot/ankle development.

[Ree]

I saw the shoes.

They were barely heels.
The press made a bigger deal out of it than they needed to.

I saw close to 20 pictures, and she, as well as her Mom, were wearing the same outfit in every one, so they were obviously all taken the same day.

There were maybe 2 others taken in other outfits, and only one other pair of shoes in a different colour or style.

Katie explains that they are a child's dance shoe.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/lilsis1125/suri-cruise-heels.jpg


http://suh1.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/gallery_main-suri-cruise-high-heels-boston-10262009-16.jpg

It's not as if they were this style:

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumb_103/1165222978HVy2jr.jpg

[DesignFox]

A valid point, Ree.

I, personally, dislike the idea of putting any type of heel on a young child like that. I guess dance shoes are kind of one thing...but I dunno. I've seen little heels made for children as young as 2. It weirds me out....not to mention makes me worry a bit about the kid tripping, slipping or falling.

Not my kid, not my problem, nor is it really any of my business.

From the photos, she seems to be handling them well enough, and they aren't skinny or lifted drastically in the back like most women's heels. *shrug*

I don't know what age the kids start wearing heels in dance class. I wasn't put in dance classes as a kid.

[Boozy]

Personally, I wouldn't put my child in any type of heel. However, if the shoes are made for dancing, I'm going to assume that they have sufficient support and traction. I wouldn't consider it child abuse in any way, shape, or form.

On a side note, Suri Cruise is one of the cutest little girls I've ever seen. She's just so freakin' adorable.

[XCashier]

I used to go to Starbucks for italian sodas but they stopped carrying them and another coffee shop makes better hot chocolates (three kinds of chocolate mmmmmmm)
Sounds good, who carries that? :9

Back OT, the press is making a huge stink about nothing. My son took a long time to give up his sippy cup (I threw the bottles away when he was weaned, so I didn't have to worry about that). Some kids are slower in some areas than others. It's an individual thing. The coffee cup, sheesh, she probably grabbed Daddy's or Mommy's empty cup off a desk and just started playing with it. Kids do that too.

[jackfaire]

Sounds good, who carries that? :9


Seattle's Best. It's called the Cocoa Trio.

Yeah my daughter occasionally gets a sip of her grandma's coffee she is 8. But soda and coffee are both RARITIES for her. All of us (her mom, grandma, and me) agree on this hard and fast rule for her.

[Arcade Man D]

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumb_103/1165222978HVy2jr.jpg

Slightly OT, but my feet hurt just *looking* at that shoe.



Back on the topic, it's just the press making a big stink out of nothing, like they always do with celebrities' tykes.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Exactly. Unless you snap Suri drinking a double bourbon on the rocks, then STFU.

[fireheart17]

Re the shoes: they look (and remind me of) the cheap play fairy shoes you see in any $2 shop. low heels, but she handles them OK.

Re the bottle: A bit disturbing but as long as it doesn't have any alcohol in it, then STFU. (I remember a 5-year-old kid at my OSHC* still sucking his thumb)

*=OSHC stands for Out of School Hours Care. Basically, it's like a daycare centre in the school for kids between 5 and 14, but before and after school. They also usually run Vacation Care programs which are available to kids from other schools as well. I spent most of my child years at my school's OSHC. It was fun....in a way. :p

[LewisLegion]

Like I said, that was the only thing I'd even remotely take issue with, but as

A) it's not my kid

B) I don't know what kind of shoes/why she's wearing them at that time

C) There are TONS worse things kids can suffer than wearing little heel shoes

I don't particularly care. If I was a parent I'd be too paranoid of my kid breaking her ankle in ANY kind of heel at that age but that's my shortcoming :)

[Lace Neil Singer]

I was so clumsy as a kid, I couldn't have worn heels. XD