I normally have the ultimate sunny disposition. I'm a glass-half-full kinda gal. But something happened in our house this week that has shifted my life view to a tone that is decidedly DOUR.

My hope for our children's future has been dashed, and the reason why can be captured in two words. Dance Moms. I'm talking about the Lifetime series that follows the ugly, nasty, bitter infighting and back stabbing between a gaggle of mean spirited hens who are living vicariously through their children. This is exactly the kind of bizarre & inexplicably popular TV I'm banning from my house. (Toddlers & Tiaras already got the ax).

When did meanness become such a popular form of entertainment? I can actually even forgive it, or use it as a talking point with my daughter... a dialogue starter, but ignorance is where my patience runs out. Check out the episode below. My daughter doesn't normally watch a lot of TV, but she's recovering from ankle surgery and is getting a lot of couch time these days. When I walked in on the episode I've posted here, I turned the TV off. Next we chatted about what a gross injustice it is for women to be fighting over solo dances and costumes when there are REAL problems in the world... current and historical... that they are clearly clueless about.

After that chat, we downloaded a movie from Netflix called "Paperclips". It's a documentary on middle schoolers who were inspired while learning about the Holocaust. I've included the trailer for that movie as well: