Ask Luke’s Mother-in-Law: Gipsy Danger vs. Voltron, Fat-Shaming and the Pope’s Catty Comments

Luke’s mother-in-law is former LAPD, a licensed property appraiser and a self-described crazy cat lady. None of which has prepared her for TR readers. All questions and answers are real.

Hi all,

It is time for another Thursday of fun and crazy questions. I just love the questions, and thank heavens there is Google and Wikipedia, as you are keeping me on my toes with research sometimes. Anyway, we made it through Memorial Day. I and many of my friends refused to attend the Memorial Day event at our local cemetery. Somehow I just cannot wrap my head around a community cookout, bands and bouncy house in a cemetery to honor war dead. Also knowing the cemetery (it is small), people would have been having to walk all over graves to party. Anyway, that’s my 2 cents for all it is worth. The next holiday up is Father’s Day – more on that next week. For now, on to the fun of this week’s questions.

Adam M:
Who Would Win?
Gipsy Danger vs Voltron

Well Voltron after all is Defender of the Universe. Gipsy seems to hang out mostly on the West Coast. So Voltron is where I would put my money.

William B:
Mother cat had four kittens. This is her first litter. All kittens were fine at 12 days old. Then the weakest started having problems walking and was constantly lethargic. Two days after leg problems kitren didnt wake up. Three days later second weakest started same symptoms. Same result. Then third. Biggest oldest still okay but do you think this is a virus and should it be what can I do about it?

I am sorry to hear about this. But I have seen this before with first litters. My grey cat Snuggles had a similar problem. This is how I have Frizzy as an indoor cat. Frizzy was the runt of 5 kitties. He had terrible problems with his eyes crusting shut and she would not clean him enough to keep them open. So for weeks every morning I would bring him in and put his face under the kitchen faucet. Then his back legs started to go, so I fully moved him into the house and now he is a big strong boy. Sometimes the new mom kitties just let the smallest ones go as they don’t really know what to do with all of the little nipple bitters. I’m not a vet, but generally in people if a virus hits one kid they all get it. It depends on if you want vet bills as to what you do. Maybe, like with my kitties, just separating them and giving extra attention to the runts will make the difference. Good luck.

Jamie Dennis-Jackson:
Why won’t my baby nap?

Well, we had times with our daughter not taking a nap. Sometimes she would and then we would go for weeks were she did not want to nap. Mom generally needs the nap more than anything. If she took the nap or not, we would always put her in her crib at the same time and put on a story tape. We had Teddy Ruxpin, talking Micky Mouse and Mother Goose. Did the same at bed time, but this was a bit more elaborate. My husband always sang her a funny song he made up called “hippity hop to the barbershop” and then made up a story about Julie (her name) the elf girl. Then on went the tape and out went the lights. This generally worked very well.

Jamie Dennis-Jackson:
In light of “X-Men: Days of Future Past”, who is your favorite and least favorite mutant. If you could have one of the powers, which would you choose?

I like Rogue, as she can absorb the abilities of anyone she touches. I also like Storm, as she can manipulate the elements. Iceman I probably like the least – ice is kind of boring and of course Trask as he made the Sentinels.

As for one of the powers: Would probably like Rogue’s powers, as having her power could get me more powers.

Kyle A:
Why wouldn’t my mom let me watch Power Rangers when it first camr out? (I was 7 in its first season)

Well, not really sure; we let Julia watch it and she was 5 at the time. I have attached a photo of her in her Pink Ranger outfit – that was her favorite. As a parent, I thought the show was sort of stupid, but it was good fun too. In this show a girl was just as good as the boys and girls were part of the team, and I liked that message.

Brando L:
Well I was actually going to ask the groups opinion on this too. My Daughter is 6 years old and loves her Ballet class and she has always looked forward to it. Recently She started being very hesitant about going to class. Very unusual for her. but when we asked her why she never gave us a straight answer. Until One day this week when my wife was giving her a shower and she caught her sucking in her little tummy. Apparently some of the other girls in class called her fat and now (even though she doesn’t realize it) she as become self conscious of her little belly.

That’s it…

Good question. We went thru the exact same thing with Julia. She is not fat, she is fluffy and there is more that my mommy and daddy can love. Yes, I agree the ugly jab is not good and would not use it. Julia was in dance at 3 and continued thru high school. She has always been normal size, as we call it, and she is now an actress and depending on the cloths she wears plus size is generally on the tag. She even did beauty pageants. Not the Toddelers and Tiaras types – the West Coast pageants are different. Julia was always the biggest girl in her age division. I have attached at pic of just some of the crowns she has won over the years:

Also a pic with a large crown and trophy that is as tall as she is:

They judge on facial beauty. I know Fab Faces is in other states and you can google them. I know she is only six, but she could see Julia in the Cher music video called Woman’s World. Julia is blond with glasses and in a pink shirt. Big girls can be in music videos with famous singers. Showing her that the tummy is not an issue may help. Also you should have seen the looks on the girls’ faces that called her fat when she came back to dance class with a big crown, banner and trophy after a pageant win. Do not let her give up something she loves like dance; we never did and it has been a useful tool in Julia’s career. Julia was big, but healthy and athletic – just by being skinny does not mean you are healthy. Hope the attached photos help.

Brando L:
Also on a lighter note what is the going rate for tooth fairy visit now a days?

Well, I know we started at a quarter and by the time we were done we were up to a dollar. I suspose a lot depends on your income, but I think no more then a couple of dollars would be in line for 2014.

LYT:
What do you think of the Pope’s comments about pets?

Well the Pope has his opinion. Yes, of course there is nothing better then a parent’s love for a child. It is a great responsibility to raise a child to be a responsible adult and productive person. Those who can not have children can adopt and give the same love. But there are also those adults who do not want the responsibility of a child and thus they may have a pet. My husband and I had 1 child as we knew that that was what we could afford and raise the way we wanted to.

Well, now my child is no longer a child. At 57 and a widow, I don’t see another child happening. Thus I have my fur babies. Per the Pope “four-legged friends don’t offer the same opportunities for love and godliness as raising a child.” On this point I do not agree. It is not the same love as you would give a child, but a different love. My kitties give me lots of opportunities to give them love and they also know how to give love back. They know when I am sad and will jump into my lap and make me happy. At night when they know I am lonely they jump into bed purring and cuddling until I fall asleep and they are there in the morning when I wake up.

When my daughter was little, the pastor at her private school told her that when her dog BJ died he did not go to heaven and that only people went to heaven. She gave the pastor what for in no uncertain terms. She then went to our Episcopal church and grilled the pastor on this issue. They went on for about an hour, and after he came up to me and asked if she could be confirmed at 8; generally we do not do this until 15-16 yrs. old. She was the youngest in our county to be confirmed. So at 8 she could not have a child, but she had a dog and a great amount of love for him. So I disagree with the Pope – but hey, we Episcopals have been doing this for hundreds of years.

Hope you all had as much fun reading these questions and answers as I did writing them. You guys and gals come up with some doozies. Love them all – so keep them coming. To everyone who is graduating over the next few days, weeks, etc.: congratulations, be proud of your bad self and keep up the good work. Hope all of your futures are bright and you reach your goals no matter what. As always be good to each other this next week. Huggs

If you’d like to add your questions to the pile for Luke’s mother-in-law, leave them in comments below.

Also, be sure to check out her previous columns.