Update: Kate Gosselin to join "The View" for two shows in September

UPDATE: Fresh off her interview with Larry King on Tuesday night, it was announced today that Kate Gosselin will be a guest co-host on The View, filling in for Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who is on maternity leave. Gosselin will grace the gab fest Sept. 14-15. Maybe since she has been discussed many times on the show, she feels that she can jump in with her own 2-cents. Other scheduled guest hosts include LaToya Jackson and political daughter Meghan McCain.

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For two people who say they are tired of the media and won't be talking publicly anymore, Jon and Kate Gosselin sure are chatty. Maybe it has something to do with the lower ratings for their show since returning from a hiatus after the separation announcement.

First up, Jon, who told Us magazine online that he is tired of doing the show. "I wish I had a 9 to 5 job instead of the nightmare I'm living. This is 24/7," he said outside his $1.1 million Pennsylvania home. "I don't even want to do taping for the show anymore." He may need a 9-to-5 job since apparently his kids' clothing line is kaput.

While Jon is biting the TLC hand that feeds him, not so with Kate. On Larry King Live she said she will be willing to continue taping the show with or without her ninth child -- er, I mean estranged husband. Kate even  told King that she thinks Jon is a good father deep down -- but that he made some bad choices. You know, like making money off parading your kids in front of a reality-show camera.

--Sherry Robinson

Study: Depression in preschoolers is real

Contrary to the stereotype of carefree preschoolers, a study released today shows depression can be chronic even in children ages 3 to 6.

A research team followed 200 preschoolers for up to two years, diagnosing 75 with major depression. Participants were given mental health exams up to four times during the study. Depression was most common in children whose mothers suffered from depression or other mood disorders, and among those children who had endured a traumatic event.

The study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, was published today in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

The Associated Press story on the study talks to Dr. Helen Egger, a Duke University psychiatrist who has studied childhood depression. Egger says doctors commonly see depressed kids when they are teens, though parents often say the symptoms began early in life.

Egger points out that preschoolers can be moody (don't we know it, Mommas!), but have no trouble recovering and being happy at playtime. Depressed preschoolers are sad at playtime and their games have sorrowful or deadly themes. Other signs of depression: chronic lack of appetite, sleep trouble and fits of biting, kicking or hitting, along with guilt preoccupation (constant apologies for minor mishaps).

Of course such a study raises issues of treatment. Egger, for one, says psychotherapy should be the first course, given what little research there is on psychiatric medicine and young children.

-- Amy Hollyfield

My 3-year-old dropped the F bomb

There I was, coloring pictures with my 3-year-old daughter at the dining room table. Side by side we sat, taking turns with her new box of crayons. Typical American morning, eh?

At some point, though, she decided she picked up the wrong crayon. Blue, instead of brown, I guess. And clear as day she said it:

"Oh, F - - - !!!!"

At first I didn't say anything. Truth is, I think I've heard her say it before, but never was sure. This time, no escaping my daughter's F bomb.

"What did you say, honey?" Silence. Alarm. "Sweetie, what did you just say?" Panicked look on her face. "Honey, that's a bad word, but you didn't know it." Tears, face plant in the chair. "Sweetie, it's okay, you didn't know it, but that's not a word we say."

Only, I do. All the time. But never, ever in front of her. Never, ever in front of her. Unless I somehow slipped?

I picked her up and held her tight. She covered her eyes with her hands, afraid to look at me. I hugged her long and hard. Reassured her that she had done nothing wrong, inside knowing I almost certainly had.

Memo to self: Start talking in code or at least, "Oh, fudge!"

-- Amy Hollyfield

[That's Ralphie from A Christmas Story with a bar of soap in his mouth after he dropped an F bomb on his dad.]

Jessica Simpson's weighty issue

Jessica Simpson has been called many things: an airhead, a jinx and not a country singer. But now she's being called something else: fat or curvy.

If you haven't seen the pictures, Simpson showed up at an appearance at Pembroke Pines in what some have called "mom jeans" (more on that another time because they certainly aren't jeans any of the moms I know would wear) and looking like she had added a few pounds -- the mags call it "curvy" as if that "wink, wink" word shields you from what is really meant. In the crazy world of celebrity, where folks can wonder if Lindsay Lohan is wasting away, they now wonder why Jess has gained weight.

But in the real world, a woman who goes from a size 2 to a size 6 or 8 isn't fat -- she's normal. And frankly, whose business is it anyway? There will be those who say if you are a celebrity -- like say Britney Spears who was famously called out for her appearance on the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards -- then your image is grist for the public mill. But I don't agree with that because we all know that from perhaps the most famous woman in the world, Oprah Winfrey, to the most unkown, most of us fight this battle.

Ashlee Simpson Wentz, her sister and Momma to Bronx Mowgli, perhaps said it best on her Web site: "Is this something you would say to your wife, daughter, mother, grandmother, or even a friend? I seriously doubt it. How can we expect teenage girls to love and respect themselves in an environment where we criticize a size 2 figure?"

You might want to tell Jessica to be a little more sensible -- remember her question about Chicken of the Sea? -- but knock her because of a few extra pounds? Um, no, that's not cool, no matter what you think about her.

-- Sherry Robinson

[Photo: Associated Press]

Cable dispute could boot SpongeBob, your sanity

If you're planning to park the kid in front of Nickelodeon on New Year's Day while you try to, um, wake up from toasting the new year, come up with Plan B just in case.

Some fee dispute between Viacom and Time Warner may darken Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and a bunch of other channels at 12:01 a.m. tonight. That means no SpongeBob SquarePants. No iCarly. No Drake and Josh. No Dora. No peace and quiet for your aching head.

Don't panic yet. These threats seem to come around every now and then while folks try to work through money issues. Chances are they'll work it out before drastic measures.

But just in case, have a movie ready to pop in the DVD player.

-- Times Momma

No sexy look for my tween

Fishnet stockings. Check. High-heel shoes. Check. Body-hugging, skin-showing outfit. Check.

From the looks of it, that’s what my 8-year-old is supposed to be wearing this Halloween. Thank goodness her heart was set on being Hermione from the Harry Potter series. She of the long robe and sensible shoes! Sure honey, whatever you want!

But I couldn’t help but notice the other options:

• A B. Witched child costume, with uber short metallic black baby doll dress, paired with striped knee high socks and sexy heels.

• A Dark Angel child costume, with black lace dress, fishnet gloves and sheer leggings. And check out the look on the model’s face. Tell me that’s a child’s costume.

• Same goes for Devil Grrl and her red leather-like dress, horns, wings and pitchfork.

Now there are plenty of great options that don’t look like I’m prepping my daughter for a sex kitten contest, but I’m embarrassed that some of these costumes are even available. Because if my daughter had not just read all seven Harry Potter books, she might have been trying to be the Dark Angel. Not that I would let her.

It just makes me wonder how low we’re going to go. Newsweek had a great article recently about the pornification of our children, and I have to admit I see it. Not that my daughter understands any of that, but the ease with which certain images are introduced to our kids is desensitizing her at this young age.

I’ll do my best to protect her. Starting with her no-skin-showing Halloween costume.

-- Amy Hollyfield

The sleep smackdown

"One more drink!" 

"My baby needs pajamas!"

"I need the light on!"

"I don’t want to sleep with the purple monkey!"

"You need to read another book!"

On and on she goes, and I know she is playing me. Now it doesn’t come all at once. It’s a demand here, a desire there. Each time it seems sort of reasonable and each time I sort of give in.

A few minutes later, there’s just one more thing she needs . . . .

I toy with saying no, and sometimes I do. But part of me takes over, the part that really wants her to go to sleep so that I can have peace and quiet and finally sit down and eat dinner and not have someone yelling in my ear because if I don’t experience quiet in the next few minutes, I’m going to lose my mind.

My heart is racing as I try at once to calm her and to keep her from running the show. I say goodnight one more time and retreat into the family room. There, I did it.

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. “MOMMMMMMMMY!!!!!”

Ugh.

-- Amy Hollyfield

A parent's worst nightmare

Our hearts go out to Bucs kicker Matt Bryant and his wife, Melissa, with news today that their 3-month-old son Matthew Tryson passed away. Hillsborough Sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said Melissa discovered the baby was not breathing as she made the rounds to wake up the kids Wednesday morning. The Bryants have five other children, including another son, Tre, who turns 2 on Monday. Details are few, but read our story here.

And we've set up a guestbook to share your thoughts.

-- Amy Hollyfield

Dating drama -- at 7 years old

My daughter announced on her first day of first grade, “I have a boyfriend.”

“Oh no you don’t,” I replied. “You don’t have boyfriends at 7 years old.” 

Never mind that I chased a blond, curly-haired boy named Cory all around the playground in first grade.  I gave him the "special" valentine, and if he had passed me a note asking me to be his girlfriend, yes or no, I would have circled yes.

But that’s me.  And, that’s the reason why my daughter is not allowed to have boyfriends –- not at 7 years old, and probably not until she is 18.

I know, I know, that sounds extreme. Believe me, I never thought I would be as prudish of a mother as I am turning out to be. But is it prudish, or just plain smart?

Call me crazy, but a 7 year old can wait a few years before she has a boyfriend or wears a bikini or the underwear they try to sell our girls these days. I also don’t think teenagers need to be so focused on a boyfriend or girlfriend that they miss out on one of the most carefree times in their lives.

Not that I thought of this on my own. I have a friend who decided when her son and daughter were young that she would raise them with the expectation of NOT dating. Instead, she encouraged them to be friends with the opposite sex, and to hang out in large groups. They were able to make it through high school, my friend said, without the usual dating angst.

My daughter is only 7. So why am I worried about this now?  Because she is –- and I don’t want her to be.  She is growing up quickly -- as so many kids do, and although I have quite a few years yet before I seriously have to address the dating question, I am laying the groundwork with my daughter.

Now when she asks, “How old do I have to be to date?”  I tell her there is plenty of time to date in college. For now, she accepts this. But I am sure she’ll balk at it sooner or later.

-- Ericka Watson, Times mom

Mamma Mia! I'm acting all prepared for school

Time for my acting performance of the year, sort of in the vain of Meryl Streep but without an accent: Best Actress in a Weekend Before the First Day of School performance.

As all of the Not-Quite-Pulled-Together-but-Really-Trying Moms in the audience know, we should have been acclimating our kids to the new school schedule for weeks now. We should have been gradually moving up bedtimes and wake times. We should have been implementing schedule changes in our summer routine to get them used to next week when they will be dressing in the dark and eating lunch at 10:37 in the morning. We should have, but of course, we didn’t.

But this weekend, there will be many like me who will act like the kind of Mom who did, and try to cram all of that gradual acclimation into one long and painful weekend. We’ll pretend that we didn’t need all of that extra time for our kids, and that 48 hours and 2 bedtimes before the Late Show and waking up before the crack of noon will suffice for preparation to the 2008-2009 school year.

I will have to act as though this is sufficient. I will have to feign non-existent strict bedtimes to the teachers at orientation. I will have to nod in silent opposition to my friends who have taken the time to replicate the school schedule as their own since July. And certainly I will give an Oscar-winning performance when I deliver the line, “Why of course we’ve been preparing for this all summer long! The kids won’t even notice the change on Tuesday!”

But perhaps the biggest acting job will have to come from my children. When they show up Tuesday, wide-eyed and uber-alert, they’ll have to pretend it’s from being well-rested rather than shell-shocked from the alarm clock.

-- Suburban Diva