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It's hard not to do. For some, it's inevitable: Playing favorites. Parents try not to do it, grandparents too. Still, the idea persists--siblings talk about it amongst themselves and make the decisions when the grandparents don't. But what about when the grandparents do?

I can think of several instances when it's been pretty obvious that the grandparents had a favorite child. It's also been pretty obvious when the grandchild was not the favorite. To be frank, in both instances it really stunk for the kids. Sometimes, perhaps, it was because the grandparents had access to or spent more time with a particular grandchild. Sometimes, it was the direct result of having a favorite child.

In any event, having favorites is one thing--making it obvious is quite another. And, it's never fair to let it be known if you have a preference of one child over another. Yet some grandparents still exercise that option (parents too). Good Morning America online is taking a poll of how parents handle the situation when the grandparents play favorites. What are your thoughts on the subject? How do you handle it when grandma and grandpa play favorites? Or, is it something we can even help doing?

Pic by itchys on flickr.

(Click the photo to see which celebs might be "pregorexic")

It seems like it should be common sense. Don't diet while pregnant. Yet for many moms these days that seems to be the trend. Many of them are successful at it--but at what cost to their unborn children? In the United States as well as in the UK, pregnant women are succumbing to what is being termed "pregorexia," wherein the consume as little as possible during pregnancy to avoid weight gain. Experts agree this is harmful to both mother and unborn child. Fetuses get their nutrients straight from mommy; when she doesn't supply enough, like with calcium, they get it from her bones. If they can't get the nutrient from the mother, they suffer--kids are born prematurely, with a low birth weight and an increased risk of spina bifida all from mothers being underweight during pregnancy.

In Hollywood, the recent barrage of women giving birth would have have us think they were barely pregnant at all. Most of them gain hardly and weight and sport only the tell-tale bump. Almost as soon as they've given birth, they return to their pre-pregnancy weight, which was scandalously low in the first place. Some, like Nicole Kidman, have even drawn harsh rumors that she was never even pregnant at all--after seeing her less than a month post-baby her body was scarily small, prompting the media to generate the notion that her sister, who'd basically remained under cover during the pregnancy, was the one actually carrying the baby.

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With all these Hollywood celebrities maintaining tiny frames while they attempt to bring another human being into the world, it's hard to not feel the pressure to be thin in our own lives. Forget the fact that it's pure misogyny at work, isn't it also the worst thing in the world to deprive not only yourself but your unborn child of vital nutrients and sustenance? Experts suggest that women of normal weight (meaning not underweight nor overweight) gain between 20-25 pounds during a pregnancy. That number was recently lowered from the old notion of anywhere from 25-35 pounds (and in some cases 40). instead of worrying about gaining too much weight, shouldn't we be more focused on getting our children--and ourselves--the nutrition needed to be happy and healthy?

The Olympics are all about healthy competition, but it isn't the cutthroat kind of competition found in the music industry. It's all about working hard, perserverance, good sportsmanship and trying your best. Or is it?!

Apparently in an effort to present the best, most attractive Western-looking face possible, nine-year-old Lin Miaoke was chosen to sing "Ode to the Motherland" during the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. There was only one problem: Miaoke' wasn't actually singing the song. The angelic voice heard by a billion people actually belonged to seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, whose face was deemed not adorable enough to represent China in the ceremony.

A British ex-pat Chris Smith, who has been living in Beijing for nine years, told a reporter: "It's because China is obsessed with promoting a certain look, girls should be more Western-looking with high cheekbones. They don't like rounded faces. Olympic officials also chose only tall, slim, attractive women of a certain look to hand out medals."

The music direction of the show Chen Qigang explained it this way, "This is in the national interest. It is the image of our national music, national culture, especially during the entrance of our national flag. This is an extremely important, extremely serious matter. I think it is fair to both Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi."

Having an attractive person serve as frontman for a more vocally talented, but less marketable singer is nothing new, just ask the surviving member of Milli Vanilli. It's too bad that people in power within the Chinese government that made this decision have not yet realized that imperfections are what makes kids so great.

There was no need to cobble together a super-kid, a child with a voice like that is guaranteed to awe and inspire the world.

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(Click the photo to see the 10 Worst Celebrity Dads)

It doesn't appear that Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards have come to the realization that they will be forever linked by their daughters Sam and Lola. According to reports, the pair remains strongly divided on the issue of immunizations, with Denise voting for shots and Charlie maintaining the opinion that they are a potential danger that should be avoided.

So when Sheen received a nearly $400 bill from his daughter' pediatrician for the immunizations they had been given, Charlie didn't just get mad, got even in his own childish way-by paying the bill in nickels.

It doesn't matter where you stand on immunizations, one parent going ahead on an irreversible thing like that without telling the other is some dirty, dirty pool that might get what you want in the short term, but opens you up to the same treatment by your spouse down the road.

How have you handled difficult parenting decision with an ex?

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Welsh actor Sean Connery has left his son out of his will. According to his ex-wife, the reasoning behind this is that his son, Jason, should provide for himself.

Jason is now forty-five years old, so one would hope he indeed is able to provide for himself. And, in fact he is. According to reports, the father and son fell out after Jason threatened to drop the family name--the reason behind the fight in the first place. Jason works as an actor and director, gigs his father claims he got only because of his name.

According to Connery's ex-wife Diane Cilento, the relationship became strained after Connery cut off the money to his son. What would you do? If you were in a position of power or influence, would you open doors for your children, or would you make them work for it all? Or, would you do something in between?

OK! magazine, the publication that Jamie Lynn Spears revealed her pregnancy at sixteen years old, features the teen mom and three-week-old Maddie Briann on their cover this week.

And in spite of troubling reports of teenage pregnancy pacts and the efforts of shows like Baby Borrowers to de-romanticize having a baby at a young age, Jamie Lynn wants everyone to know that "being a mom is the best feeling in the world!"

The unwed mother shares in an interview that her pregnancy and delivery were "perfect" (She was only in labor three or four hours), the baby eats every two or three hours and isn't fussy ("When she wakes up in the middle of the night, I'll feed her and she goes right back to sleep. There's no screaming and crying."), and that she's managing to keep her own personal hygiene up. "We get up in the morning, and she gets her little bath. Then I get my bath. We have a routine, and I love routines. I've worked one out with her, and we're happy going about our little life."

While it is wonderful, for her sake and the baby's, that Jamie Lynn is adapting to motherhood so well, this interview is adding to the fairy tale notion Zoey 101 fans likely already harbor about early motherhood: It's fine to sleep with your boyfriend and not worry about birth control if you're in love! If you're in love, the baby you get pregnant with won't cry or fuss for hours on end for no discernible reason, you won't have post partum depression, or problems breastfeeding, run out of money, find yourself crying during the one shower you manage to take in a week, or have to deal with an upset, poopy baby and soiled bedding at 3 a.m.!

Nope, life as an unwed teenage mom according to Spears is bliss. "I love taking care of her. It is so much fun. I just want to hug her and kiss her, and I'm happy all the time."