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.

So far, this is turning out to be a retro summer! By foregoing the organized sport/activity route, my kids are busy making themselves busy.

Two weeks ago, my budding capitalists set up a lemonade stand in our driveway. They made signs, lemonade, and used their own piggy bank money to buy supplies. They were so excited to have "customers" and I found myself surprised by how seriously they took their job.

With all this free time, there's time for elaborate dress-up games. Most mornings they come down dressed as spies in black leggings, old trench coats and a back pack full of "spy things" which consist primarily of walkie-talkies and primitive telescopes. Today they divulged their secret hiding place in the ravine by the side of the house where they "spy on the cars" that drive by.

Is Gwyneth Paltrow expecting again? Well, the rumor mill would have us think so. For a while now, speculation has been building that the Oscar-winner is either with child or planning to be that way a third time.

Now, it seems more likely than ever that the star, who is married to and has two children with Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin, is carrying a third proverbial bun in the oven. She was recently spotted with what is being called a fuller, more curvy figure. Now, that could mean she ate a sandwich or something--we all know how the media likes to jump all over any woman who bothers to consume anything other than iceburg lettuce.

Paltrow also recently commented to Harper's Bazaar Magazine that she is willing to go through a pregnancy a third time because the result is so amazing. She also commented that her father, the late Bruce Paltrow, regretted only having two children. Paltrow is already mom to Apple, who is four is you can believe it, and Moses, two. At least these sorts of rumors aren't as bad as the other kind that always circulate about Hollywood stars--that they're having a crisis in their marriages. You'll also recall not too long ago Paltrow commented she was interested in adopting, perhaps from Brooklyn.

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Although it is a decidedly less controversial issue, many people are talking about whether or not have more than one child, especially in this terrible economy. Here in New York City, having more than one child can be such an exorbitant expense it's seen as a luxury and a status symbol to have a child at all!

For actress Kate Beckinsale, however, who is probably not so concerned about money, having more than one child is not in her interest. Kate has a nine-year-old daughter, Lily, who is so well-behaved that Kate thinks she might stop at the magic number of one.

Kate also comments that she was an only child so having only one child would suit her just fine. As an only child myself, I was always lonely and looking for someone to play with, so I made every effort to make sure my son would have a sibling. If we're all lucky, he'll have one in October. Is it better to have one or two--or eight!--children? Who can say. I think it's up to the parents and their desires. According to Kate, her little family is "a merry little bunch," so it sounds like she's found the perfect number.

Apparently the Duggar clan hasn't quite filled that quiver! Michelle Duggar, matriarch of the popular Discovery Channel program "The Duggars" and mother to seventeen children managed to surprise the entire lot live on the Today Show when she announced that once again she is expecting.

The latest addition to the burgeoning brood is expect to make an appearance around New Year's Day. It's a Duggar tradition that each of the children have a name that starts with J. So far the Duggar family tree includes: Jennifer, Johannah, Jackson, Justin, James, Jason, Jeremiah, Jedidiah, Joy-Anna, Josiah, Joseph, Jinger, Jessa, Jill, John-David, Jana, and Joshua.

In case the Duggars are suffering a naming dilemma, I've put together a handy poll of some hip and cool J-names. Which do you like for the upcoming baby?

Given the fact that I am pregnant and hormonal, as well as totally in love with babies, it should come as little surprise that it gives me great pleasure to announce that someone recently gave birth to triplets--and, they are genetically identical!

I say recently, but the triplet boys were actually born December 4, 2007, putting them just over 3 months old. They were recently DNA tested when it was determined that yes, indeed, they are identical. Perhaps it is hard to tell amongst babies so small whether or not they look alike. Before I had a tot of my own I didn't give much thought to the difference in appearance of babies other than if they were wearing pink or blue. Imagine how I would feel if I had identical twins or triplets!

Well, that's just what happened to the new mommy at pyjammy.com. She is now the proud mother of three unbelievably beautiful little boys--trust me, just hop over to the blog to check out the adorable pick of them sitting in their, er, whatever those things are called that were recently recalled, now that I think about it.

Seriously, I know I am pregnant and everything, but those boys are just gorgeous. Congratulations, pyjammy mommy!

And thanks to Mike Schleifstein for the heads up! According to Mike, these triplets are a rarity indeed because the mom conceived them naturally without the help of any fertility drugs, etc. I'm not sure how rare triplets of any sort are these days, but I do recall in my middle school (and it was a relatively small school, too) there were two sets of triplets! None of them were identical, but I thought at the time that two sets of triplets was unusual (but triple the fun).

Tom and Allison Penn had tried to have children for years and finally had just one embryo implanted at their fertility clinic.

Then something strange happened: that one embryo split into twins. And then something even stranger happened, one of those embryos split again, resulting in identical triplets.

"Everything we had done was to have one baby," said new father, Tom. "Anybody who says God doesn't have a sense of humor. Everything we did was just for having one baby and now we have three."

An embryo splitting in this manner is an event so rare, an obstetrician estimated it might happen just once in 200 million births.

"This is the first one we're aware of in the literature in the country in which they only put back one embryo" and a woman gave birth to triplets, said Dr. Victor Klein, the fertility specialist who delivered the boys. "Most people put back two or three embryos and you just never know."

To tell the wee identical babies apart, their parents have put a dot of nail polish their fingernails. Logan Thomas, who weighed 4 pounds, 12 ounces, has a mark on his thumb; Eli Kirkwood, 4 pounds, has polish on his forefinger, and Collin McGuire, at 4 pounds, 11 ounces, has a dot on his middle finger. Except for Logan, who may have a non-functioning kidney, all the babies are all perfectly healthy.

Perhaps the adage about not dressing twins alike and making them do everything together should've been shared with Taleon and Keyontyli Goffney. These twenty-five year old twins were recently arrested for a number of alleged robberies. Making matters worse--or better, depending on whether or not you're a fan of Perez Hilton's website, the two are also supposedly porn stars.

Allegedly tho pair first hit up a Rite Aid drugstore for cash and goods--in an inventive way, to boot, through a hole in the roof and climbing down a rope. Police also say they allegedly proceeded to knock over a beauty supply store and are linked to 35 other robberies! The two were caught while in a Wings N More chicken fast food chain robbing it (allegedly) when they accidentally set off the alarm. Perez claims if porn stars were paid more perhaps they would not resort to such tactics. Ah, Perez.

To be honest, these two don't look so much like twins to me. Of course, they could be fraternal. And what do I know? I don't really know any twins so how could I say? I know two sets of triplets, but no twins.