Joyce Brewer

Creator & Host of Mommy Talk Show. Emmy award-winning TV journalist.Wife & Mommy; Mom Blogger; Social Media Coach; Long Island, New York transplant living in Atlanta, GA. Follow Joyce on Twitter @MommyTalkShow Author of Use What You Know: A Business Idea Guide for Moms featuring interviews with mompreneurs who created businesses using their skills & backgrounds.

Today show: Super Bowl star “Little Darth Vader” of Volkswagen ad was born with a heart defect

I heard my husband chuckle during the Superbowl when an ad featuring a "Little Darth Vader" came on-screen. I thought it was cute too. Little did we know the star, 6 year old Max Page, was a relatively new actor who was born with a heart defect. In fact, his mom told the Today show that he has a pacemaker and occasionally needs to go to the hospital. The lesson Max can teach parents of children with serious medical conditions and disabilities is not to hold them back or underestimate what they can do physically.

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Is working from home the secret to coping with mommy guilt?

Our Mommy Talk Show guests are a mix of working and stay at home moms, but they share a common feeling: MOMMY GUILT! We discussed if working from home can be "the best of both worlds" and relieve the guilt. The short answer is NO. The longer answer and our opinions is in this webisode: Diane always thought she would be a stay at home mom. Instead, she's working full-time and running a small business. Karen is dealing with a new job and a longer commute. Thankfully, her husband has stepped up and taken on more of the child care duties. Maran recalls trying to work from home when her daughter was younger was extremely challenging.

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Today show: Alaska mom charged for putting hot sauce in her son’s mouth

An Alaska mom sent video to Dr. Phil's show of herself putting hot sauce in her seven year old son's mouth and forcing him to take a cold shower after he misbehaved. Once the video went viral, Alaska authorities got involved and now mother of six, Jessica Beagley, faces charges. I hesitate to judge another mom because I don't know what the child did and how often she's tried to correct his behavior. Since I absolutely hate hot sauce I can only imagine the terror this child felt as it was poured in his mouth. As a TV journalist with more than a decade of experience covering child abuse and child deaths, I can tell you the fact that this boy was in a house where they could afford to buy hot sauce makes him luckier than a lot of kids. Beagely made several key mistakes. She got angry, mistreated her child, allowed another child to videotape it and then sent it to a nationally televised talk show to ask for help. What she should have done was talk to her son's pediatrician, teacher, child psychologist, family member, trusted friend or neighbor and asked for suggestions on how to correct his behavior. Or she should have at least asked them to watch the tape and offer their opinion on whether she should send it in. It never ceases to amaze me the things people do on camera and think that it's "normal behavior."

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