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Celebrity Parenting Style

Calista Flockhart and Son Liam at Fred Segal

I was intrigued by these pictures of Calista Flockhart and Denise Richards treating their children like extra baggage while shopping at Fred Segal in L.A. on Saturday.

Denise’s little girls cling to mommy’s shopping bag handles while Flockhart attempts to do everything in her power to avoid actually holding hands with adopted son Liam while he totes her shopping bags.

Is it just me, or does it seem like Calista Flockhart would be one hellish nightmare of  a stepmother/mother? I’m basing this on absolutely no evidence whatsoever, other than pictures like those above (and below) and the fact that she is frighteningly skinny. I mean,the poor kids can’t even hug her for fear of eviscerating themselves on her clavicle.

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    • Yes, Sam is sucking her thumb. So what? The child is five years old. Lots of kids much older still suck their thumbs.

  • When walking through parking lots, I always made sure my kids were right next to me. Cars are pulling out of parking spaces and short people might not be seen. Kids dawdle and wander too, so they need to be visible in case you need to pull them out of the way of crazy drivers. These kids look like accessories-Denise has a tighter handle on her shopping bags than the two thumbsuckers.

  • You must have been hanging out with Wendie too much this weekend, cause I can’t see what Calista is doing wrong here.

    • I agree. Are you required to say something nasty about every single photo you run? How are mothers supposed to look when they are shopping with their kids?

    • I agree! It doesn’t look like she is doing anything wrong – I would look mad too if the paps were in my face & my kid’s face.

      She IS holding the kid’s hand in most of the photos, anyway.

  • Umm..perhaps they just look irritated because of people with cameras standing about 3 feet from their faces…I probably wouldn’t be acting any better

  • why are they all wearing boots in the summer??
    and how come those two girls are still sucking their thumbs!?

  • Also, paps are never alone so it’s very intimidating for kids to be caught up in a pap swarm, I’ve seen it happen a couple of times and it’s very frightening to watch I can’t imagine how kids of famous people don’t develop anxiety disorders by being swarmed by a bunch of men, some obviously ex gang members who are being incredibly aggressive. They don’t care if the kids are terrorized, better picture I guess. I don’t understand how they can get a photo of anyone smiling it’s dangerous and creepy.

    He’s a cute kid, I wonder when she and Harrison Ford are going to marry, they’ve been engaged for years it seems.

  • Kelly, you’re grasping at straws. Liam is 8, I’m sure he can walk safely next to his mother. Also, why do you find it necessary to write “adopted son”? You didn’t write “biological children” about the others.

    • i’d make the same face if strangers with cameras were in my way.

      gotta agree with the needlessness of stating “adopted son.” seems snide to identify a child that way; it wasn’t his choice to not be with his biological parents. and it looks to me that calista has put on a couple pounds and looks healthy. we already know she is naturally thin, not bulimic or ill, so why criticize her for it? do we shoot arrows at fatties? “hey look at this monstrously obese person, what a jerk!” maybe i thought we only judge behavior and style here at evil beet, my bad.

      • “do we shoot arrows at fatties?” Yes EB does & has for awhile. They talk shit on all sizes here.

  • You can tell when it’s a slow gossip day around here – they pick a picture and try to manufacture some sort of gossip-worthy scenerio. Kind of like the other day when they posted a picture of Jennifer Aniston squinting and tried to spin it that her facial expression was because Bradley Cooper is dating Renee Zellweger, and not that the sun was just in her eyes. I would look PO’d too if I was trying to shop with my kid and someone I didn’t know took my picture. Also, here’s an idea: sometimes kids don’t behave very well on shopping excurions, leaving their parents looking peeved and the kids looking sullen at the end of the day. And I also found the need to specify “adopted son” an unecessary little snipe. At least she adopted a kid from the US as opposed to the “collect the set” adoption endeavors of the Jolie-Pitts and Madge. It’s nice when celebs remember there are kids right under their very noses that need homes and families too.

    I really used to like this blog but some of this stuff is just lame these days. Maybe if the writers try to remember that it is a gossip blog, not a what-can-I-pretend-this-picture-is-about blog, it will get some of its old magic back!

  • Once they turn seven or eight, they aren’t as keen on holding your hand in the parking lot. I still make my son do it, but I’ve actually probably done both the shopping bag move with my 2 little ones and the limp hand hold with my oldest. I suck that way.

  • Re: Flockhart- she always looked skinny. I remember back when Ally McBeal was on she was always thought of as too skinny. Her son probably doesn’t want to hold her hand- not the other way around- when boys get older they don’t want to look like a baby. So that’s my guess.

    Denise Richards, now. That poor oldest daughter, she always looks unhappy. I don’t thinks she likes getting her picture taken.

  • Two things: Denise Richards must be really comfortable with herself if she’s going to willingly walk around places where people can see those club feet of hers. She’ll shell out all kinds of money to get fake ass funbags and will dye her skin orange and shit, but she can’t fix the nasty bunions she’s rockin on those talons? Makes no sense.

    And, fUggs. That is all.

  • wow, must be a slow weekend if all you can do is dig up pictures of b listers and their kids and take weird potshots like, “she looks like she would be the worst stepmother.”

  • meh – i see nothing wrong with any of these photos. the only thing wrong is kelly pointing out that liam is calista’s adopted son but denise’s girls aren’t referred to as her biological daughters. what’s up with that? ergh – just another lame post.

  • My seven year old gives me the exact same sulk when I force him to hold my hand in public especially after shopping. Also I sucked my thumb until I was almost eight, although now I have one dwarf thumb…