Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check

Culture Shock:

Another parenting issue today. Since the beginning of the recession, there's been a spike in the number of grandchildren being raised by their grandparents.
   That's according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data.
   Researchers can't say for sure that the surge is explicitly due to the recession, but the numbers make a good case for it. In 2008, there were seven million households that included both a child and grandparent, and that year, 2.9 million kids were being raised primarily by their grandparents --a six percent increase from the year before, and a 16 percent increase since 2000.
   The grandparent-caregiver trend has played out largely among black and Hispanic Americans, but the Pew Center analysis found that the sharpest rise from 2007 to 2008 was among whites, with a nine percent jump.
   Of these grandparents, more than a third are unmarried, and nearly two-thirds are women.
   While the vast majority of grandparents told the Pew Center that they are doing a 'good' or 'excellent' job in their new roles as surrogate parents, many also said that they weren't prepared to deal with the financial --or cultural-- shock of raising kids the second time around. (Maiman)

Lowest common denominator:

Mom Central Consulting surveyed 13-hundred mothers to find out how they shop for their kids' lunches. Findings:
   --90 percent of them worry about what to put in the lunchbox
   --86 percent plan out their children's meals in advance to ensure they eat a variety of healthy foods
   --74 percent select items based on their nutritional value
   --72 percent buy items with higher nutritional value even if it means spending more money
   --79 percent opt for whole grain or enriched bread instead of white bread
   --82 percent regularly pack fruit in their children's lunchboxes
   --76 percent opt for portion-controlled snack packs (Kaye)

Celebrity Lawsuits:

A court has awarded DON JOHNSON $51 million in unpaid profits from his TV series, "Nash Bridges." Don was actually awarded $23.2 million by a jury in July, but picked up an additional $28.5 million in interest payments on his share of profits from the hit CBS series.
   Turns out Don is a 50 percent owner of the "Nash Bridges" copyright, and so he wanted a cut of the show's profits --and that's a lot of money, considering the show is syndicated in 45 countries.

Reality Round-Up:

No-brainer: MTV says they'll be doing a couple of "Jersey Shore" specials after the second season wraps in mid-October. The Hollywood Reporter says there'll be a cast reunion show and a behind-the-scenes special as well. Then Season 3 --back in New Jersey instead of Miami Beach-- is set for next year.

Backstage Bulletin:

WILLOW SMITH is already following in her daddy's footsteps at just nine-years-old. E! Online reports the tiny singer just landed her first record deal thanks to a big fan named JAY-Z. Rumor has it he didn't even know who sang her single at first listen and maintains she has her "own vision" despite being so young. (Lee)
   FYI: Clip of "Whip My Hair" at YouTube.

That flu shot:

Fall officially arrives in a little over a week. It's also the start of flu season.
   A new Rasmussen Reports poll finds just over half of respondents plan to get a flu shot this year. While 51-percent say they'll get the jab, 42-percent say they won't.
   After last year's H1N1 outbreak, federal health officials are urging Americans to get a flu shot this year. Not a lot of people feel the urgency to get inoculated though. Just 15-percent say they're concerned about healthcare facilities running out of the vaccine if we were to have an epidemic. (Page)