Pittwatch.com: Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie Gossip

43 opinions for PittWatch Readers React: Should Zahara have on a helmet?

• Catherine
  May 24, 2006 at 9:52 pm

  I saw some stuff on this topic today too, and I wondered about her saftey…for a quick minute…until I realized that her saftey had not crossed my mind seeing these photos…but only when some journalist decided to make a story of it.
  My first reaction to this after seeing this story asking if Brad was being safe with her, was: well, if HE FELL for any reason… he would have much more control ofhow she landed with her strapped to him like this than if she had been in a seat behind him. She is securely snugged in and I think this story was just a jab at trying to make a story out of NOTHING.
  As for Brittany? I think she really does need some SERIOUS classes on how to care for, hold, carry, strap in and probably feed an infant.

• Christina
  May 24, 2006 at 9:57 pm

  I always go back to the “olden” days and wonder how we all survived. My parents brought me home from the hospital in *gasp* a laundry basket. Now that is a crime that might get your kids removed from your guardianship. But anyway, you all know how I feel about it - I will shut up now. ;)

• Catherine
  May 24, 2006 at 10:00 pm

  o dear, Christina, please don’t ever shut up!! I look for your posts on EVERY thread! I always want to know what YOU have to say!!

• MM
  May 24, 2006 at 10:08 pm

  The first time I saw the picture, I saw a dad spending quality time with his children. Then the safety Nazis turn it into a life and death issue.

  I wish a camera could follow these critics 24/7, let us see how perfect they. I just ignore the noise and enjoy the picture. Lucky kids. I wish Brad and Angie were my parents.

• ladeet
  May 24, 2006 at 11:01 pm

  I think it’s all rubbish! did you know he’s going 0.5 miles per hour, because maddox is learning how to ride his bike. plus, there is nothing in his way, how could he possibly fall and put Z in danger. P.S. No company makes a helmet that small, not a company in Namibia, anyways.

• Rachel
  May 24, 2006 at 11:02 pm

  i think people just love to judge each other and one thing they love to judge in particular is how another person is parenting a child. it is ridiculous. we only see such a small glimpse of what is happening and are not in a position to judge. all the hoohah about britney spears is a joke. i rode a bike with my baby on my back in exactly the same way when i was in south africa last year. but here where i live and where it is illegal to do so, i would not entertain the thought. we cannot judge what is happening in africa according the the rules in our own country. there really is not any evidence out there for me to be concerned for their children.

• Bethany
  May 24, 2006 at 11:14 pm

  This argument is really getting on my nerves too. So I was watching inside edition and Here’s how it went(with the sensationlized voice)
  Brad Pitt under fire(I was like under fire from who? whatever) for riding a bike with his daughter without a helmet. Then they showed that picture of britney tripping, (which I think it’s not that big of a deal, the baby in the lap while driving was a much bigger deal). Then they had some woman from babytalk or whatever talking about how dangerous it is bla bla bla. I was like lady just save it for someone who cares.
  Ryan Phillippe was photographed riding with his son without a helmet and his son was not strapped in a backpack, but he was sitting on a seperate child’s carrier, I don’t remember him being ragged about it, as a matter of a fact there was no discussion over it, no one was talking about how ryan was putting his son’s life in danger. Brad was probably on his private property with no cars or anything like that near, the guy was just spending time with his kids. This is totally a non stroy that has been made into one.
  Sorry for my rant, I’ve just been pissed about this all day.

• RealityCheck
  May 24, 2006 at 11:25 pm

  Z needs to be strapped into her own seat. Baby seats are available, and are better padded, etc. Also, a helmet would be nice. Brad could fall on top of her. One bad accident is all it takes for a lifetime of regret. I know Brad loves his kids, as you all do.

• RhondaS
  May 24, 2006 at 11:44 pm

  I would like to add that if the weather there is as hot as it looks, Zahara would probably break out in a rash from the heat and sweat. She doesn’t seem to want to wear her little head wear lately anyway, she is probably at that age where she fusses about having it on. Go Brad, take that bike ride, it’s not like you are riding downtown Chicago.

• Catherine
  May 25, 2006 at 12:06 am

  Ya know, I was just thinking…we should all gang up on some of the creeps who write stories like this…I mean, go to the original website the article came from, and get the writers email address and send him/her our opinions on what they wrote. This is rediculous. Don’t these writers picking on people for no good reason have ANYTHING better or at least POSITIVE to write about? GEEZ.

• girladvendger
  May 25, 2006 at 6:49 am

  It’s a non story. The writers know if you can involve Brad or Angie in your story it get more attention. Wow big deal, Brad riding with his child…well at least the media has drop adopted in front of Maddox and Zahara names.

  Doesn’t Brad look so cute.

• Marlene
  May 25, 2006 at 7:18 am

  Well I think comparing this to Britney Spears is ridiculous, I mean she was driving with her son completely unsafe, totally different.

  That being said, I personally don’t agree with babies being in backpacks/childseat carriers on bikes in general, I just think the risk of injury (with or without helmet) from a fall is too great. I have a bike trailer that goes behind my husband’s bike when we go for family bike rides. Just my opinion, not saying I think Brad is endangering Zahara tremendously, and people use childseat carriers on bikes all the time without incident so to each his own. I just personally wouldn’t use one with my kids.

• JoliePittFan
  May 25, 2006 at 8:36 am

  Well, it would be hypocritical of me to not comment on Brad’s pant legs being so long and because of that, they could possibly get tangled in the bike….when I criticsized Britney for walking with “to long pants which probably caused her to trip and almost drop her child.”

  I also wondered why Zahara’s head wasn’t covered from the sun just as I wondered why Britney’s son’s head wasn’t when he was in the back of her comfortable. Lastly, as much as I know how protective of their children as Brad & Angelina are, it did cross my mind that if for some reason Brad DID tip over, he would have no way of catching her, or controlling not falling backwards, and even then I doubt a helmet would even make much of a difference, and so I’m with Marlene in thinking that packpacks/childseat carriers on bikes aren’t maybe a great thing.

  I’ve gone on record many times stating that Britney is in my opinion constantly negligent in her childcare and is so she seems to lack commonsense, and that’s paired with ignorance that even the most basic of childrearing manuals could offer tips if she’s not getting a hand from living breathing persons who’ve been there. She doesn’t seem to learn from her mistakes, and I fully expect her to repeat them but hopefully her child by the grace of God won’t suffer because of it. There IS no comparison between she and AJ/BP regarding any part of their lives and especially where the care and concern of their children are concerned.

  Now, there’s a part of me that wonders if Zahara did have a helmet but maybe made a fuss when he put it on her, and Brad made a choice….a choice unbeknownst to Angelina…..of keeping it off. Of course we could never be sure thats that was the case, but it did cross my mind.

  I remember the pic’s of Brad giving Maddox a ride on his minibike at Angelina’s english estate, and the article said how cautious she was about Madd riding and she finally relented and that Brad rode slow, and close to her to make “her” feel more comfortable about her kid being on the bike. Not verbatium, but my point is, Zahara being helmetless, and on Brad’s back may not have been the plan as far as Angelina knew, and it may have been Brad choosing to let tears rule because as we know father’s can sometimes be the biggest macho men around, but let a tear fall from their kid’s eye, it’s teddybear time lol. JMHO

• Paula
  May 25, 2006 at 9:05 am

  First let me say I am a true blue Brad and Angelina fan. However, when I first saw the pic I did wonder why she didnt have a helmet on (especially since Mad is wearing one)but then I just assumed that they dont sell/make them that small and never gave it another thought.

  I hate to sound like a broken record but it is all a smear campagin againt him and Angelina because he had the audacity to find happiness with someone else.

• Barbara
  May 25, 2006 at 9:16 am

  All I know is if my son’s father had taken our son for a ride on a bike in a backpack that was meant for walking and hiking, not biking, without shoes or a helmet to boot, he would have caught holy hell from me.

• Mike
  May 25, 2006 at 10:02 am

  Hello all…the law in Namibia states that a helmet must be worn at all times when riding a bicycle. The area they are riding their bicycle is so safe, cars drive at 5km per hour at Longbeach. Actually all kids riding their bikes at Longbeach do so without a helmet.

• Catherine
  May 25, 2006 at 10:06 am

  Hey Mike! Good to “see” you! So, does this mean that baby Z should indeed have had a helmet on according to the law there? or is that above a certain age?

  And, hey, whats it looking like around the resort right now? Is all “quiet on the home front”? Any people coming and going, if so, who? got any itty bits for us?

• Lady Kimberly
  May 25, 2006 at 10:41 am

  Oh I think it is such a crock. I don’t know anything about Namibia, and I would think that a child in a back pack like that would fall into another category. Makes you wonder how all of us old fogies ever made it into adulthood!?

  I cannot imagine Brad Pitt being careless with his children, after all he’s gone through to be with them.

  We used to ride mopeds and smaller motorcycles in Greece without any helmets or crash gear. I can hardly remember an incident where anyone even fell off the bikes, let alone did any damage … and these were motorized vehicles.

  You just cannot wrap kids up in a bubble & get them into adulthood without some sort of accident or injury. It’s unfortunate when they injuries are serious, but it’s part of the learning process.

  I don’t know Pitt or Jolie personally, but they seem to have enough sense to take “reasonable” precautions with their children. I don’t see them doing anything wrong…in fact I admire the lengths they’ve gone to screen these kids & their family life from the public.

• Lia
  May 25, 2006 at 11:32 am

  obviously, none of you have children or else you’d know that no matter what, helmets must be worn. Any of you ever been n a Trauma unit at your local hospital and seen the number of kids in there on a yearly basis because they did not wear helmets while riding/or being chauffeured on a bike?

  Doesn’t matter if the child is hot, whines, has a rash…put that helmet on!

• JLS
  May 25, 2006 at 12:11 pm

  Everything I’ve thought about this has already been posted by you guys—and I’ve written in another post somewhere that comparing Brad’s parenting with Britney’s is absurd. I was wondering if any of you had read (in all the many articles about Z’s health) that one of the things B&A are/were concerned about is that the soft spot on her head has not covered/hardened as it should? Don’t know if there is any truth to this but in the same article, it was mentioned that (as Rhonda observed) she didn’t like keeping anything on her head. The same writer said that Angie had started wearing head scarves in order to encourage Z to wear one but Z seems to hate anything on her head. I read that back when all the comments were being discussed about her health but can’t remember where. Last word: I agree with everyone who says if any of us mothers had been scrutinized 24/7 we would all have CPS checking us out.

• anamanzana
  May 25, 2006 at 12:20 pm

  This is all such petty BS…why doesn’t anyone start focusing on what we can do to increase awareness of the people on this planet who are truly in need of our focus…like women in the Congo who are being raped…like people who have no fresh drinking water while we let our golf courses be watered with pure “drinkable gold”? Start visiting the Global Green website and get over speculating about and judging others!!!

• Concerned
  May 25, 2006 at 12:27 pm

  I cringed when I saw the photo of Zahara on a bicycle without a helmut!!

  In the “olden days” before helmut laws, head injuries (often fatal)were very common among children. When the helmut law was instituted head injuries among children plummeted. The significant decrease in pediatric organ donors coincided directly with the institution of mandatory helmut laws for everyone under 18!! I KNOW because I am specialised in transplantation.

  You don’t need to be on a busy street to just have a little bad luck…loose your balance…and poor little Zahara would take quite a tumble…and with an unprotected head it could be fatal!! Before the helmut laws we would see a lot of head injuries in the ER in summertime…it was always SO SAD and SO PREVENTABLE!!!

  I think sometimes these celebrities are either ignorant or they think they are invincible!!!

• JoliePittFan
  May 25, 2006 at 1:09 pm

  Anamanzana, assuming you’re speaking to those of us discussing the subject at hand, with all due respect, I think you’re being a bit judgemental yourself aren’t you? I share your enviromental concerns, and for me they definitly aren’t a discuss today, discard tomorrow subject, but this particular thread isn’t about those issues, and I’m doubtful….not certain, but doubtful that it will segue into a discussion about those issues and so I’m a bit confused by your post.

• Christina
  May 25, 2006 at 2:33 pm

  “obviously, none of you have children”

  *cough* I guess it is a wonder mine are still living. *cough* ;) I still think they dont make a helmet that wouldnt snap little Z.’s neck. But I might be wrong - I often am. Thanks you all for keeping this conversation on a mature level. I love the PittWatchers!!!

• Rachel
  May 25, 2006 at 3:02 pm

  it really does irk me when people think it’s their business to tell another person how they should be parenting. to look at a photo of brad pitt and his child riding a bike together and the first thing that enters your mind is concern for the child, that is too much in my opinion. what kind of reality is that to be living in? everytime you see a parent with their child on the street you are wondering if the child is safe and if the parent is doing a good enough job? why not focus on your own life and how you could be improving that than putting your nose into others?

  and if you are so concerned about helping children in dangerous situations, then i think there are many more in far more concerning situations than brad & angelinas. perhaps a case of the tall poppy syndrome?

  live and let live.

• JLS
  May 25, 2006 at 3:17 pm

  It’s so easy to be critical, to find fault. Maybe Z should have a helmet but to say that obviously “none of us have children”????? It’s okay to hold the opinion that the baby needs a helmet but to say it in such a way that one sounds “holier than thou” doesn’t really help anyone and certainly doesn’t make others want to give an ear to your opinions.
  As for not discussing helmets since there are more important things to discuss. . .well, that might be true too. But whose to say we aren’t all discussing the other subjects with other people at other times and places? Whose to say we all don’t consider that to be extremely important?
  Finally, before labeling someone as “ignorant” I would want to make sure I know the correct spelling of helmet (not helmut) and losing (not loosing). We can all have opinions without putting others in categories that elevate us and diminish them. This blog is for talking about Brad and Angelina—there are many others where one can discuss other topics of importance and interest. This one is for fun. Isn’t it?

• Catherine
  May 25, 2006 at 4:00 pm

  ONCE in awile, Christina purposely posts a “Pitt Watchers React” Thread, that has a controversial ring to it, to give us something to sink our teeth into…however that does not mean the claws should come out.

  A good rule of themb to remember is that people who post comments that are obviously designed to toss barbs directly at a particular person or belief, are generally refer’d to on Blogs as “TROLLS”…they are trolling for attention, they want to hook us into a nasty tit-for-tat.

  My first rule of thumb is to IGNORE them. If no one feeds the trolls, they usually find somewhere else to troll.

  This is where I usually insert: BGPNDF

  JPF> You know I luv ya girl.

• Bethany
  May 25, 2006 at 4:02 pm

  Ryan P and Deacon w/ no helmet.
  http://i4.tinypic.com/10p259g.jpg

• Catherine
  May 25, 2006 at 4:02 pm

  and see all my typos? they are no big deal…I had 3 things going at once and needed to hurry. Everyone should know what I mean.

  did you know you can write word lkie tihs and popele wlil sitll unrdesntd you?

• JLS
  May 25, 2006 at 5:05 pm

  Typos have nothing to do with anything unless you are calling other people ignorant and misspelling your words in doing so. The typo remark was an attempt to add a bit of humor to remind us of our commonality here:humanity. While one would NEVER make the mistake of taking their child for a bike ride without a helmet, the same person would probably do something Brad Pitt would NEVER do. It’s the way of all flesh. . .mistakes, problems, mishaps, failures, oversights and all of us doing different ones from each other. . .ad infinitum.

• Catherine
  May 25, 2006 at 5:19 pm

  Touche. :) perfectly, and wisely said.

• mickey
  May 25, 2006 at 5:20 pm

  This is much ado about nothing. Brad seems to be a good parent. All these people sit back and judge as if they are perfect and it’s just ridiculous. I know people who always outfit their kids with helmets, pads, etc. and at the same time use their children as pawns in their divorce. Sure, no physical scars, but plenty of emotional ones. My point? Before you judge others, make sure your own kitchen is clean.

  He is riding a BICYCLE slowly with no one else around. Zahara was not in a life or death situation. Gimme a break.

• girladvendger
  May 25, 2006 at 6:16 pm

  Thanks Bethany for the photo of Ryan P and Deacon w/ no helmet. Everyone call Reese Witherspoon a great mom and do you think she would have let Deacon out without a helmet if she thought it was not safe?

  This is a non issue…It’s alright to remind people that the ultimate safety choice is a helmet on the toddler…but to proclaim Brad is bad dad, like some of the tabloids and other fansites…is over-reaching.

  I’m glad to learn something new everyday by being a Pitt Watcher. Thanks, for interesting debate on child safety.

  P.S.:Regarding Brittney…Where is her mom?

• Catherine
  May 25, 2006 at 6:55 pm

  MICKEY> I completely agree with you. Considering just those points, I think Brad, being trained in stunt filmaking, has one up on the average dad. He is highly unlikely to take a spill, and even if he did, he’d catch himself…and she’s strapped in tight, she ain’t goin anywhere.

• lc
  May 25, 2006 at 7:03 pm

  If we had the ability to put a camera on every parent of a child less than 5, I think no and I meant NO parent would pass the perfect parent test. Brad is a new parent.Like parents before him and those coming after him, he will learn each day how to be a better parent. This should not be the big deal that some are making it.

• jbl
  May 25, 2006 at 7:30 pm

  if you all are so concern for children’s safety and health in this world I would suggest you all go and adopt some kids from orphanages and care for them because those are the ones that really neeed your ATTENTION . You should be putting all your energy into somthing that really counts as oppose to telling someone else what to do whith their own children.

• viva brangelina
  May 25, 2006 at 8:52 pm

  U can put the helmets and all the savety gears on the kids’ bodies to make sure they’ll be safe. but we have to remember that it is destiny that will determine your life and death. how about if a psyco maniac suddenly firing bullets to those kids with savety gears? they’ll be dead too, no matter what.
  wearing savety gears can resist an injury but cannot resist someone’s destiny.

  i think judging brad as a careless father and camparing him to brit is an overreacting response.
  i have a daughter of my own. and it was hard for me to make her use her head gear when she was on zahara’s age. they were so moody about it.

  i don’t understand the world today. why do people really loves to point their fingers on other people’s nose rather than looking at their own reflection in the mirror and fix their own bad behaviors?
  are those people who criticize brad the good parents for their own kids?
  we can create millions of theories about parenting. but in the fields, it could all be soooo much different. i can tell. i am a mother.

  as for brit, i love her. but, where was her husband??

• Christina
  May 25, 2006 at 9:35 pm

  viva- I am pretty sure Brit is better off without her husband. I love her too, the poor mess. And I can say that as totally NOT the perfect parent. I do the best I can, but try not to get sucked in to all the hype. It is hard to weed through the parenting chaffe sometimes.

• Catherine
  May 25, 2006 at 9:36 pm

  Did I miss something? I don’t see anywhere that anyone acctually COMPARED Brad to Brittany Spears as a parent. and if they did…thats silly…There is no comparison!

• viva brangelina
  May 26, 2006 at 6:56 am

  yes, christina, i do too think that brit is better of without k-fed. he’s a mess for her life and her career. i really2 miss the old brit with her wonderfull belly and attractive dancing.

  catherine > that’s why i said people who wrote the article was really2 overreacting. they tried to give brad a bad name.

• Christina
  May 26, 2006 at 10:19 am

  Catherine - I read it all over the place over the last couple of days - comparing Brad to Brit.

  And viva - me too - I hope she will quit pumping out babies for that nasty guy and get back to her music - she was sooooo good.

• Mike
  May 27, 2006 at 2:01 pm

  Hi Catherine…I will look out for you on what is happening at long beach.

• Catherine
  May 27, 2006 at 2:04 pm

  HEY!! Thanks Mike!! :)

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