The Doctors: Family Ties Meredith Baxter Alcoholism & Breast Cancer

The Doctors: Waxing a Toddler’s Eyebrows?

In a horrible lesson from Toddlers & Tiaras, moms are taking a new interest in their children’s appearance. Moms are waxing their kids’ unibrows and giving their kids temporary tattoos to make a statement. The statement most people are thinking, “Why?”

TV mom JoMarie Payton told The Doctors that kids are very impressionable. Her granddaughter sees her put on her make up and then wants make up of her own. She said the farthest she goes as far as pampering her granddaughter is painting her nails pink and giving her a baby-safe lavender perfume. There’s no need to wax a baby’s eyebrows. It’s too early for kids to be thinking about their appearance that much.

Dr Andrew Ordon and Dr Jim Sears are totally against this baby pampering trend. Waxing can cause infections and using certain products too early could mean developing allergies with sensitive skin.

The Doctors: Meredith Baxter Family Ties

Meredith Baxter played a mom and political activist on Family Ties. After her seven years on the show, Baxter became a real life advocate for women’s issues. The differences between her and her character stop there. Elyse Keaton had four children, while Baxter had five. She said it was easy to be a mom when she could read her lines and reprimands. She didn’t have the same ease with her real life family.

Meredith Baxter on Lesbianism, Alcoholism, & Abuse

Meredith’s life looked put together on screen, but you can read about her chaos in Untied: a Memoir of Family, Fame, and Floundering. The New York Times bestseller talks about abuse, alcoholism, breast cancer and she’s very open with her lesbianism. Baxter said that when she wasn’t on Family Ties, her husband was verbally abusive. She was afraid of her children watching their relationship and thinking, “Oh, that’s how a woman acts,” or “That’s what marriage is.” She didn’t want to set a horrific example.

Alcohol was a coping mechanism for Baxter. It was how she felt better about her thinking and troubles. To come through that, Baxter was approached by a producer and told that her performance was suffering. She thought it was going to be a great performance, but it was just the opposite. She got sober “just to get people off my back.”

Meredith Baxter Beats Breast Cancer

Of all of her battles and challenges that she has overcome, Baxter said that breast cancer was the easiest. If cancer is your easiest battle that says a lot. She said she had a few lumpectomies and everything was great for a few years. Then she found a new lump and had to have both breasts reduced to get the cancer.

“I now have the breasts of a 14 year old!” she said that she used to have “massive breasts.”

You can get seasons 1 through 5 of Family Ties and Meredith Baxter’s book, Untied, on Amazon.