Paula's Soapbox

Baby switches are nothing new in daytime. They provide months, if not years, of story, keeping viewers on pins and needles waiting for the "big reveal." Most are quite memorable and prompt hard-to-forget performances...when they're done correctly, like the As the World Turns baby switch between Gwen and Jennifer.  This was a beautifully-crafted, heartbreaking storyline where Gwen and Casey's baby died, but Craig switched their baby for his and Jennifer's. Hence, Jennifer thought her baby was dead, when really Gwen was raising him as a single parent. This baby switch worked because people sympathized with both parties. Viewers desperately wanted to see Jennifer reunited with her son, but felt sorry for Gwen and the inevitable loss she would face when that happened. Fortunately Gwen found support and comfort with her newly-discovered sister Carly and loving boyfriend Will. The ATWT baby switch stands in stark contrast to the one currently airing on G...

After months of allowing herself to be deceived and manipulated by Nicole and Stefano so that she could keep her baby's adoption intact, only to find out that said baby wasn't hers because her baby had died, one would think that Mia would have enough drama to last a lifetime. Instead it seems that she has picked up a few bad habits from Nicole because she has turned to manipulating Gabi in order to stake her claim on Chad, someone she didn't seem to want a few weeks ago. As if the Mia character wasn't irritating enough already, this newly calculative Mia is actually making me feel sorry for Gabi, which only makes her that much more irritating. I was stunned that she used Nicole's hearing as an opportunity to drive a wedge between Chad and Gabi, the same hearing that they were discussing her baby's death and the kidnapping of Will's baby sister. In doing this she not only undermined Will's importance in her life, but Sydney and Grace's as well...and p...