Some people would probably think that Suri Cruise is the luckiest girl in the world. In her short life (she turns 3 on April 18), Daddy Tom Cruise and Mommy Katie Holmes have reportedly spent a million dollars for her education. This includes private tutors to teach her Spanish and French, instructors for ballet, tap, and modern dance, gymnastics, art and music. She probably has the coolest playmates in the world – Romeo (6) and Cruz (4) Beckham, sons of David and Victoria Beckham. All for the sake of giving Suri a “well-rounded” education.

Some tabloids are a bit critical of Tom’s devotion for Suri. “You’d think she’s an only child”, apparently referring to Tom’s two adoptive kids with Nicole Kidman. I am not sure whether this accusation of favoritism is justified but indeed Isabella Jane (16) and Connor Antony (14) have remained away from the limelight, compared, for example, to the mixed brood of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt or Madonna.

During the last three years, my husband and I have been agonizing as to what to do with our twins’ education. Private international school or public school? The private schools have the advantage of English being the medium of instruction. The main disadvantage, as you can well guess, are the horrendous school fees. The public schools in the area of Switzerland where we live are free and are taught in German, with English taught as a foreign language at the 2^nd or 3^rd grade. Apparently, we are not the only parents faced with this decision. In every kiddie birthday party or playdate, the subject of conversation among moms are always about the where’s, what’s and how much’s of schools and who is going to which school. One time, my husband got sick of it and asked whether we didn’t have anything else to talk about.

The questions that we ask ourselves are:

• Can we afford private schools?
• Even if we can, should be spend the money on school fees now or save it for college?
• Would private/public schools be a good environment for our kids?

Many parents try to give to their kids what they probably didn’t have during their childhood so I guess it’s the same for Tom and Katie. I am pretty sure though that they don’t have to worry about school fees now or college money later and I envy them for that.

On the other hand, I don’t believe that my kids will have a disadvantaged childhood compared to Suri Cruise. We may not be able to afford private lessons and tutors but we love our kids just as Tom and Katie love their Suri. And that’s the most important thing, isn’t it – love.

I am happy to say, though, that we don’t need tutors to teach our boys foreign languages. They’ve been brought up bilingually (English and German) and are expected to learn French and maybe some Italian in the Swiss public schools. And this is something that Suri doesn’t have!

Suri Cruise is an adorable little girl. I find myself stopping to read captions about her unbelievable wardrobe, her activities, and recently, her favorite play things, when skimming through magazines or visiting celeb websites.

Each photo I have seen so far has featured her with very classic, non-commercial plush characters in tow. There was one with a large plush giraffe, several of her carrying the British bear, Paddington, a few with Curious George and a few with one of my favorites, Olivia the Pig.

I have seen the Olivia books at my nieces’ house and in bookstores and plan to get them for our baby boy. We do have several Curious George books but I don’t recall ever buying our boys a stuffed Curious George.

It’s interesting to me that I have yet to see Suri with a Barbie (okay, maybe she’s a bit young for them), anything in the Disney princess theme, or any character from popular TV shows or movies, like Dora the Explorer. Upon thinking about this, I started to wonder if this reflects any of the values of Scientology, the religion/philosophy followed by parents Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

I heard a bit of a recent Tom Cruise interview, in which he said that they tend to deemphasize the material aspect of Christmas in their home. That’s very nice but please-a two year old dressed in Juicy Couture is not lacking in material things!

Based on her favorite characters, I gather that Suri is not exposed to a lot of television but instead exposed more to books. I like this. I like that she totes around Curious George and Paddington the bear, characters which were around when I was a kid. These characters have withstood the test of time. Our kids read about them, love them and we can relate. I’m on a mission to introduce our new little guy to the classics, including Pooh Bear and the Cat in the Hat.

I’ll be looking out for more of Suri’s favorite tag-along pals and playthings.

Hollywood star Tom Cruise is full of surprises. According to recent reports online, he said that he would love to have seven more kids with wife Katie Holmes. It’s not clear if he has shared this information with his wife as yet. The 46-year old said in an interview “I want ten children. I love kids. I feel really fortunate to have the teenagers and a two and a half-year-old. It’s a great dynamic.”

Tom and his ex-wife Nicole Kidman have two adopted children, Isabella, 16, and Connor, 13. Suri, his biological daughter with current wife Katie Holmes was born on April 18, 2006. In the interview he said of his youngest, “She’s so charming, she’s so beautiful, she’s just great.” If Tom has his way, Suri will be having lots of company.

Tom also recently revealed that a big part of what drives him as a father is the strained relationship he had with his own father. His parents divorced in 1974 when Tom was 11, and he admits that he never saw his father much after that. This is an all too common story, but often the affected children grow up determined to break the cycle.

If Tom’s own words are any indication he has remained true to his convictions. “I’m a great parent. I want to be with my kids, and they get to do all the stuff that I wanted to do when I was growing up. My own father wasn’t there much for me and I want to be a different dad to my kids. My family is the most important thing in my life.”

Tom and his ex-wife Nicole have also done their best to ensure that they continued to have a strong bond with Connor and Isabella. “Nic and I are very committed and successful in sharing the parenting,” he said. I know he has received a lot of negative press lately, but I certainly admire his stance.

It’s clear that, like so many of us, parenting has helped Tom Cruise grow as a person. With all the ups and downs, and everything that parenthood can throw at you, it can really help you to find out who you are. Best of luck to Tom with his baby plans, and if he hasn’t let Katie in on them yet, well now would be a good time.

By the way, here’s a nice bit of Tom trivia for fans who didn’t know, his birth name is  actually, Thomas Cruise Mapother IV.

There are fascinating commentary debates all the time on two of the most popular parents in Hollywood: The Jolie-Pitts and the Holmes-Cruise.

In recent articles regarding Suri Cruise and the Jolie-Pitt kids over at Celebrity Babies there are debates ranging in topic from Suri Cruise’s weather-appropriate wardrobe, to whether the Jolie-Pitt kids are missing out by their parents “making them travel” all the time.

One camp usually defends the parents, arguing that it is their choice, it is their kids, and they know more/better than strangers do. They then question the dissenting commenter as to whether they would be this intrusive and critical to a parent in real life.

The other camp counter-argue that they are celebrities. If they wanted to keep their kids out of the limelight they should themselves stay out of the limelight, and that this is the price they pay for putting their lives and children out there. Other intelligent arguments are that parents don’t always know what’s best, as evidenced by the failings of many parents to do what’s right for their kids. (Britney Spears with baby on lap while driving, anyone?).

I can see both point, but still feel sorry that these children, who didn’t ask for all this celebrity, is under so much scrutiny. I am glad I don’t subscribe or buy any tabloid magazines. And feel a little guilty that Celebrity Babies is one of my frequent reads. The shots the feature aren’t always taken with a long-lens camera, and I’ve read statements of some of the kids being scared of the paparazzi.

What do you think? Which camp do you agree or disagree with?