You guys may have heard this already, but I thought I'd post it anyway as it really is quite a good read.
Terri Irwin has hit out at critics who accuse her of pushing eight-year-old daughter, Bindi, into the media spotlight.
Irwin also demonstrated first-hand today how protective she was of Bindi, cutting off an American television reporter who persisted in asking Bindi repeated personal questions about her late father, Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin.
"I don't know that I want to go down that line," Irwin cut in after the Los Angeles TV reporter asked Bindi three consecutive questions about her famous father.
American-born Irwin, 42, and Australian Tourism Minister Fran Bailey took centre stage at the press conference at an LA hotel today where Irwin was announced as Australia's news tourism ambassador.
Media commentators in Australia and the US have been critical of Bindi's busy media campaign since her father's death from a stingray attack in September last year.
Rupert Murdoch's popular 24-hour US cable TV news network has been particularly critical of Irwin and her handlers, with fiery on-air debates.
Irwin told reporters today she did not see the Fox News reports, but had been told about them.
She said Bindi, who is home-schooled and lives inside the family's Queensland animal park, Australia Zoo, had an easier lifestyle than many other children.
"Every child is an individual and every parent needs to approach it uniquely and individually," Irwin, explaining the way she raises Bindi, told reporters.
Bindi, who finished year 3 last year, was an A-grade student, she said.
"I wouldn't say Bindi has it easy, because I have to make her go to school," she said.
"She doesn't always want to go to school.
"But, when it comes to extra-curricular activities I don't have to make her sing and dance. She asks to.
"Certainly I want to help encourage her in whatever direction she wants to take."
During her US tour for the
G'Day USA festival, which includes two concerts with The Wiggles in LA and New York, Bindi's exposure has been restricted.
In TV interviews on CNN's
Larry King and the
Ellen Degeneres talkshow, Irwin began both interviews, with Bindi brought on later.
Bindi did not appear on Jay Leno's talkshow, staying backstage while her mother sat before the cameras.
At the Tourism Australia press conference, Bindi sat at the rear of the room away from the cameras until the end of questions, when she posed for photos and answered a few media questions.
Yesterday, Bindi had a day off from the media spotlight.
For fun, she "climbed trees" on the grounds of her LA hotel, Irwin said.
"She has no problem being an eight-year-old little girl," Irwin said.
"Ginger, her teddy bear, is travelling with us and has her own suitcase.
"We are travelling well and as normally as a family who lives in a zoo can be."
The family was planning a trip to
Disneyland for Bindi and her brother Bob, three, who has been largely kept clear of cameras during the US trip.
"I think Bindi's schedule is a lot easier than a lot of children's," Irwin explained.
"... There's a lot of kids who have soccer practice, piano lessons, dance lessons and parents start feeling like a chauffeur and kids start feeling overwhelmed.
"Bindi is certainly not like that.
"Our evenings (at home in Queensland) are together as a family and we are really blessed to be able to be in a situation where we can take time off like that."
Irwin also gave further details today about why she decided to destroy the videotape containing footage of her husband's death.
She said if the tape was used for educational purposes, it may have been kept, but she feared it could be used to sensationalise the Crocodile Hunter's death.
"I couldn't see a point to the tape," Irwin said.
"I couldn't see anything but sensational interest in it.
"It certainly wasn't what Steve was about.
"He wasn't a showman for the case of being a showman.
"He was an educator and a conservationist and, if that message didn't come through, there would be no reason to air it."
Our girls and I have watched My, Daddy the Crocodile Hunter. It was very well done, but made us all a little sad at the same time.
