Predictably, I heard some grumbling around Kingston on Wednesday about our front-page New Year’s baby story “glorifying” teen pregnancy and unwed motherhood. (The region’s first baby of 2008, featured on our Wednesday cover, was born to 17-year-old Stephanie Kinch of Kerhonkson and her 20-year-old boyfriend, Christopher Moran.)

We in the media certainly have no control over who gives birth or when it happens — or over a mother’s age or marital status — but I found it a bit amusing to hear the grousing on Wednesday given that one of the most popular movies right now is “Juno,” about a pregnant and unwed 16-year-old; and one of the most successful movies of 2007 was “Knocked Up,” about a single woman, presumably in her mid-20s, becoming pregnant after a one-night stand with a guy she picked up in a bar.

Life, indeed, imitates art. It just seems we have more tolerance for art than we do for real life.