Strollerderby : attachment

Black Market for Blankies

Kelly Mills — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:32:00 GMT

According to the Washington Post, there's a whole slew of sellers on ebay who are buying up seemingly "'eh, what's the deal" blankets, stuffed animals, and other toys. Why? Because the items have been discontinued by manufacturers, and sellers are hoping to capitalize on the desparation of one group in particular.

The "lost lovie" parents. You know, folks whose kids are attached to a binkie, snuggle, woobie, num-num, lovie, blankie, wootsie cueball whatsit. Whatever. Sellers are counting on parents paying top dollar when their child's most precious security possession goes missing. For example, one Carter's blanket had a "buy it now" option of $54.88 and a message telling people not to ask why the price was so high, because this item could only be found on eBay.

I'm simultaneously creeped out by the idea of capitalizing on a kid's attachment to an almost irreplaceable item, and impressed by the ingenuity of people who get exactly how far parents will go to keep their kids from a lost-blankie freakout. I know my family once drove five hours back to a hotel during a packed vacation to retrieve my sister's most beloved stuffed otter.

So how far would you go or have you gone to keep your kid snuggie-satisfied? Would you pay top dollar to ebay vultures/entrepreneurs?

Teddy Bear Rescue Goes Horribly Wrong

Georgia Family Has Everything They Own Up on eBay

They Say: Baby's Smile Like a Drug

Amy Kuras — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:33:00 GMT

Periodically as I write this, I am getting high (probably little surprise to our bitchier commenters, but whatever). No, I'm not committing any crimes or endangering my children – quite the opposite, actually.

See, the drug in question is the big gummy grins being provided to me by my almost five-month-old son. In news that will certainly get the big "duh" reaction from parents and grandparents across the land, new brain research has shown that their baby's smile lights up reward centers in mothers' brains similar to those activated by recreational drug use.

Interestingly, sad expressions and other babies' faces didn’t get the same reaction from the mothers studied.
The goal of the research is to better understand the mother-infant bond and why it sometimes fails to kick in.
"The relationship between mothers and infants is critical for child development," said Dr. Lane Strathearn, assistant professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital and a research associate in Baylor's Human Neuroimaging Laboratory. "For whatever reason, in some cases, that relationship doesn't develop normally. Neglect and abuse can result, with devastating effects on a child's development."

I think this sheds light on one of the reasons why the newborn period is so tough – after all, sleep deprivation, nursing struggles, diaper changes and so on all in the service of someone who doesn’t seem to like you very much can be quite the drag. But when you see that first smile, that first recognition your child loves you, well, I'd go through newborn insanity many times over for that.

Parents Love Bio Kids Best, According to Rebecca Walker

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:47:00 GMT

Rebecca Walker, 37, the daughter of Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker ("Color Purple"), is no stranger to controversy. In her memoir, "Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood After a Lifetime of Ambivalence," she states that "...the love you have for your non-biological child isn't the same as the love you have for your own flesh and blood." Cue the uproar.

Most people would agree that attachment to a child is a function of a person's ability to love, rather than the status of that child in relation to the parent, but Ms. Walker clearly is not most people.

Read PunditMom's loving descriptions of her daughter and tell me her love isn't the same or deeper than the feelings shared between biological parents and their kids. But the real problem with these remarks is the notion that quantifying types and qualities of love for children is a necessary exercise. Ms. Walker does offer a clarification on her blog that she didn't intend to offend anyone, but perhaps it's too little too late.

[via The Washington Post]