The Babble List: Parenting Trends
10 that are in, 10 that are out.
by Madeline Holler
July 8, 2008
6. Nursing beyond babyhood: A huge number of new moms are breastfeeding.
The largest number ever in modern times are making it to the recommended
six months. But nursing until the kid hits kindergarten will never be widely popular. Sure, extended nursers will always have La Leche
League and each other. But they'll never convince a majority of moms to
nurse preschoolers (or
eight-year-olds). Hell, the Swedes don't even do that.
7. Buying baby some smarts: Monochromatic mobiles, Baby Einstein videos,
Mandarin-only playgroups, tutors for three-year-olds. We'll do whatever
it takes to get our kids ahead. Or we used to. Thanks to a critical eye,
vetted studies, and sympathy for four-year-olds with fuller schedules
than Mom, we're finding out that you can't teach kids before they're
ready. Enrichment videos aren't going to put baby over-the-top (and may even hold
them back).
Instead, afternoons at the park, quiet time with the 'rents, a big pile
of blocks and time to develop are all they ever needed to learn their
shapes, colors and ABCs.
8. Spending $30K/year on kindergarten: Sure, private schools aren't
going anywhere. But public schools are slowly, quietly, getting their
acts together (some had theirs together the whole time!). Whether you
lucked out with a nearby magnet or landed a spot in the popular and
promising local charter school, more and more kids are learning
plenty on the public dime.
9. Elimination Communication: Mini-trend? Fake-trend?
Trend-in-name-only? Whatever it is, getting babies to pee on the potty
feels like too much work to go fully mainstream and stick. Of course, EC
has its loyalists. And we can thank them for creating a big enough
market for those crazy cute baby leg-warmers that are even available at
Target.
As a trend, though, the diaper-free movement has no legs. Spending hours
staring at a pantless child while searching for signs of an impending
bowel movement will never compete on a large scale with regular coffee
dates, sympathetic grown-ups and not having to explain why your kid is
crapping in the sink.
10. Attachment parenting purity (and its evil twin, defensive opposition
to all things "touchy-feely"): Some mothers feed the newborns formula
while carrying them in a sling. Others nurse their babies and then let
them cry-it-out in a crib. Sometimes you co-sleep; other times you
install the kids in a separate wing of the house (and turn off the baby
monitor). Hybrid systems aren't just for cars. They're also an
energy-efficient method for childrearing. Even attachment parenting experts are starting to vouch for this.
Whatever you're doing, you're not the
first, you're not alone, and everybody's going to
be just fine!
©2008 Babble
About the Author
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Madeline Holler is a writer and mother of two. She lives in Long Beach, California. |
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