The Babble List: Parenting Trends
10 that are in, 10 that are out.
by Madeline Holler
July 8, 2008
6. Getting religion: Okay, maybe not religion. Church attendance is
dropping. But lapsed Catholics, non-practicing Jews, even some atheists
are looking for a way to teach their kids about religion — all
religions — and discuss things like virtue and character.
So they're
looking to the humanists, universalists, even regular ol' Sunday school
to get the big questions answered.
7. Blogging babies: We're a proud bunch, we parents. We've been bragging
about the kids since Cave Baby Jr. first crawled out on the steppes. But
only recently has the bragging — the storytelling, the sharing — been
offered to so many readers who are actually known by so few. Instead of
our mom's annual Brag Bulletin, we're blogging. We do it ironically,
with a bottomless cache of digital pics (often of our perfectly made-up
selves), for the whole, entire world to see. And also for a profit.
8. Some call it outsourcing; others call it survival: Parents are hiring
help to figure it out and get it done. We laugh at parenting coaches and
sleep trainers, but middle-class Americans also used to save eating out
for special occasions and speak in fake British accents when talking
about a housekeeper. Not so anymore. We often live far away from our own
moms and dads — their help is for free. And we've put spending time
with our families at the top of our priorities. If we can pay someone to
teach us to nurse a baby or get her to sleep,
or if we can contract
out the search for preschool, you know what? We will.
9. Sleep-training: Parents' desire for the babies to sleep (perchance to
dream of sleep themselves) is the trend that will never die. Which is
why parents, now, do whatever works — rigid scheduling, co-sleeping,
Ferberizing, cribs, bassinets, car seats, swings, slings. Until someone
comes up with the magic baby sleep pill,
we'll be over in the corner, just resting.
10. Homeschooling: It's kooky! It's Christian! It's barely legal!
It's working! Homeschoolers win Spelling Bees and Geography Bees! They
go to Harvard, Princeton and Yale! Can't get on board with this
increasingly popular trend?
Don't worry. More homeschoolers mean more open spaces in those sought
after magnet and charter schools (See Out Trend #8). So, you know, whew!
Article photo: Roy Botterell/Getty
©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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