What I'm Reading

I just finished reading Parenting, Inc . In the book, "Pamela Paul uncovers how, over the past generation, the parenting industry has convinced parents that they cannot trust their children's health, happiness, and success to themselves. From the statistically warped warning labels touting deluxe car seats to the booming supply of baby consultants charging hundreds of dollars, parents are assaulted by a whirligig (love this word) of marketing hype, social pressure, and celebrity expertise, transforming the way they raise their children." Bottom line: you don't need an expensive stroller, a diaper wipe warmer or those Gymboree classes. Take your child to the library, the post office, the park. Read, color, paint, use play dough and turn off the television (unless your making dinner or on the phone with your mom). The author says all this without sounding as snotty as I do.

"Educators are now urging parents to hold off on preschool prep. The Alliance for Childhood has issue guidelines for parents urging them to "curtail time spent in organized activities". The American Academy of Pediatrics issued (in 2006) an unusual report for an association of medical doctors: "The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds" laments the preponderance of structured activities and marketing-driven, adult-centered play, calling on doctors to help parents recognize the importance of free play to healthy brain development. The AAP condemned the role marketers play in depriving children of just that kind of free tine: "Parents are receiving carefully marketed messages that good parents expose their children to every opportunity to excel, buy a plethora of enrichment tools, and ensure that their children participate in a wide variety of activities.......Specialized gyms and enrichment programs designed for children exist in many communities and there is an abundance of after-school enrichment activities. These tools and programs are heavily marketed, and many parents have grown to believe they are a requirement of good parenting and a necessity for appropriate development. "