Saturday, May 12, 2012

Bored by attachment parenting

Have you seen Time Magazine lately? There is a controversial cover of a young mom nursing her three year old with the headline, “Are You Mom Enough?” It is here: http://lightbox.time.com/2012/05/10/parenting/#1

Ugh.

I am so tired of hearing about attachment parenting. Or tiger-mom parenting. Or French parents.

I really don’t care if you breastfeed your child until college. I think that is great. Or if you bottle feed, good for you. And I don’t care if your baby sleeps in your family bed, in a crib, or in a drawer.

I am not worried about your vaccine schedule. Or your favorite way to carry your baby.

I hate how parenting labels force us into a rigid set of rules. Attachment parents suddenly need to use a stroller and uh oh! Against the rules! What would Dr. Sears say? I am not into being rigid. I am into doing what works best for me and my family and I want other families to feel that kind of flexibility too.

The Time Magazine cover is intentionally provocative. But the uproar about this mom and how she breastfeeds her kid bores me. I have no opinion about how long you breastfeed. Let's move on to a more interesting topic.

1 comment:

  1. With you 100%....I was thinking about this in the shower this morning...how did parenting turn competitive? How is that something that can even be made competitive? ugh... what we all need as parents is a little more compassion & community and less dichotomy.

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