The parent trap

I thought this was pretty interesting, probably mainly because I agree with almost everything she says. And it's stuff I've been saying pretty much since Leanna was born.
The only parts I disagree with: she claims that modern parents don't use playpens because they don't want to limmit their kids's exploration. I think it's because they just aren't needed as much. Kids today spend more time in cars and carseats, more kids go to daycares and preschools so less time at home, and their houses are better childproofed. For me personally I just didn't find it very useful. (With Leanna our house was too small and she didn't get into stuff the way the boys did. By the time the boys are old enough to be crawling or walking over to dangerous things they were old enough to be climbing. My kids all learned to climb rather young.) And we do have a time out Lamb (a stuffed animal with a timer on it's belly to be used for time outs) but it was a birthday present for Justin and I thought it was for the parent's convenience, not to cushion the timeout for the kid! LOL.

I've always thought that those classses for babies were really for the parents. I do like that she explains that the reason there's a market for so many of the parenting specialists though isn't because parents aren't capable or are being too capitalist, but because they often live too far away from family or because more family members (including the parents) are working more and don't have time or energy to help. I wouldn't hire any of them myself-with the exception of a doula, that sounds awesome!-but I think they could be a great help to some parents. The stuff about baby einstein just cracks me up! Especially where she says that Days of Our Lives may have actually been better for them. (For the record I don't watch soap operas, unless you count Tom's show, One Tree Hill.)
Parents are saying: "Oh my God, my child is mesmerized. He loves it!" Maybe. We don't know what is going on inside their brain. Maybe they're like Alex in "A Clockwork Orange," and they're forced to watch these images that they want nothing to do with, and yet they can't move.
That's a terrible thought!!
Anyway, she concludes with the idea that it's better for the kids to reuse, recycle, repurpose. And don't worry so much about buying the right stuff for them. Woo hoo! I'm right on track for once!