I just caught wind of this "trend" from one of my web design clients...yikes!
These baby planners do all sorts of things for busy moms-to-be...like interview nannies, and can even help with "thinking through how to integrate" new babies into homes with existing children, because, of course, nobody knows how to just be a real person anymore...
I love the fact that I do it all myself...and well! Sure there are some rough, hard times, but that is what makes a real life...not a business plan.
Showing posts with label baby planners. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baby planners. Show all posts
Monday, May 26, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
True luxuries come at a different price
Today in the Post, I read about how "Luxury Services for Pregnant Women are Booming" and became nauseated by more "news" illustrating how Americans think they are due these outrageous luxuries because they are "taking care of themselves" or "taking time for themselves" when they're really just spending loads of money on bullshit.
As the mama of an eleven month old, I still remember pregnancy. Ah, these were glory days. Sure, I wasn't able to run as much or weight train or drink, but boy did my husband treat me well. He brought me my nightly snacks, rubbed my back and feet. He was nice! Plus, I could still go to movies, I could still dine out without wrestling a little one in and out of a high chair. I enjoyed getting special care and attention and I took good care of myself. I even got a few massages down on my lunch breaks (I worked up til the day before I gave birth). But, all this over-the-top spa culture of extreme pampering, at crazy prices, to me seems nutso. The article even cites posh preggos paying $25 to take a nap. Come on!
The article also gives voice to one woman carrying on about how she was obsessing about where to get apple green bedding for her baby's crib, and I had to laugh. I remember I spent a weekend furiously web surfing for special crib bedding, marveling at all the cute designs out there, but stopping short and just getting a cute jungle set from Target once I saw the price tags. Good thing. We don't use the crib for much more than storage, or a cooling off jail cell for the baby when she can't calm down before bed. Instead, we do a sort of transitional co-sleeping dealio on a futon. It's the best.
I believe that the non-marketed, figure-it-out yourself discoveries and other variations on "official" philosophies/practices (attachment parenting, etc.) are what makes my life my own, what keeps it real and authentic. A little pampering is good, of course, but Americans are becoming more and more luxury-driven (when we can afford it less and less) while at the same time becoming dumber about how to do anything for ourselves and think things through practically.
What about women who read articles like this and think, "I deserve to feel good about myself. I need that, too. I am worth it..." and then they go chasing after these pricey extravagances to try and feel something? I ask, what kind of births will these women have? What kind of motherhood will they experience? I wonder, after they get sucked into the accoutrements and trappings of pregnancy and motherhood, how engaged will they be in their babies' births and their babies' lives? How many will be drugged out and turn over the power of their birth experience to more service people (doctors, nurses, etc.)? How many will then turn over the very caring for of their babies to service people (daycare, nannies)?
I know, some people have to have medicated births and some have to send their infants to daycare, but many choose to, and of course, it's their choice. But how many even consider other options? My view is that they are only cheating themselves out of truly priceless experiences when you have other people do so much for you. Are you really living your own life, or are you just in a constant cycle of earning and spending. I think people need to get reacquainted with the simpler pleasures in life—give me a foot massage from my husband and a pint of Häagen-Dazs and I'm good!
Honestly, what provided me with the best luxury of all—taking this special time in my life to relish being mama to a baby by working part time from home, rather than shipping her off to daycare as an infant—was being prudent with savings and working hard before she was born. Not blowing thousands of dollars on pampering.
As the mama of an eleven month old, I still remember pregnancy. Ah, these were glory days. Sure, I wasn't able to run as much or weight train or drink, but boy did my husband treat me well. He brought me my nightly snacks, rubbed my back and feet. He was nice! Plus, I could still go to movies, I could still dine out without wrestling a little one in and out of a high chair. I enjoyed getting special care and attention and I took good care of myself. I even got a few massages down on my lunch breaks (I worked up til the day before I gave birth). But, all this over-the-top spa culture of extreme pampering, at crazy prices, to me seems nutso. The article even cites posh preggos paying $25 to take a nap. Come on!
The article also gives voice to one woman carrying on about how she was obsessing about where to get apple green bedding for her baby's crib, and I had to laugh. I remember I spent a weekend furiously web surfing for special crib bedding, marveling at all the cute designs out there, but stopping short and just getting a cute jungle set from Target once I saw the price tags. Good thing. We don't use the crib for much more than storage, or a cooling off jail cell for the baby when she can't calm down before bed. Instead, we do a sort of transitional co-sleeping dealio on a futon. It's the best.
I believe that the non-marketed, figure-it-out yourself discoveries and other variations on "official" philosophies/practices (attachment parenting, etc.) are what makes my life my own, what keeps it real and authentic. A little pampering is good, of course, but Americans are becoming more and more luxury-driven (when we can afford it less and less) while at the same time becoming dumber about how to do anything for ourselves and think things through practically.
What about women who read articles like this and think, "I deserve to feel good about myself. I need that, too. I am worth it..." and then they go chasing after these pricey extravagances to try and feel something? I ask, what kind of births will these women have? What kind of motherhood will they experience? I wonder, after they get sucked into the accoutrements and trappings of pregnancy and motherhood, how engaged will they be in their babies' births and their babies' lives? How many will be drugged out and turn over the power of their birth experience to more service people (doctors, nurses, etc.)? How many will then turn over the very caring for of their babies to service people (daycare, nannies)?
I know, some people have to have medicated births and some have to send their infants to daycare, but many choose to, and of course, it's their choice. But how many even consider other options? My view is that they are only cheating themselves out of truly priceless experiences when you have other people do so much for you. Are you really living your own life, or are you just in a constant cycle of earning and spending. I think people need to get reacquainted with the simpler pleasures in life—give me a foot massage from my husband and a pint of Häagen-Dazs and I'm good!
Honestly, what provided me with the best luxury of all—taking this special time in my life to relish being mama to a baby by working part time from home, rather than shipping her off to daycare as an infant—was being prudent with savings and working hard before she was born. Not blowing thousands of dollars on pampering.
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