Far be it for me to criticize other parents. Really, I don't like to judge.
But.
I just don't GET parents who hire a baby planner, aka "baby concierge".
While I'm a fan of parents making informed decisions and reading expert opinions, I think parenting outsourcing has gotten out of control. Not only can you hire someone to toilet train or sleep train your child, you can now have someone teach you how to sign up for your baby registry and choose a childcare provider. Seriously.
Is it really that hard to read a few magazines or websites and pick the best products? Is it too much to ask friends and acquaintances with kids? Is it too selfish to just pick what appeals to you?
What's the point of having a kid if the baby planner chooses the registry and the nanny, the nanny spends 80 hours a week with the kid, the toilet trainer potty trains your kid, the sleep trainer teaches your kid to sleep on its own, the speech therapist teaches your kid to communicate (and I don't mean the kids with speech problems, either) the tutor teaches your kid to read and the personal shopper picks out of all your kid's clothes?
Oh, how I wish I was kidding.
Isn't it sad that so many parents are so terrified of doing something wrong that they don't actually parent their kids at all?
There might also be some laziness involved. Because all that stuff is HARD. (Except the baby registry. That's just fun.) But isn't that the point? I mean, if you want something easy you get a cat.
And speaking of cats, happy birthday to my fantastic mom, cat owner, writer, editor, gardener, super cook, doting Grammy, dancer and family rock. I don't know what we'd do without her.
