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.
8 comments:
On my comment, you aren't judging...so I'll do it for you! :)
If you're too busy to pick out the nanny yourself, you definitely aren't going to have time for a child. Plus, if parents just decided to take the time from their career to do it themselves, they wouldn't have to work so much to make the money to pay the baby planner to pay the nanny to watch their child. Obviously, I can't see the point. I agree with you, Jerseygirl!
I think you nailed it with laziness. So many parents focus on their own lives - careers, friends, hobbies - and seem to put parenting way down the list. They have kids because it's almost culturally expected, but then they don't want to do the work.
wow! I've not heard of all these! I don't get it either. I mean, missing out on all that hard stuff means you miss out on all the good stuff, the attachment, the love and the fun too!
My opinion? If you really want to outsource everything, and you have a nanny, just give the nanny a raise/bonus and a budget and let him/her handled all of that! After all, if the nanny has more of his/her life invested in your kid, then they're more likely to make better decisions for the kid than some sort of baby concierge.
Wow, I find this post full of negative reinforcement. Perhaps your point might be more well-received if it contained an ounce of optimism, or... love.
I think you nailed it with laziness. So many parents focus on their own lives - careers, friends, hobbies - and seem to put parenting way down the list. They have kids because it's almost culturally expected, but then they don't want to do the work.
On my comment, you aren't judging...so I'll do it for you! :)
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