February 11, 2007 - 3:24 pm
Ok, so now I’m officially a hipster parenting apologist (again). But really, you know what I am? Sticking up for the little guy, the picked on, the latest media backlash kicking bag: The alterna-hipster-whatever-parent.
Time Magazine reporter James Poniewozik writes a scathing piece decrying the narcissism of our generation of parents, and I’ve officially swallowed a hornet.
Parents being more introspective and analytical and even intellectual about the whole enterprise should be reason to celebrate, not deride.
I suspect the author of the anti-hip-parenting piece is a Baby Boomer with an ax to grind. In any event, his analysis of the likes of Babble and Girl’s Gone Child (Rebecca is quoted in the piece) entirely misses the point. We parent differently. We talk about it before during and afterward. We navel gaze, but we also try and create a better world by building real communities where we share feelings, and information, and books, and radio shows, and silly t-shirts that get us sued by The National Pork Board.
Big media is scared witless because we no longer need Meredith Viera to talk us through whether it’s ok to have a drink during a playdate. The democratization of parenting information is at hand.
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Meanwhile, Daddy & Mommy had a night away and I’m recharged and so much more relaxed now…. because of… the spa visit. Ahem.
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“Big media is scared witless because we no longer need Meredith Viera to talk us through whether it’s ok to have a drink during a playdate. The democratization of parenting information is at hand.”
I don’t know if this was ever true though.
I asked my mom and she said she was never filled with angst or questions about parenting or drinking.
They just did. Cos everyone did. Nobody questioned each other apart from the biggies of ‘boy your kid is a spoiled brat’…
I think this is the first time that the media are trying to USE us and we fight back. Thanks to things like the blog.
We don’t believe what we are told and we question.
That is a new thing and a good thing.
February 11th, 2007 at February 11, 2007 - 4:19 pmBut also, never before was parenting books a multimillion industry.
I would say that I’m less riled up about the argument. I mean, I am just too tired, you know? (
February 11th, 2007 at February 11, 2007 - 7:38 pmYEAH!!! What you said!
LOVE the matching outfits, by the way.
February 11th, 2007 at February 11, 2007 - 8:50 pmMy inner cynic chalks this up to a case of “whatever sells magazines”…
February 12th, 2007 at February 12, 2007 - 1:03 pmI don’t really consider myself hip, but I would totally wear that outfit if my stomach looked that Mom.
February 12th, 2007 at February 12, 2007 - 3:10 pm“Big media is scared witless because we no longer need Meredith Viera to talk us through whether it’s ok to have a drink during a playdate. The democratization of parenting information is at hand.”
Yeah! And - yeeee ha! (*loud hooting and thundering applause*)
February 12th, 2007 at February 12, 2007 - 4:25 pmI don’t think that your righteous and right-on ire here negates in any way what you were saying earlier. I mean, holy crappy christ, but just how many hoops do we have to dance through before we can be seen as serious parents — or see ourselves that way.
Anything that says = you must do or be thus or so, whether that’s hip, staid or purple polka dotted == is a trap. “Hip” parenting started as a way not to get caught in the trap but if it becomes its own trap, then, well, it’s another trap. I need a new word for trap.
Your insights are right on. We just need to do what we’re trying to do as best as we can.
February 12th, 2007 at February 12, 2007 - 6:36 pmFrom a pre baby-boomer step mother with hips to a hipster mama, spit out the hornet and get real. While Gen Xer parents may be on the leading edge of communicating about maintaining self while at the same time raising young children right now - nothing that is being said or done now by you has not been said, done, ingested, drunk or smoked by previous generations. The heart of what makes this compelling is that you care about your kids.
Besides, does Time Magazine even begin to define you? They write to a 12-year-old reading level on topics that are only slightly more intellectual than what would otherwise go into People Magazine and of course are written to have conflict or who would read it.
If it makes you feel better to think you are different from previous parents (even baby boomers with axes to grind) than go for it. But the only thing that has changed is the context in which you bring your kids up and how you respond to the times around you.
You blog because you can. Without blogs, we wouldn’t know if you were angsting, or introspecting or whatever. What I am trying to tell you is that I am grateful that your generation cares about their kids. And I find it compelling reading, but not always for the reasons that you write it.
February 13th, 2007 at February 13, 2007 - 4:54 pm“We parent differently. We talk about it before during and afterward. We navel gaze, but we also try and create a better world by building real communities…” - I whole heartedly agree. Isn’t the blogging parenting community just the independent outlet for parenting discussion. We don’t need Dr. Spock, Meredith Viera, or those crazy cats who write “What to Expect…”, we can discuss real time with real people going through exactly what we are doing. Who share our concerns and angst, triumphs, and turmoils.
The blogs are the outlets for our naval gazing…it’s the naval gazing that makes us cool! = )
(New to the blog)
March 16th, 2007 at March 16, 2007 - 11:16 am