The Attached Mother

I read an interesting article about the book Parenting, Inc. The book deals with what many people deal with the high cost of parenting in today’s culture. A thousand and one items, classes, and toys that parents are expected to buy quickly adds up. Parents to surrender to the marketing ploys can quickly spend a small fortune on their children.

From ergonomic strollers, to sleep consultants, to professional potty training, child rearing has become a very big business. Author Pamela Paul discusses her new book, Parenting, Inc. and the aggressive marketing aimed at new moms and dads.

“Sometimes, spending a lot on children isn’t just unnecessary; it’s counterproductive,” Paul writes. “Every parent I know is struggling to figure out how to afford a family without succumbing to the spiral of consumption that characterizes modern parenthood.”

For some the bills begin piling up before the baby is even born. There are so many things being marketed to new parents. Strollers, cribs, swings, special chairs, vibrating toys that plays ocean sounds and attaches to the crib. If you can dream it up there is someone ready to sell it to you. I learned the hard way how to have a new baby and save money, but soon even if you do all you can not to spend a fortune on your infant soon enough the toddler stage kicks in.

One expense mentioned in the book that I found a telling point was baby sign language, something that I used with my own children.

Baby signing—for babies who can hear perfectly well—had become so popular that we also felt prodded by a competitive impetus: Everyone else seemed to be signing their children up. Our friends Paul and Ericka had a daughter who signed; she waved and poked her chubby hands about whenever she wanted to speak her mind. A genius! Shouldn’t Beatrice have the same advantage? Any parent can understand why we were tempted. We all want to provide our children with every opportunity and are eager to get a sense of what’s going on inside our preverbal babies’ minds.

Still, the classes were expensive. Plus, it would take time away from work in order for me to commute to wherever it was that baby signers convened, surely not in my neighborhood, where most parents struggle to afford quality day care.

There were no classes being offered near my family when my oldest was an infant, and even if there were there was no way we could have afforded them. But I was able to afford a couple used books and the internet. Within a few months my oldest was fluent in sign language, something that I am sure helped him later as he began to speak.

Like anything else parenting can be really expensive, if you choose to make it so. For most things there are cheaper options available, including the option to say “no”. Buy used clothes instead of brand new, skip the commercialized toys and gadgets, head to the park rather than special classes. If need be turn off the TV and cancel the magazine subscriptions so you won’t be bombarded with advertisements for this and that item that you absolutely need.

parenting, Parenting Inc, book, marketing, commercialization