Color me amused (and maybe bemused)...

I've always been absolutely fascinated by the American culture as it relates to parenting and parents' roles. It used to make me quite angry, but I'm finally developing a sense of humor about it because--well, just like watching an obnoxious jerk slipping on a banana peel, it's almost as funny as it is painful.

Take for example (all of these firsthand accounts, BTW, that I have seen with my own eyes):

*The young woman dressed in a baby doll tee (for those not in the know, it's a toddler-sized shirt that a well endowed adult squeezes herself into, also known as a Boob Shirt) with no bra (though she was wearing a cute little open jacket), and low-rider jeans that showed off the top of her thong when she bent over. Now, I have to admit, she did look pretty cute and hot. And I'm not really offended by this clothing per se (I find it kind of amusing, esp. when people MY age wear it). But, she looked at me nursing Tom (I was wearing a full coverage nursing shirt AND a blanket, since it was a bit on the cool side) and turns to her friend and squeals, "OooooOOOoh...I can't believe what SOME people will do in PUBLIC!!!" I guess if I were a proper lactivist, I would have had a witty comeback, but I was so surprised and just amused by the visual image of THAT coming out of HER mouth that I laughed hysterically almost right in her face. Let's just say they grabbed their kids and hightailed it to the other side of the park.

*Someone I know has an internet blog that's public. Normally she filters out kid stuff, but she was so amused by a recent Code Brown by one of the kids (unintentional poop in the bathtub) and the reaction of their sibling that she forgot this time. Enter a complete stranger, blogsurfing, who doesn't subscribe and doesn't even KNOW her, but still feels compelled to throw a fit about 'disgusting people who talk about BODILY FLUIDS of their children in PUBLIC!' (as one might say in l33T internet-speak, TEH EVUL!!!!!11111!) Hey, I understand. Some people DO find such talk offensive, no matter how innocent the reference. Out of curiousity, I surf over to the Complainer's blog, and discover numerous references to her rather...unrestrained? love life. So I'm guessing that it's only the bodily fluids and functions of the G-rated crowd that are offensive.

*People I know, mainly men, who are adamant that breastfeeding should never happen in a public place because someone might get a flashed nipple, but have no problems with the Victoria's Secret primetime special on network TV.

*Let's not forget the old standby of white, married, middle class women being TEH EVUL if they don't stay home with their kids...and the poor welfare recipients (mostly divorced and/or women of color) who are lazy and decadent if they don't go to work.

*If you have children, for Pete's sake NEVER talk about them when you're out with your friends. In fact, if you go out on a date with your husband, don't talk about them either. They're boring. And real friends don't give a rip about that portion of their life. And Dads NEVER want to talk about their kids (they must think they're boring too). Magazines and books aimed at moms say so!

*Any man who would want to stay home with his kids is a lazy wuss (and the children will all grow up to be layabouts too). Dads don't know how to change diapers right. When dads take the kids, they're 'babysitters'. If a dad does a great job of taking care of his kids, he must have been trained well by their mother. If you want to see something really interesting, have your husband take the kids out somewhere, and you trail behind so that people don't connect you. Then watch the looks people give him. It's a real eye opener.

*The lady on one of my parenting boards that describes in detail how the few times she's gone out for a few hours she leaves detailed lists of what her husband is to do with the children, what to feed them (no allergies, BTW), what games to play, what clothes to put on them, the exact times he is supposed to do these things, and then when she finds that he's not done everything exactly to order she screams and rants about him and asks why men are so stupid. The other most popular rant from her? "Why doesn't my husband ever do anything on his own? Why doesn't he volunteer to do things with the kids?"

*And the perennial favorite on a certain parenting board I frequent: (disguised in many ways, but always with this core value) "ALL non-AP parents are CLOSE MINDED BIGOTS!!!"

Why do we do this to ourselves?

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