Voices
also have a two-year-old complain
just as much as me of poor napping
habits and eating issues. Our wonderful babysitter here in Paris has
been working for well-to-do French
families for ten years and has never
met a single one of Druckerman’s
idealized French babies.
So what explains the popularity of these simplistic and flawed
books? My sense is that it points
to a completely different problem
than culture or nationality: that
of older, once-career-driven, urban mothers struggling to adapt
to life with a baby.
The urban mom is obsessed
with making a science of parenting. She channels her inquisitive energy into making Excel
sheets about sleep, speech and
food. Having had a baby right after finishing my PhD meant that
I approached every single developmental stage with a stack of
research. Whether it is looking for
nannies, finding the right daycares
and schools, hunting for organic
products, shopping for strollers, pediatrician appointments or
potty training, everything is regimented with vigor and intensity.
This is healthy and completely
normal. But here is where I draw
the line: looking for solutions
BHAKTI
SHRINGARPURE
HUFFINGTON
08.05.12
through cultural stereotyping and
engaging in quasi-racist discourse
under the guise of doing what’s
best for your child. Any political
correctness and dignity of speech
seems to go out the window when
there is a discussion on the differences between Caribbean nannies
and Tibetan nannies or when one
makes quick easy generalizations
about how the Chinese or French
raise their babies.
Surya, at 2, is now
speaking in complex
sentences, singing
Here is
entire songs, scaling
where I draw
every jungle gym and
the line:
is the most amicable
looking for
international traveler.
solutions
But he has recently
through
started climbing out
cultural
of his crib and crawlstereotyping
ing into our bed every
or quasi-racist
night