It helps me to say these things aloud, I think.
babies of any sort
Some of you may notice these items from Henry’s nursery, or my college dorm!
Some old family photos that I thought were worth sharing. Thanks to Dave for scanning these!
Listen closely to hear Lindsay say “Git ‘er”
Too busy to read Buy, Buy Baby? Well, I highly recommend it because it’s amazing to see your own self pinpointed so well as a demographic to be marketed to, but in case you can’t get to it, I’ll give you her conclusions in a nutshell.
First, no TV is good for children before the age of two. Any talk about TV being educational for babies is either misguided, misleading, or outright deceptive. There have been no studies that have proven the effectiveness of “educational” TV for children younger than toddler age(3+). Babies are not, in fact, toddlers. There are huge developmental milestones between babies and toddlers, and one of those differences is in the way they process symbolic thought. In order to watch TV and understand what’s going on, you must be able to at least in part use symbolic thought.
But you’re thinking, my little one absolutely loves those Baby Einstein videos! Think again. She is just demonstrating the “orienting response“. It’s basically the response we have when being presented with novel stimulation. Whenever your child is glued to the screen, he’s not in rapt attention because he likes the content. Babies can in no way understand the content. Symbolic thought doesn’t begin to build until a few years into a child’s life. He is glued to the screen because he can’t help himself – the orienting response paralyzes him. (It actually happens to adults, too.)
Studies have also shown that children exposed to even just background TV show more problems with focusing, attention deficit, and obesity. Introducing your child to TV as a babysitter is so tempting, especially when they seem so “focused” and interested in it. However, it’s probably not best for your child in the long run. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time for babies under two, and Thomas’s conclusions underscore that recommendation.
The other big topic that Thomas tackled was the idea of selling to babies. She reminds us that while young children who watch “educational” television cannot learn developmental milestones from the programming, they can learn to love the story’s central characters. Toy manufacturers are legally prohibited from directing advertising at babies and children, because they have no ability to understand the power of persuasion and therefore are defenseless against advertising. Toy companies get around this by having their own hired child development expert endorse their toys as “educational.” At the same time, they also work with powerful licensing departments to embed their brand, embodied by Elmo or Dora or the Teletubbies, into every segment of the market imaginable. Thus Elmo ends up on clocks, toothbrushes, bags and backpacks, TV and videos, sheets, sofas, books and more. The end result is that you begin to raise a very brand-consciuous consumer who will ask for a product by brand-name before the second birthday.
Children do not need special branded or educational toys to learn. Basic, sturdy toys that inspire imagination and creative play, coupled with your interaction, love and attention, is all that is necessary to aid your child’s healthy development. Spend time with your children doing Nothing. Not nothing. But a purposeful Nothing. Spend time with your kids, playing, interacting, loving, watching. That’s all they need to be healthy and smart.
I got on it today and finished a crafty project I’d been neglecting – baby bracelets.
I got new beads in the middle of the day so I had new colors to play with for some of the bracelets.
Have a baby or two? Maybe considering acquiring one? Or maybe you just know someone who has a baby that you really like and care about. If you are any of these people, I can’t strongly enough recommend this book:
You may recognize Thomas from a recent article in Cookie magazine or from her other reporting work. Here’s a description of the book from the publisher’s website:
“An investigative journalist examines how marketers exploit infants and toddlers and the broad, often shocking impact of that exploitation on our society
It’s no secret that toy and media corporations manipulate the insecurities of parents to move their products, but Buy, Buy Baby unveils the chilling fact that these corporations are using — and often funding — the latest research in child development to sell directly to babies and toddlers. Susan Gregory Thomas offers even more unnerving epiphanies: the lack of evidence that “educational” shows and toys provide any educational benefit at all for young children and the growing evidence that some of these products actually impair early development and could harm our kids socially and cognitively for life.Underlying these revelations is a dangerous economic and cultural shift: our kids are becoming consumers at alarmingly young ages and suffering all the ills that rampant materialism used to visit only on adults — from anxiety to hypercompetitiveness to depression.
Thomas blends prodigious reportage with an empathetic voice. Her two daughters were toddlers while she wrote this book, and she never loses sight of the temporal and emotional challenges that parents face. She shows how we can help our kids live at their natural pace, not the frenetic clip that serves only the toddler-industrial complex. Buy, Buy Baby helps us fight the power marketers wield by exposing the false fears they spread.”
Go get this book and read it. My copy will be back at the library in about a week.
While in Destin, we stumbled upon a spider. Not unusual, considering Amy was with us, but our encounter did have an interesting twist. This spider was huge, which is what caught our attention. Like, it seemed large enough that we were compelled to take photos of it.
Our interest caught the attention of the rednecks in the bar who wanted to squish it, so I attempted to escort the spider to safety by flicking it away. That’s when we discovered that it wasn’t a huge spider. It was a mother wolf spider and her hundred babies. OMG.
As a mother to another mother, I was so horrified when I realized that I had dislodged all the momma spider’s spider babies. I felt awful.
On the other hand, it was amazing to see this miracle of nature. Amy and Ali assured me that the babies were ready to be on their own and I wasn’t killing a hundred spider babies.
I have no pictures of the spiderbabies scattered around the sidewalk. We left after that, not sure what the rednecks would do and not wanting to stick around to find out. I’m sure momma spider gathered up her babies and went on her way, and the rednecks went back to karaoke in the bar.
We all know that Dave is an awesome dad. More proof is his visit to daycare last Friday to participate in the Halloween festivities. The girls at daycare were enamored of him because he was so helpful, and he had a great time seeing all the kids in their costumes. The costumes included an elephant, several pumpkins, a tigger, a vampire, a devil, a lion and of course Henry was a monster. The kids had a great time and were just so cute!!!
Trying not to post too many pics of the kids, but Zoe is so stinkin’ cute in this picture that I’m posting it. I’m pretty sure her mom is a blogger so I think it’s OK. Molly, can you pass this link on?
Henry’s favorite teacher, Julia
Zoe in her elephant costume
(Not to be confused with Molly‘s Cooper.) Saturday evening Beaney, Jim, Tammy and Cooper came over for dinner. It was nice to finally meet Cooper, who is 10 months old. Coop is crawling around and wanted to chase the cats so badly. He let me dance with him and he is just so stinkin’ cute! Thanks, y’all, for visiting!
