Monday Medley: Marketing motherhood

Mothering Magazine is stressing how marketers just don’t get mothers, and I wholly applaud the piece. Read it if you’ve ever felt that marketers either make you feel inadequate with their perfect representations of moms—or if you’re just irritated at their ridiculous portrayal of us all.

Janet Lansbury has a must-read on what your toddler thinks of discipline. Her tips are so simple yet so mind-blowing. I wish I’d had them when Wood Sprite was a toddler. Share it with every parent of toddlers you know—it will make life so much more peaceful and easy.

This story has been making its rounds, but just in case you haven’t heard yet—there is a hospital in Zimbabwe that charges moms $5 for every scream during childbirth!

Check out this troll movie trailer. I love why it’s making news—but I also just want to see the movie!

A new study in the British Journal of Urology has confirmed that male circumcision is mutilation. How do you feel about this? I don’t have a son, but I’ve been reading more and more about this and have decided that if I ever do have another baby, and it’s a boy, I will not circumcise him. It just does not sit well with me.

Dr. Peter Haiman’s Case Against the Time-Out is really worth the read. We don’t use time-outs but we certainly did years ago, and I never felt comfortable about them. We still have much to learn about gentle, non-coercive parenting but I am really glad that we’ve stopped using punishments for the most part. I still find myself threatening Wood Sprite sometimes (“If you don’t listen, we’re not going to do this activity you want to do!” when we have to, say, go to the eye doctor and she doesn’t want to go) and I feel rather helpless when it occurs, but that is what we are currently working on. If there are any non-coercive parents out there who have advice (she is seven) please let me know.

And on that note, here is a reason (of many) WHY we need to move from such threats.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia