Salon has failed me ... sob!

[jan_andrea]

Well, not really, but they ran this article about yet another "what parents are doing wrong these days" book, which included this line in the introduction:

Like some of her predecessors, she blames such factors as the popularity of the "attachment parenting" philosophy (which holds that even brief separations from a mother can scar young children)...

Give me a break. I wrote this letter in return:

Katy Read's introduction to "Perfect Madness" included a great deal of hyperbole, but the one that got me the most was her characterization of attachment parenting, which she claims, "... holds that even brief separations from a mother can scar young children." That's not even close. Children need their *parents*. A child can be just as attached to his father as his mother. Attachment parenting strives to promote healthy families, and sometimes, a healthy family includes a mother who gets out of the house without the kids from time to time. I am very much an attachment parent, but I also have a life beyond my children, and I know that when I leave them with their father, they are getting just as much caring and love as they do with me. And when we go out together, I know they are safe and secure with their aunts and uncles. Attachment parenting isn't about scaring parents that they'll "scar" their children; it's about helping parents listen to their childrens' -- and their own -- needs.

I will be surprised if they publish it, but if they do, you read it here first :)

Comments

[jan-andrea.livejournal.com]

Well, sure, but there are fanatics in any group. She's painting *all* attachment parents as paranoid nutjobs who never leave the house for fear that their baby will grow up to be a psychopath. :)