Salon has failed me ... sob!

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 :)