Boston Globe: Baby Planners!
Aug. 25th, 2008 07:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walkitoutYou can hire someone to cook for you (McD's up to personal chef). You can hire someone to shop for you. You can hire someone to plan your wedding. And now, you can hire someone to ... what?
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/family/articles/2008/08/25/easing_parent_to_be_overload/
"prepare for a new baby by advising on everything from the most absorbent diapers and sleekest strollers to decorating a nursery and readying a pet. For a fee of $250, Kristen DiCicco of Natick, a Baby Coordinators cofounder, walked White through Babies "R" Us. She offered the pros and cons of products"
Read the whole thing; it's only 2 pages and it is non-stop hilarity.
I would say this is not about the commercialization of having a baby. I mean, shit, there is no _end_ to the commercialization of having a baby, long, long, long before the baby coordinators came along. They came along to help consumers navigate the Plastic Jungle. This is about the professionalization of parenting. These are "experts", people whose background is in professional childcare/nannying. And _yes_, parenting has been being professionalized for at least a century in this country. It's just riotously funny to me that even the _consumption_ aspect of parenting -- buying toys! -- has become professionalized.
I, personally, find the consumption aspect to be highly enjoyable. And I _do not_ think other people should. This is a reasonable service to provide in an unreasonable world.
But ROFL does not even begin to cover it.
ETA Can someone explain to me what Baby Shower Preparation might be and why it might cost the parent $500?
My friend L. had someone provide the walk-thru-babies-R-us service for her when she was pregnant with her first. No charge -- this was a friend, after all. But I could imagine, if you didn't have a friend to do the deed, being able to hire it done would be Teh Awesome.
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/family/articles/2008/08/25/easing_parent_to_be_overload/
"prepare for a new baby by advising on everything from the most absorbent diapers and sleekest strollers to decorating a nursery and readying a pet. For a fee of $250, Kristen DiCicco of Natick, a Baby Coordinators cofounder, walked White through Babies "R" Us. She offered the pros and cons of products"
Read the whole thing; it's only 2 pages and it is non-stop hilarity.
I would say this is not about the commercialization of having a baby. I mean, shit, there is no _end_ to the commercialization of having a baby, long, long, long before the baby coordinators came along. They came along to help consumers navigate the Plastic Jungle. This is about the professionalization of parenting. These are "experts", people whose background is in professional childcare/nannying. And _yes_, parenting has been being professionalized for at least a century in this country. It's just riotously funny to me that even the _consumption_ aspect of parenting -- buying toys! -- has become professionalized.
I, personally, find the consumption aspect to be highly enjoyable. And I _do not_ think other people should. This is a reasonable service to provide in an unreasonable world.
But ROFL does not even begin to cover it.
ETA Can someone explain to me what Baby Shower Preparation might be and why it might cost the parent $500?
My friend L. had someone provide the walk-thru-babies-R-us service for her when she was pregnant with her first. No charge -- this was a friend, after all. But I could imagine, if you didn't have a friend to do the deed, being able to hire it done would be Teh Awesome.
interview with a couple of baby planners
Date: 2008-08-26 04:26 am (UTC)I swear, I'll leave it alone after this. They say two really cool things here that all the people calling their clients "lazy" and "have too much money" might want to stop and contemplate. First, they're trying to serve a mediator purpose -- be one clear voice when friends and family are saying contradictory things. And given the sea change of the last 15-20 years (Back to Sleep, breastfeeding, etc.), that could be huge. Second, they are pushing parents-to-be to do wills and similar, which is a hugely wonderful thing that's hard to think about but necessary.