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To our health!

Well, My first post-India blog was going to be a maudlin, meadering recount of the fab time that was had by all especially D-Poo...but while that blog is still languishing in d(r)aft format I just had to share a community laugh with what I just read...
So, every mom this side of the Atlantic/Pacific and on the Asian side has surely heard about competitve parenting and "helicopter parents" and playgroups etc etc... bearing in mind that the country that invented parenthood as a "lifestyle trend" instead of just "life" was responsible for the epithets, this new "trend" I thought was a hoot...Please read
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/09/fashion/09drink.html
For the ones who decided to not waste more of their time the article goes somewhat like this: 5-8 mommies meet on a weekly basis and leave their kids to play with each other and sit around, drink and gossip...
So now the fashion is to mix diapers and martinis and I am sure while one can be had shaken or stirred the other is best left undisturbed...I love the absolute irony in all this... the very women who started "healthstyles" and trendy parenting have now decided that the ony way they can retain their sanity while pretending to like all this is to get drunk! These are "kitty parties" with a twist...and some salt with the margarita please...
And us poor mothers who've barely caught up to the trend of "careful parenting" (child-proofed homes, Mozart for a newborn, rigid diet control and book readings for pre-schoolers) are already also-rans in the quest to be the new "cool" parent...Ah! NY Times take pity on us poor souls... we've just managed to whip up enthusiasm for every "painting" the daughter brings home (so not to damage self-esteem)... just figured out how to navigate play dates and sound totally in control...just figured out how to make fairy-dust from mud...and now we have to pour a bar-standard drink with our one free hand? And what do we say to each other? Complain that a friend's way of bringing up her child gives me an inferiority complex? Or that maybe another's gives me hives just thinking about it? Wait... there's even a guide on how to manage this marvel of parenting ...“The Three-Martini Playdate: A Practical Guide to Happy Parenting” ..
Oh wait... that's right.. I don't have the time to do this sort of thing...And in this particular case the inclination... but here's to happy hour parenting... Cheers...

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