
Babies in the news
Nicole McMullin
May 19, 2008
My online tour of today’s news has turned up two baby clicks that make for a good read and watch.
‘For an all-organic formula, baby, that’s sweet’
A report from the New York Times today did a good job of freaking me out and bringing all of my weight issues to the surface this morning. ‘For an all-organic formula, baby, that’s sweet’, exposes the ingredient in Similac Organic that makes it a winner in the baby taste test: sucrose. Turns out sucrose makes the formula sweeter than other organic brands. Similac Organic is sweet like grape juice or Country Time lemonade, as opposed to unsweetened apple juice like other organic brands, according to the article. Concern that the sweeter formula promotes a sweet tooth in kids is part of the controversy.
I am not feeding my daughter Similac Organic, but have considered it at the store. Organic is healthy and good, right? Since I am already unable to shut down my concern over my daughter’s weight and eating habits, this formula is officially embargoed at our house unless I hear more about sucrose and how it affects children’s’ palettes.
‘Some new moms bringing baby to work‘
As a working mom, I quickly clicked to watch the video ‘Some new moms bringing baby to work,’ on CNN.com. Good report on a topic that is on my mind every day of the week. Reporter Alina Cho takes a look at moms who choose to bring their young children to work, and one business in Charlottesville, Virginia that has the door open to bouncy seats.
One mom states that her employer doesn’t expect 100 percent from her, and that she gives 75 - 80 percent in the office.
The man-on-the-street portion of the report represented the critic’s point of view with one man stating that he has “enough problem with them (babies) on airplanes, I couldn’t stand working with them.”
Another woman suggests that working moms who bring their children to office need to “make up their minds.”
Oh, if it was that simple.
I have worked in a baby-friendly small office where there was a Moses basket in the conference room / CEO’s office. The vice president managed to breast feed and grow and promote an online start-up at the same time. It worked.
On the other hand, I have tried to work from home a couple of times since my daughter was born with mixed results. It was great at first, when she was sleeping all day, but we’re at the stage now where her brain and body are moving so fast that I cannot not keep up with her and give anywhere near 75 - 80 percent of myself to my job, and I’m pretty sure my boss is expecting somewhere closer to 100 percent at all times. As he should. My co-workers who do not have children do not ask for ongoing exceptions to the rules, so neither should I if all is to be fair in the workplace.
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Babies, young children, and their accessories insinuate themselves into not just work but also every other aspect of one’s life. Never mind the bigger issues such as which neighborhoods have the best schools and which restaurants are kid-friendly: Recently I discovered, to my (mock) horror, that I had turned off National Public Radio in order to play a “Veggie Tales” CD in the car . . . even though I was alone at the time. I just liked a couple of tunes on the album.
Yikes!
Bart Hinkle
May. 20, 2008 at 04:23 PM
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