Parents sucks. . .

Even before our son was born offers for baby and kid related items began to flood our mailbox. Though we ignore most of them some actually caught our attention. One was an unbeatable price to subscribe to Parents, a magazine written for, presumably, parents.

An issue or two in, I quickly learned that it should be more realistically titled Mothers. Make-up tips and fashion articles are normally targeted more towards the female half of the parenting equation. OK fine so they skew more female, I'm sure it helps them with advertisers. I get that. I don't mind skipping over the tips about dealing with your period while chasing a toddler around.

The I read a little side bar with a seemingly innocent statement about Kangaroo Care. The sidebar recommended that mothers place their child naked on their chest to promote sleep, growth, and bonding.

Kangaroo care is a great thing. . . that can be done by anyone who has skin. I learned about it before our son was born and about the benefits not only for preterm babies, but babies in general. I spent the first month or so making sure my son got just as much skin-to-ckin contact with me and with his mother. It helped me bond with him and made me less jealous of the time she spent touching him instead of me.

In fact I would say that ordinary kangaroo care is better done by the dad to give mom a break between feedings (if you're nursing).

Anyway, this and a couple other places where the magazine has started using the word "mom" or "mother" instead of parents are actively pushing the dads out of the picture. Plus it's sexist to assume that the mom is the primary parent. Sexist for women and men. Parents sucks. I almost wish we hadn't gotten 3 years for that insanely low rate.