How did it get to this point?

This blog entry is a comment on the previous blog entry regarding a ridiculous catalogue for baby merchandise I received in the mail. So I might be useful to scroll down to read that first . . .but I don’t want to tell you what to do or anything.

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 35 seconds

On the surface it appears that modern parents are into their kids more than ever, placing their children’s happiness and safety on a very high level.

At first glance, this catalogue seems to be all about kids and all about helping parents in their desire to keep them happy and safe. But I would argue that this catalogue enables parents to do just the opposite.

Items like crib nets and bars over windows allow parents to believe that they’ve insulated their children from danger. With an easy purchase they can eliminate any perceived threat they can think of.

Instead of supervising their children, parents can more easily buy supervision. They can cover appliances in plastic or mesh, install gates and bars on the entrances and exit of each room and secure every cabinet with a lock. Parents can check one more thing off that they don’t have to worry about. The line between a parent’s peace of mind and the safety of the child is blurred. Who is the boxed-in outlet cover for, the child or the “responsible” parent? (I won’t even discuss parents who surely buy these products just to keep up with others. Imagine being the only parent who doesn’t have rubber bumpers on all your table edges!)

Products like fire ladders, helmets and special crib blankets aren’t as much about child safety as much as they are for parent anxiety. They create the appearance that their children are safe when, in fact, their children were safe all along. The question isn’t the number of children who have died in house fires. The question is the number of children that have not died in house fires because their parents bought some sort of fire-safety device. That comparison, I’m sure, would not be promoted by the manufacturers of these products.

In addition to satisfying their safety obsessions, the catalogue also supplies parents with the necessities to keep children constantly occupied.

Kids have become conditioned to the need to be busy and entertained continuously. That’s why 3-year-olds have their own TVs and DVD players and 5-year-olds are playing hand-held video games at the Olive Garden. Meanwhile, parents outfit the back seats of the car with cup holders, TV screens and coloring tables. And, as the catalogue showed, they turn their bathtubs into delightfully colorful playpens full of toys, games and other gadgets to make routine bathing fun, interesting and engaging.

Am I suggesting that some of these products are not useful or in some cases necessary? No. I think many people create an environment that they deem secure, comfortable and entertaining and too often stop there, thinking they have provided as much as any parent could.

Do I think all safety and caution should be set aside? No. But we’ve gone thousands of years without nets on our cribs and helmets for our babies. What has changed?

Do I think parents should refrain from buying a few items to make their lives a little easier? Not really. But when you are carrying around a padded, foldable toilet seat cushion for your kid, just take a minute and try to remember how it got to that point.