From Meat Market to Mom Market - $800 strollers and baby likes

Garrett and Julia, this is for you!

We were eating pizza not too long ago when G told us the story of a co-worker of his. Two weeks pregnant, she is already a world-class milker.

"Baby does not like the color of this meeting room. Baby does not like your cologne. Baby needs to step outside. Baby needs to sit down, so move over!" I need to meet this woman and learn from her.

I've adopted this as my mantra. It's the excuse I was always looking for, all these years!

Baby likes back rubs - they make him feel relaxed. Baby likes it when daddy makes dinner so that he can rest after a long day. Baby is pretty sure he will like beer. Baby is hoping mommy has a nice cold one just as soon as he pops out. Baby likes dancing to loud salsa music outside. Baby likes to watch daddy working the yard. Baby does not like meetings, not one bit, nor people who call them. Baby prefers to eat corn and watermelon pretty much every night, followed by ice cream and possibly more watermelon. Baby is a demanding creature, but he's well worth it.

Baby does not like $800 strollers, but he did like this article:

In her new book, Parenting, Inc.: How We Are Sold on $800 Strollers, Fetal Education, Baby Sign Language, Sleeping Coaches, Toddler Couture, and Diaper Wipe Warmers - and What It Means for Our Children, journalist Paul draws on her own parenting journey as she examines this new phenomenon.

She calls it, "the anxiety of underspending," and attributes its rise to savvy marketers capitalizing on the insecurities of new parents coupled with a celebrity-mad media which breathlessly catalogues every new toy or outfit sported by Suri or Shiloh.

"People are more worried about spending too little instead of spending too much...They worry 'if I don't get this mobile for my 4-month-old, is he going to fall behind?," she says.

In the book, the Time magazine contributor reports on what psychologists and educators have to say about some of today's "must-haves," as she pulls back the curtain on the baby business and the estimated $1.7 trillion "mom market." She offers some peace of mind and perspective to those of us dealing with both the sticker shock and the pressure to buy, buy, buy (which, by the way only seems to grow as fast as our babies do.)

"I think you can never underestimate what a parent will buy in a moment of desperation if the right buttons are pushed," she explains, referring to her own set of impulse buys gathering dust and cluttering corners of her home.

Baby is cheap!