twinutero

During a recent wait in my doctor’s office, I browsed through Maclean’s magazine. I found a two-page article by the Canadian journalist Rebecca Eckler. The article was an excerpt from her book, Wiped! Life with a Pint-Sized Dictator, in which she chronicles her first two years as a parent.

My reaction was visceral. I’m sure my blood pressure rose and my face flushed. Here is an apparently healthy woman with one, apparently healthy child. She has a committed partner and a nanny. Yet she seems completely dumbfounded, bored and exasperated by parenting. She calls her daughter “Devil Child”.

I know this is supposed to be hip and funny. Maybe I’m neither, but I found her portrayal of parenting irritating, sad, and not particularly newsworthy. I haven’t read the book, to be fair, but I sent Maclean’s a letter. They may not publish it, but I will.

To the editors,
Rebecca Eckler (April 2) seems all but defeated by parenting her only child. She has a nanny and a partner who is engaged, yet she can’t seem to manage an average day with her daughter, or “Devil Child” as her baby is now known in Canada. I have a few suggestions that may help Ms. Eckler.

First, she might speak with single parents, especially those who cannot afford a nanny, to understand how much more difficult her life might be without hired help or a partner to call a half-dozen times each day. Ms. Eckler might also check with members of Multiple Births Canada to learn that parents successfully and, yes, happily, raise more than one baby at a time. If she really wanted insight into being “wiped”, she should visit a children’s hospital. Parents of sick and special needs kids could surely teach Ms. Eckler about exhaustion, perseverance, and perhaps even unconditional love. That Ms. Eckler’s experience of parenting should gain so much press is both infuriating and sad.

Ten Seeds. By Ruth Brown. Children learn to count backwards from ten while also learning how a seed becomes a plant, how a plant makes new seeds – and how some seeds and plants are lost to hungry garden critters in between. Beautifully simple.

The Carrot Seed. Written by Ruth Kraus; illustrated by Crockett Johnson. Written in the 1945 (and looking very ’40s), this is a short story of a boy with faith – about a carrot seed.

Le Livre des Bruits. By Soledad et Bravi. A basic picture book with accompanying French sounds: “Les pompiers, ils font pin pon pin pon.” We borrowed it from the library and will have to pay for extensive repairs as this book has been dragged from room to room and held up in a plea to read too many times.

Owl Moon. Written by Jan Yolen; illustrated by John Schoenherr. A girl and her father go owling late one night. It’s poetically written and elegantly illustrated. My two-year-old is captivated.

The Bear Snores On. By Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman. Forest animals party while a bear hibernates in his den. A bedtime story with a twist. (Thanks for the tip Shelley!)

The Rattletrap Car. By Phyllis Root and Jill Barton. My only quibble with this otherwise brilliant book is all the car parts scattered across the countryside as the Rattletrap Car breaks down and is fixed by an inventive family. A gas tank left in the duck pond?

Monster Mama. Written by Liz Rosenberg; illustrated by Stephen Gammell. I’m hesitant to recommend this book because I don’t think I would ever read it to a child. The story, even though it’s about a mother’s love, is odd and probably frightening to anyone under ten. The illustrations, however, are fantastic. If an older child wants inspiration to paint, here it is. Okay, I admit, I was also pretty amused by the description of Monster Mama: “Her bad moods terrified the neighborhood.” Errrr…

Lost and Found (2005) by Oliver Jeffers. A boy finds a penguin and a friend. My 2 year old loves the hug at the end.

I Am Happy (2003) by Steve Light. My son learned the words “angry” and “brave” with this book.

Where is Baby’s Belly Button? (2000) by Karen Katz. I heard my 11 month-old chuckling in the living room as I was washing the dishes one morning. I looked in and found him lifting the flaps of this book, apparently delighted at finding the babies underneath.