2011 was a year of Tweeting, texting and–perhaps most of all–talking about issues related to parenting. There were scandals, scientific breakthroughs and stories aplenty to keep the community abuzz. Without further ado, and in increasing order of interest, here are the year’s top ten parenting stories (in our opinion). —
10. Disney Buys Babble: Perhaps we’re just suckers for
hometown-NYC-parents-done-good stories, but we were impressed that The Magic
Kingdom liked the kind of parenting magic Babble dishes out enough to buy them
and welcome their trademark mix of thought-provoking blog posts into their
family of digital media for parents. Will they turn Mickey into a blogger? We vote for Phineas.
9. Dads Have Lower Testosterone Levels: The interesting thing here is not
only did researchers find a correlation between fatherhood and a decrease in
testosterone, but the greatest dip was among dads who spent the most time
doing hands-on parenting, which seems to suggest that fathers may have a strong,
hard-wired biological imperative to nurture and care for their children.
8. Babies Should Remain Rear-Facing: Though the data has been around for a while,
this year the American Academy of Pediatrics went on the record with a
policy
recommending that children stay rear-facing in their car seats until two
years
of age. Not only is it safer for the
child’s head and neck support, but the risk of fatality goes down by a whopping 75%.
7. Go the F**k to Sleep Hits Bookshelves: This subversive satire won the
laughing and aching hearts of sleep-deprived parents everywhere by combining
the ideal set-up—pitch-perfect incantations of every sweet-sounding “good
night” book every written—with the ultimate follow through: a brief, crude,
honest statement of what we really want from our babies
6. The Girly Boy: Seattle
mom Cheryl Kilodavis wrote a children’s picture book called, My Princess Boy based on her own son’s preference for wearing
dresses and enjoying other items and activities most commonly favored by
girls. The controversial book, which got
a lot of media attention (including a Today Show spot in which her son appeared
in a dress), was widely praised as a celebration of tolerance and
individuality, but some questioned whether it was ultimately wise to let a
child dress like the opposite sex as they get older and are more likely to be
made fun of by other kids.
5. The Leiby Kletzky Tragedy: The parents of the 8-year-old Brooklyn
boy had agree to let him walk home from the local summer camp for part of the way.
Tragically, the first time he did this he got lost, abducted and killed. In
addition to the widespread mourning, this set off a new round of discussions among parents on how much independence to give children in world of such dangers—with writers
like Lenore Skenazy noting that Leiby’s death, however tragic, was still
anomaly.
4. The Casey Anthony Trial: The case of the Florida mom suspected of killing
her toddler and hiding her remains in the woods became a huge tabloid murder
trial, fueled by the horrific specter of murder and Casey’s image as a party
girl. After 11 hours of
jury deliberation and 36 days of trial, the jury found her not guilty of
murder, but guilty of giving false information to a law enforcement
in connection with the case. According
to her probation reports,
she has not been doing much of anything–anything at all–since the trial.
3. Jerry Sandusky and Penn State: The charges of serial child molestation
against former Penn State football
defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky provided a window into university culture in
which seemingly the most basic right and wrong came second to maintaining the
reputation of the football program and the university.
2. New York Allows Same-Sex Marriage:
Becoming the largest state in the country to allow gay and lesbian couples to
wed with the same rights as heterosexual married couples, New York State
gave a big lift to the gay rights movement. Its fate was uncertain, but in the end, four members of the Republican
majority joined all but one Democrat in the State Senate in supporting the
measure.
1. Tiger Mom Sharpens Her Claws: Amy Chua, a professor at Yale Law School,
freaked out parents across the country, with a powerful one-two punch, an
essay in the Wall Street Journal
followed up by the full book, Battle Hymn of The Tiger Mother, forcefully arguing
that American parents coddle their kids to their own detriment, and that the
best way to raise children who become successful adults is how her parents
raised her and how she tried to raise her kids: hard work and high
expectations—and not fun fun fun.
