The other day, I found myself in the kitchen debating the best method for frosting a cake. Having rummaged through my entire collection of cookbooks and having yet to find the answer I was looking for, I took my search to the internet. Two minutes later, I was face-to-face with hundreds of articles ranging from the best tools to use to frost to cake to the highest rating frosting recipes.
I sat back. Oh, how things have changed in the past twenty years! Information that was once only accessible by book, magazine or word of mouth is now instantly available all in one place, within a few minutes. Instead of having to take the time to call all my friends, my mother, and the local bakery in search of assistance, I was able to access an entire community’s worth of knowledge with just a few taps on my keyboard.
Such successes, I like to share. So when I told my mother about the cake frosting advice I received from all across the country, she decided to take the opportunity to remind me that unlimited access to copious amounts of information wasn't always such a breeze:
Many years ago, right before I turned three (and about a month before my brother was born) my mother decided that it was time that I was weaned off my baby bottles. This, she emphasizes, is not an easy feat – but she figured it had to be done.
The other mothers in her “group” said it was easy. Just take them away! Offer solace, and move on.
The first morning she tried the quick-and-painless band-aid method, I cried. And cried. And refused to eat or drink all day. Pregnant and tired, my mom relinquished my bottle and called her friend.
“It’s not working,” she fretted. “Do you have any suggestions?” Said friend recommended offering one of my comfort toys in exchange for the bottle. You know, quickly snatch said bottle and replace my empty hands with my bear, Grungie.
The next morning, as quickly as an eight-month (plus) pregnant woman could manage, my mom casually offered me my bear and a sippy-cup full of juice. I shook my head. I refused both items. Then I cried.
Exasperated, my mom called my grandmother, who shook her head and said she couldn’t remember what she did.
The next afternoon, as I was happily sucking away on my bottle and watching sesame street, I saw an advertisement for Care Bears. Yes, recall those? One in particular caught my eye – the one with the sun on his belly and small red plastic heart on the pad of his foot.
I wanted him. I pointed, stood, and even did a little dance.
The following day, my mother had a plan. She went to the toy store and bought the bear with a little red plastic heart on his foot. That afternoon, we stood in the kitchen. It was snack time. As I reached for my bottle, my mom intercepted my grab and whipped out the bear, then offered the sippy-cup.
Silence filled the room. It was our first (of many, my mother reminds me again) stand-offs. I looked at her. And the bear. Then, back to my bottle.
My mother likes to claim we stood, wordless, for about three minutes. That’s all it took, she says, for me to completely forget my bottle – that bear, a few stressed calls to a friend and grandma, and three days of trial and error.
Happily, she will admit that parenting (well, she calls the studying and advice gathering “research”) is much easier today. Unlike her experience in the 1980’s when she had to call people for advice, parents now can just go online to experience the cyber version of utilizing a village to raise a child. Instead of spending three days and two phone calls, if I was two years old today, all my mom would have to do is google “how to wean a child from a bottle” – or, if she wanted to post her question to a parenting blog or communal forum – all she would need to do is ask “how should I wean my daughter off of her bottle?” and surely, she would receive dozens of replies.
Recently, I found this website: Peachhead Families
PeachHead is a site dedicated to connecting Los Angeles families. Want to know what to do with your high school student during the summer? Ask here. Want to post an inquiry for a private SAT tutor? You can do that, here, too. Or, in need of some parental comic relief? Read kid-tips, short stories, and other tales from parents across the city via PeachHead.
See? You’re just a few search words from having all the info you need to raise your kids. Now, if only there was a website that would actually tackle potty-training in-person…
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