Baby Talk

Now that Olivia is two months old and the source of endless fascination to us, I've become aware of a very important fact: Not everyone cares.

And I completely understand.

That’s why I found this article in the most recent Elle so timely. Basically, writer Nancy Hass says that women who talk about their children at work are not just sharing news but subtly bringing the entire feminist movement to a screeching halt. She tells the story of a high-powered CEO wanting to swap kid stories and finally asking Hass: “Tell me,” she says, gripping my knee with a cool hand, “isn’t it just the best thing you’ve ever done?”

Turns out it's not. But the implication is, once again, women are to measure their own value not by their work but by their children. It seems that it's the need for validation that irks Hass so much: "Can you imagine women in small Indian villages standing around the local well asking for reassurance from the others that having their brood of kids is 'the best thing they’ve ever done'? It’s a ready-made caption for a New Yorker cartoon."

We should be discussing our dreams and passions, not our kids. But how realistic is that?

Speaking of, the baby is awake.