Startup Journal had a recent article about Parenting services. Amazing to me the business ingenuity of some people and also amazing to me what people will pay for.
Some of the businesses mentioned in the article are:
Fussy Baby Support Services in Chicago, Denver, Brooklyn and Oakland, Calif., helps comfort shrieking babies.
High 5, teachs bike-riding (and other sports) to kids.
Personal shoppers at Macy's help defuse the tension between parents and children when picking back-to-school wardrobes.
SOS --Study and Organizational Skills, helps clean and organize kids' rooms so they can do homework efficiently.
But not being a parent myself I don't want to rush to judgement about which of these make the lives of parents and children better and which ones make uninteresting the experience of parenthood and childhood.
I always thought that it would be really cool that if I had kids that I could raise them in a co-op type situation with some if not all of my friends--the climbing and knitting environmental planner, the triathelete chemist, the hiking camping scientist (these are only some of the qualities of my dear ex-roomates and since I have lived with them previously I know that I could in the future!)and they would teach my kids how to do all of the things I couldn't teach them. In return I could teach them to dance and cook and speak in many Indian languages! It might be a cliche, but it does take a village.
And to end here is one for parents by parents--designer kid furniture. One person in the NYT article says that "Even if parents won't spend money on themselves, they'll spend it on their children" But me thinks a $700 piece of baby furniture is a little much for anybody!
Although I hardly felt it was worth my time and energy to respond directly to Ms. Stout about her terribly oversimplified and misrepresenting article about our services, I do feel the need to clear up a few things since the discussion has moved further. Ms. Stout interviewed me for well over an hour for that article. During that hour I gave her tons of empirical evidence and references about the needs of families with babies who are colicky. Parents who come to us(and to the hospital based clinics in Denver, Chicago, Rhode Island...) are not parents looking to avoid uncomfortable situations with their children. They are parents who are terribly sleep-deprived, depressed, worried, frazzled, and are sometimes on the brink of separation. When families do not get support with their unusually inconsolable babies(I'm talking 3 hours straight screaming, 2am-5am, not simply fussy because they need to be held), they are at a big risk for serious depression, other mental illnesses(we all know of the outcome with one infamous, terribly depressed mother) AND, child abuse. Colicky babies are more likely to be injured and worse. It is a fact.
It was very irresponsible of Ms. Stout to group our services with bicycle and potty training coaching. The families we see have needs that need to be taken seriously.
I also get a chuckle when I read about parents using coaches for what I consider to be the more challenging parenting responsibilities (and I am a parent). But when parents write to me about how much saner their lives are and how much more they can enjoy their time with their babies, I know that I am contributing in a very meaningful way to society. Nurses, doctors, psychologist, occupational therapists and social workers are providing these services, folks.
Programs that help families with fussy babies are usually non-profit, funded by organizations promoting the healthy development of young children. The fact that programs qualify for such funding speaks to the difference between these services and the others listed in Ms. Stout's article.
Stacey, Fussy Baby Support
Stacey--thank you for taking the time to educate me and my friends(who are mothers) that are reading this. There are some problems that parents DO need help with and this seems like one of them. I am sure a lot of them are grateful to you.