idle parenting

lovely how things work out sometimes... i was reading some random article on nytimes today while wasting time that could have been spent doing one of the many things that need doing. actually, to be factual, it the times' motherlode blog and was about the end of over-parenting.

anyway, it mentioned a book which sounded good - the idle parent: why less means more when raising kids by tom hodgkinson. as i say, sounded good, but as my limited wahm (work-at-home-mom) salary doesn't really match my list of noods (new objects of desire) i figured i'd let it go until a copy graced the library...

anyway part two - i was randomly reading more news over at slate and stumbled across four excerpted chapters from that very book! the best of the two i've read so far was definitely the one entitled "drink as much beer as you can and then lie in bed". most enjoyable... here's the beginning and then the link to the rest (in case you missed the one above):

"for the idle parent, going to bed early seems a little, well, square. when the small ones have finally got to sleep, following an elaborate ritual consisting of bath, massage, story time, lullabies, small plates of sliced fruit, and beakers of water, surely it's time for mom and dad to indulge in a little pleasure? this is the time when i generally drink as much beer as I can. and with each subsequent beer, the desire to go to bed recedes. why would I want to go to bed now, when i've finally started enjoying myself? but victoria and i have found over the years that unless we were in bed by half past 10, particularly if there was a child under 2 in the house, we'd find the daytime almost intolerable." [and on to the rest...]