Today I stumbled across an event in Austin, and at first glance, I thought it was a joke. Apparently, it is "International Babywearing Week." Next thing you know someone will start a "Stay Home with Your Dog, Drink Beer, and Poke Fun at Others Week." Hmmm.... With a little research I discovered that there is an organization sponsoring all this stuff.
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| Image from http://www.bwiaustin.org/ |
Ever wanted to know how to pull off that super swaddle? They've got your answer. Now the whole 'babywearing' fad isn't what's giving me pause. Anyone who's ever been handed one of those "50 ways to tie a scarf" pamphlets at American*Apparel knows the wonders and fascination of what can be done with a simple piece of cloth. And let's face it, people have been using children as accessories for ages, so why not start a club highlighting the myriad of ways to do so?
No, what freaked the bejeezus out of me is that in honor of International Babywearing Week, the local Austin chapter is planning a series of events which include a BABYWEARING FLASH MOB. Suddenly I feel very uncomfortable. Like I'm a little kid who's been touched inappropriately and is now being asked to point it out on a doll. Babywearing flash mob? Babywearing seems like something that would occur Austin. So do flash mobs. But these two things do not seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly.
No doubt someone will film this show, and all I can comment is, there's gotta be better uses for YouTube than that.
Suffice to say, this week the score is: Austin: 0, Houston: 1.
4 comments:
LMFAO!! Now I want to find you and babywear my kid while doing a crazy dance in circles around you while flashing my breastfeeding superboobs. Just for S&Gs.
Yes, I subscribe to many of the same parenting philosophies of the group you noted, but many of the public displays are over the top and sometimes just plain weird.
This isn't really that weird. Yeah, the word "babywearing" is weird, but the idea isn't to wear your baby as an accessory... it's just a convenient and nice way to carry around your baby. Okay, I guess the idea of a community around babywearing is a little weird -- I mean, it's not like breastfeeding, where there are a lot of people who oppose it. I went to a babywearing meetup once to get advice and try on some different carriers (since there is actually a lot of information to process about different types of carriers that are good for different ages and needs, like if you want to take your toddler hiking in a backpack versus if you want to nurse your newborn in a sling). I think the idea of a babywearing flash mob is cute.
File under, "Things that are trendy in Austin: having babies and chickens."
Barf.
I'm warped. My mind immediately started running through all the inappropriate song titles they could use for their performance.
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