get off the bus
It was a struggle to get past the opening paragraph (when will it stop being necessary to describe the streets of Park Slope as clogged with mothers and nannies? Can we just slap a stroller symbol onto that part of Brooklyn in the next version of the MTA map and be done with it?). But I powered through and was rewarded with that trademark Modern Love Aggravation. This week's Urban Agita subject: saying I love you to babies. I have a vague memory of feeling a little dopey saying I love you to my son at first, so I get what the author is saying. I'm actually just as interested in the phenomenon of the "Wheels on the Bus" lyric evolution as anything else. I always thought it was kind of nasty that the moms had to spend their bus rides trying to shut their kids up. But the kindler, gentler version (more apropos to the current mommy model) apparently has its down sides too.
in baby
comments
Thank you for pointing me to that hilarious and right-on piece. I blogged about this on Valentine's Day this year -- my uncomfortableness with the schmaltzy "I Love You-fest" that is modern parenting...but this piece says it much better. The mommies on MY bus definitely go shh shh shh...It just feels false to me to say those 3 words. If my daughter knows one thing it's that her parents love her. Saying it doesn't make it more so, IMHO.
comment by crabmommy at September 15, 2007 1:25 AM
The mummies on my bus go "yackety yackety yack", the babies are fast asleep, and the children make too much noise! *lol*
Interesting article. I say it a lot to my children, and I think this is actually a reaction on my part against the fact that we almost never say it in my family (but I know they love me).
comment by Kat at September 16, 2007 11:32 AM
