Something New, Something True...

Like many moms, I subscribe to all the parenting magazines.  Each has a little different take on motherhood and is written for a slightly different (if overlapping) demographic.  I read them all.  Or more accurately, since Liam was born, I glance at them before deciding which issues to store for a rainy day and which can be recycled on the way in from the mailbox.

One day last week, I found myself  parked on a city street with a Starbucks' Grande Peppermint Mocha, no children in the backseat and nowhere to be for at least thirty minutes.   I seized upon the opportunity to leaf through an issue of "American Baby".  Sure, the time might have been better used for a quick catnap, but I think the Village police may have frowned upon that if they happened by.

I found two snippets of information that were both informative and familiar.  By that I mean I'd never seen the information spelled out in black and white, but it instantly made sense.  I found myself nodding in agreement behind the steering wheel when I read:

• A Harvard study reports that moms of boys produce milk with 25% more calories.  (No wonder I was so hungry all the time after Liam was born.  I just couldn't get enough to eat.  The take-out bills completely broke the budget I had so carefully planned out for my maternity leave)
• When it comes to childcare, "wonderful is ten times better than good....when we did find someone wonderful, the difference was so dramatic that I wished I'd never settled for less."  (Again the b-word, comes up...my budget is stretched by our current childcare arrangement but it is so wonderful, so nurturing that I'll never go back to mediocre again.

So was it a good use of my time to sit and read what I already know to be true?  Is it more true because it was printed in a  national magazine that's plastered with ads for infant supplies which are only useful for 4 hours when the baby is 12.75 weeks old?  Okay, maybe flipping through the glossy pages wasn't the best way to spend my time, but for a few minutes I felt validated and capable of facing the day with my two children under the age of 3.  Then again, maybe it was just the caffeine kicking in.