Miriam Katz

Flirting with babies

December 16, 2011

As the parent of a young toddler, the idea of “flirting” has been on my mind for a while. Whenever we’re at a restaurant, my daughter – like many other young children – enjoys catching the eye of new people, and making them smile. Our society likes to call this “flirting.” Our perceptions of babies [...]

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Habiba and the Indictment of Attached Parenting

June 28, 2011

Loving parents around the world are mobilizing to support an everywoman named Habiba, a Moroccan mother living in Spain. Habiba was down on her luck, living in a Madrid women’s shelter run by the Instituto Madrileño del Menor y la Familia (IMMF) with her 15 month old nursling, Alma. The shelter disapproved of Habiba nursing [...]

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Reflections on Our First Year

June 2, 2011

I entered parenthood with a crib and an epidural. I had never heard of attachment parenting, and was pretty sure the family bed was something that could wreck a marriage. As my baby turns one, and my husband and I celebrate our eighth year of marriage, we happily (and a bit nervously) went out for [...]

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On American Parenting and Independence

February 18, 2011

I’ve been reading Our Babies, Ourselves, recently, and it really drives home why Americans parent the way they do. Land of the free, home of the brave. Our country was founded through a popular uprising against the British monarchy. Our credo can be found in the Declaration of Independence. And the economic system we embrace [...]

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Pay Attention

January 21, 2011

When my little girl D was about two weeks old, I noticed something strange while I was nursing her. When I would focus completely on her, anticipating any issues that might arise with our new feeding dance, things went smoothly. But when I allowed myself to get distracted, letting my mind wander to things I [...]

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Empowering infants as people

December 16, 2010

So many of our parenting practices, I realize, have to do with treating our baby (6.5 months this week) like a full-fledged person, with the same rights and preferences as her parents. While it may seem weird to the masses, drawing harsh lines between adults and babies doesn’t give our babies enough credit. For example, [...]

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Good and Bad – what’s in a name?

November 23, 2010

As a new parent, I’ve begun to notice interesting terminology used by parents and other observers of children. Today I was given a compliment – “you have such a good baby!” Translation: My baby sat quietly during our moms group meeting, looking around contentedly and smiling at babies and moms in the room. While I’m [...]

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My Diaper Free Challenge

November 3, 2010

Today, I tried an experiment. Inspired by my application for a mentor position with the international organization Diaper Free Baby, I embarked upon a diaper free challenge for the day with my 4.5 month old baby. I’ve been avoiding doing much diaper free time, although I’m a huge believer in the benefits – and practice [...]

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