When I was 3 years old I stuffed bobby pins one at a time into an 8-track tape player. My parents chuckled and ribbed me about that for years afterward.

In honor of Angela, I’m posting courtesy of YouTube an American Express commercial from the ’80s featuring a toddler boy, a brand-new VCR, and oatmeal. My dad used to get a real kick out of it every time it came on, and of course it reminded my parents of the 8-track.

UPDATE: There was no homeschooling segment on the show today.  The AIG exec scandal predominated the hour, probably because the CEO is on the hotseat before Congress right now as I type. If I find the homeschooling segment is rescheduled I’ll post it here.

Controversial Motrin Moms Commercial

This commercial ticked off a lot of baby-wearing moms, creating quite a buzz in the blogosphere, lots of video responses on YouTube, and enough complaints to McNeil that the company issued this statement on the Motrin website:

I’m actually one of the vocal minority that thought the furor was much ado about nothing. You’d think that McNeil was undermining the fabric of American families by suggesting baby carriers can hurt. I don’t watch hardly any TV at all because it’s like feeding your brain a steady diet of junk food, so I would have never known about this commerical except I was alerted to it in an e-mail. After seeing it I actually thought the commercial, though kind of tacky in its narrative, was funny, because I can relate to it. I tried a sling with my oldest when she was a few weeks old (she’s 5 now) and didn’t like it, and neither did she. I also found taking the baby out of a carseat, into the sling/carrier, and back in the carseat when out and about to be a hassle. So I quickly abandoned the idea. Three more kids later and I go around looking tired and crazy most all the time too. Now I will acknowledge that if you’re using a sling/carrier and feel like you need to take Motrin, you need to adjust it or get another that fits closer to you and is better supported to take the strain off and relieve the pain, but I bet there are some moms out there that can’t wear any kind of sling or carrier without pain, probably because they already have neck, back and/or shoulder issues. I would hope they wouldn’t take Motrin and wear their babies anyway just so they look or feel like a “real mom.” They shouldn’t be made to feel guilty if they have to stop.

I wonder how the Greatest Generation got along without being worn by their mommas?

Here’s the segment of the show from YouTube, at about 5:45 is where the education talk starts.

The View 11/17/08 (1 of 5)

On today’s (11/18) episode of The View per the website they discussed gay rights, CA’s Proposition 8 and how it compares to black suffrage.  I don’t want to even go there.

There’s already been talk in the homeschooling blogosphere about Behar’s comments, no doubt a number of parents have emailed complaints to the Viewmaster, and the HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) has been alerted. A response from the HSLDA has been quoted by this blogger:

I sent a link to the You Tube video of “The View” from yesterday to the Home School Legal Defense Association. The following is the reply that I received.

Sherri,

I watched the clip.

Joy Behar has made many silly and offensive comments on a range of subjects and her thoughts on homeschooling were certainly confusing. She managed to malign homeschooling in general but at the same time advocated for a form of cooperative home-based education for the Obama’s. When coupled with Elizabeth’s defense of homeschooling I think this is why Joy’s comments haven’t gained any traction. A show like the View needs a provocative bomb thrower to try to get ratings and Joy fits that role.

I don’t think there’s a need for HSLDA to comment but I certainly support individual homeschoolers making their voices heard (as you appear to have done on that You Tube thread).

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Regards,
Ian

Thanks to blogger Sherri for passing this on. I think I have to agree with Ian of HSLDA. Joy Behar isn’t worth their time of day.

They invited a couple on the show in which the woman was 24 wks along and they were seeking a natural, unmedicated birth but were undecided over whether to choose hospital or homebirth. They wanted a natural delivery. The OB on the show, Dr. Lisa Masterson, kept going on about all the things that could go wrong with disastrous results if they happened at home. She talked about and demonstrated shoulder dystocia and when the mom-to-be asked her what percentage of cases do complications like these occur, she said, “10-15% depending on the population.” She might have meant ALL complications that require intervention, but her answer seemed to apply to shoulder dystocia, which would be a GROSS exaggeration of statistical fact. According to http://www.shoulderdystociainfo.com/, it’s more like 0.5-1.5% of all deliveries. Dr. Masterson’s emphasis on the word “CRASH” referring to a rapid fetal heart deceleration was very unreassuring too, to say the least.

Dr. Masterson said she didn’t care if the woman wanted to walk about freely or even swing from the ceiling to deliver as long as she could monitor that the mom and baby were okay. Hmm, I wonder what hosptial she practices at – that sounds nice but in reality I think you’d be hard-pressed to find an OB open to whatever a mom wants to do in the confines of a hospital – and she knows that, regardless of her personal feelings. And she knows hospital policies often dictate doing certain interventions (continuous EFM, IV’s) routinely whether needed or not. I took her remarks as just lip service.

Now Dr. Jim Sears, pediatrician son of Dr. William and Martha Sears of attachment parenting fame, did get in that four of his siblings were born at home and that homebirth can be safe for low-risk women with a professional in attendance. He also posited the option of a birth center birth, to which they played a segment of a woman (who was also in the audience) who gave birth in a birth center to a baby with enlarged kidneys, a congenital defect that was missed by multiple ultrasounds. She made a point to say her picture-perfect birth became a nightmare when the baby was transferred and had to immediately have tubes placed in him and receive dangerous but life-saving surgery. His kidney problem had NOTHING TO DO WITH BEING BORN IN A BIRTH CENTER AT THE HANDS OF A MIDWIFE!! PERIOD!!!!! THE OUTCOME WOULD HAVE BEEN EXACTLY THE SAME IF HE WAS ALREADY AT THE HOSPITAL WHEN HE WAS BORN!!! It was just a shock effect story. They played one segment of a woman who used hypnobirthing to deliver safely at home – it wasn’t even 30 sec. long.

The pregnant women asked Dr. Masterson is asking OB’s about homebirth was a good idea because OB’s are biased and don’t want to lose patients (I halfway wondered if this couple was for real or planted). Dr. Masterson said (of course) no, OB’s are concerned 1st and foremost with the health and safety of women and their babies. What would you expect her to say on TV before millions?

There were no midwives on the show. I’ll say that again. THERE WERE NO MIDWIVES ON THE SHOW.

I feel really bad for the young couple, assuming they were for real. They seemed to be pretty sharp people and I hope they realized they received no real help from being on the show. I sincerely hope and pray they talked to some midwives and visited a birth center (or two, if their geographic area is so lucky) and did a lot more reading before making their decision.

The only reason I watched the show was because I’d heard the talk in the blogosphere about a homebirth segment coming up. I had no idea what to expect from the show. But this show confirmed why I don’t watch daytime TV, or even much TV at all for that matter. They call it programming for a reason. I’m not too worried about the image of homebirth being sullied because in my mind, if anyone thinks they’re getting useful information from those shows, they’re just another of the sheeple. Sheeple don’t think for themselves and aren’t interested in taking charge of their bodies or their healthcare anyway. Let me stop here before I jump off on how the sheeple fall hook, line, and sinker for everything Big Pharma has to offer.