Background: In Author Says Divorced/Separated Dads Owe Their Exes a Mother's Day Gift, I criticized Canadian journalist Rebecca Eckler's recent article Get what you want this Mother's Day. Twist the ex's arm (Globe and Mail, 5/6/08).

Canadian journalist Lydia Lovric (pictured), a critic of Rebecca Eckler, posted on my blog about some of Eckler's history. She cites her blog post Mommy Wars rage in Canada, and writes:

"For those who don't want to read the entire column, here are the Coles Notes version as to why I have zero respect for Ms. Eckler:

1) She smoked while pregnant (and basically bragged about it).
2) She wrote a column about how she was in love with some other guy, while she was pregnant with her fiance's kid.
3) She CHOSE not to breastfeed...didn't even bother to TRY...because she didn't want to be 'tied down' to the baby.
4) The woman put her kid in day-care AND had TWO nannies. You can barely call her a mother.

In the article, Lovric writes:

“'I rarely spend an entire day and night alone with The Dictator,' confesses Eckler. 'The Dictator' is Eckler’s nickname for her 2 ½ year old daughter, Rowan.

“'Usually, I have Nanny Mimi around all week, and we have a weekend nanny too, or The In-Laws to watch her at night, or I’m hanging out with friends with their Dictators. But it’s rare that I’m ever alone with The Dictator all day and all evening, all by ourselves.'

"According to Eckler, her parents, the in-laws and even the nanny are all uneasy about leaving her alone with her child. 'Really, why does everyone think I’ll kill my child, or myself, after a day spent alone with her?' quips Eckler.

"If this is supposed to be funny, I’m not laughing."

Lovric adds:

"When Eckler is faced with the daunting task of feeding her own child, she writes: 'I watch Nanny Mimi feed her and it’s a process that can last sometimes up to an hour. I do not have that kind of patience.'

"After reading Eckler’s blog entry, I questioned how such a woman could offer other mothers parenting advice or insight. I mean, if this is your role model, you may as well put the kids up for adoption."

Lovric's full article can be seen here. For the "Sacks has no right to criticize Eckler because he's a man and doesn't know how hard it is to take care of a baby" crowd, I suggest you click here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 1:25 pm and is filed under Parenting, Gender Issues (Misc.). You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.