Parenting advice from a nonparent with a child-ed degree is like sex advice from a sex therapist who is also a virgin. To be listened to politely but taken with a boulder of salt.

Mommy Dearest had probably been recently terrified by reading a list of Internet comments similar to the ones in response to this very article. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

I think human rights issues should be considered everybody's issues. I am against the forced genital mutilation of infants who cannot consent, whatever their gender. And yes, I feel very strongly about this. Breaking down human rights issues along lines of gender/class/race/what have you diminishes their importance.

The range of FGM is vast. In some places it has been reduced to a token pinprick. Elsewhere it can consist of complete removal of the clitoris, clitoral hood, inner labia, and the sewing together of the vaginal introitus. I have seen the result of this (in adult women many years after the fact) and it is horrifying.

Women don't have the spare time for this stuff. Seriously. I have seen several Wiki entries on areas in my field of research (I'm a scientist) that are abysmally written and I have been tempted to fix them. But hey, I have a demanding job and two toddlers and frankly I don't have the energy or the brainspace to…

The secret to hands-free baby care is backwrapping. Amazing. My second kiddo basically lived on my back (except for eating and diaper changes) for her first eight months of life.