Hot Mamas

Being a parent is the latest trend

Is it just me, or is parenthood the newest, hot trend?

First, take Hollywood. Everyone who is anyone seems to be procreating or adopting like having children is going out of style. Translation: A-listers are having babies and some -- think Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie -- are even adding to their broods.

Next, peruse any newsstand and hip, new parenting periodicals appear to pop up every month. I admit to reading "Martha Stewart Kids" and "Child" -- equal parts trendy and practical -- on a regular basis since getting pregnant with my own first born in 2000. But just recently I noticed "Wondertime" from the publishers of mommy favorite "Family Fun" and "Cookie" brought to us by the same publishers of the oh-so-trendy chic magazine "Conde' Nast." Even a page in my April issue of "Real Simple" promises a specialty publication due out this month to help me manage busy family life.

Finally, I was surprised to discover there is chick lit for mothers! During my daughter's recent preschool field trip to the library, I happened to pick "Yoga Mammas" and "Tales from the Crib" from the new releases shelf. Maybe I am behind the times, but I devoured these easy-to-read novels like the first carb-ladden meal after a diet. I could identify with the characters -- they were as real to me as any of the other parents I meet at the grocery store and play groups. And in true chick lit fashion the stories both had happy endings (even though the husbands were not perfect).

Never one to be a trend setter myself, or really even a follower of fashion for that matter, I suddenly feel hip! Now parenthood is part of today's popular culture I have to wonder: Are magazines like "InStyle Parenting" and "Cosmo Mom" just around the corner? Will the success of "Desperate Housewives" lead to "No Sex in the Suburbs" on cable television's fall lineup? And are changes in our popular culture on the way as well?

Maybe those strangers sitting in the pew next to me at church will smile warmly when my 2-year-old son pokes my chest and yells "boobies" during the homily, instead of gritting their teeth. Possibly drivers of all ages will stop when they see me waiting to cross the grocery store parking lot with my two young charges, and not speed by us. And my daily uniform of sweats, T-shirt and scrunchie will finally be stylish, even if I am not wearing a matching hoodie and Ugg boots. It's possible, right? A mom can hope.

Of course I know that even if my fantasy were to become reality, most trends come and then most trends go. And my children are simply not fashion accessories. Being their parent is not a temporary state of being, it's a lifelong commitment.

For my two children I am willing to be uncool, unhip, unfashionable. But for having them -- dirty diapers, dirty stares from strangers, and all that in between -- I will never be unhappy. As a really, really popular actor said in an oft-quoted movie: "They complete me."

Mommy Time Column ~ April 2006