the baby bonus

[rm]

It is, despite the tone of the Times, hardly a new idea. Certainly it was a done thing in the world of my childhood, but like the non-romantic vision of the engagement ring, it was a form of insurance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/fashion/06push.html

Comments

[sociallyawkrd.livejournal.com]

I am sort of surprised by the general negative feeling about giving gifts at the birth of a child. Yes I told my husband I wanted something. And I gave him something as well. For me it was to have a reminder of the event. I know the emerald ring I got will always be associated with that for the rest of my life. Long after T grows up and has a family of his own. I bought Tom a nice engraved watch.

We spent years of our lives in the pursuit of a child and at great peril to my life. We spent years of our lives mourning when everything went so terribly wrong. I totally see it as this romantic gesture. It is like my wedding ring.

[sethg]

I have nothing against giving gifts, but the article portrayed these presents as more than gifts and more than tokens of respect for the mother; it portrayed them as what the father owed the mother.