Crib notes: Diapers, dads, diatribes & more

Kicking off today’s roundup of parenting-related pieces from across the Web comes a disquieting little item that, while revolting, will probably strike a chord with more than a few parents out there. Picked up by Gawker from an Associate Press report, there was apparently an incident of road rage in Pennsylvania on Saturday that resulted in one vexed motorist smearing the back windshield of another’s with the unfortunate contents of her child’s diaper. Not all parenting stories are cute and cuddly, let’s remember. In keeping with our story today on stay-at-home dads, it seems like the media market is finally catching up on this trend of re-defined masculinity. According to this article on boston.com, there is a growing number of men’s magazines appearing that eschew the T&A-laden Maxim model in favor of appealing to the guy who is, as one editor in chief put it, “given up on the bars and is settling into life.” This can only be a good thing. Further supporting the notion of stay-at-home dads comes this relatively recent article from the Daily News about a study conducted in Great Britain earlier this year that asserts that the key to your children’s happiness and well being might be for them to spend more one-on-one time with their father. Everyone wins! Back on the mom front, Denise and Raina from Moms and The City weigh in on the emotional rigors of postpartum depression. There’s an insightful exchange over on Slate’s Friend of Foe blog, wherein one confused reader laments why she can’t simply see her friend without having to deal with her friend’s “bratty and obnoxious” children, basically saying she “never signed on to be friends with her family.” We’re pretty sure we know more than a few parents who might have a thing or two to say to that. Elsewhere on the blogosphere, Funmom shares her experiences with imposing parent-espousing t-shirts on her young ones. The sad fact of the matter being that “My Mom Rocks” is not always going to be perceived as a universal truth. One mom who does rock, however, is this blogger from Adventures of the Stay at Home Mom who zealously considers her nursing abilities to be a superhuman strength worthy of an Olympic medal. From a less confident place comes this mother, who recounts her crisis with finding the right stroller, specifically one that not only suits the specific needs of her family but one that also fits through her front door. Lastly, in somewhat sharp contrast to those ruminations about the coming of the Fall from yesterday, School of Mom explains at great length why she feels that September can’t come soon enough. What about you? Spotted anything noteworthy on the Web that you’d like to share with TODAY Moms? Let us know in the comments below.