6:00 a.m. the alarm goes off. Phil (Bill Murray) turns, sits up in bed and hears, “It’s Groundhog Day!” for the umpteenth time and then goes on to have the same day over and over and over again in the 1993 comedy classic Groundhog Day.

6:00 a.m. the baby cries, you turn over feed it, realize baby is soaked, get up to find some diapers, realize that the baby is now up for the day, and so are you, just like the day before. Welcome to your own personal version of the movie Groundhog Day.

I went to this beautiful coffe & play place yesterday where the toys are all wood, the food is all organic, the beans are all fair trade and the babies are named Fisher, Penny and Oona. It's the kind of place that is cropping up in lots of urban neighbourhoods where new mothers can go and feel safe that their infants won't be polluted by anything outlawed by Health Canada, or Dr. Sears.

And I was so jealous. All those new moms relishing each and every stage of babyhood: the hours their babies are sleeping, what rituals they use at bedtime, which bouncy seat is best, which organic cream works on eczema. Their earnestness is touching. At some point some of those moms are going to be third-timers and they will look back and laugh at their fear of dirt and plastic and all things that are not made of bamboo.
Click to see a movie trailer of crazy cute babies

Dear Disney,

We haven’t really been too friendly since you started hawking all that princess stuff. In fact, I haven’t really invited you over too much to play with my daughter. I don’t mean to be rude but I just thought that your values and my values didn’t really match. Some of your princesses did make it into our toybox and they don’t seem to have caused harm, but I just don’t seek you out. I am sure you understand. I know some other moms on the playground have also been giving you the cold shoulder, but I also know that the princesses have a lot of devoted fans out there.