How Many Carats is YOUR Labor Worth?

re: How Many Carats is YOUR Labor Worth?

UrbanDaddy — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:20:20 GMT

What exactly is wring with buying something nice to give to your wife as a thank you for carrying your child for 9 months (give or take) and for the stress and pain of childbirth? Does it really matter if you are there for the whole pregnancy or if you, maybe work long hours and were there less often? The bottom line is gifts are nice, and more often than not appreciated, and if done correctly, pick out the gift ahead of time - regardless of how long the labour was, and if there are twins.

re: How Many Carats is YOUR Labor Worth?

kittenpie — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 20:28:47 GMT

Push presents are nothing new, just the name is. Nor do I see why they would be considered degrading. I think they're actually kinda nice for a couple of reasons. First, let's just admit it here, pregnancy and birth is not a walk in the park for most people, and it's something a man can't help a lot with, no matter how great a partner/coach/support he is. A woman is doing the heavy lifting on making something come to fruition for both partners. Isn't it kind of nice to show appreciation of that fact? Second, it's nice to have a keepsake to mark something so special if you can, and it's something that can become an heirloom for that child later, perhaps.

re: How Many Carats is YOUR Labor Worth?

Bimble — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 21:31:41 GMT

I think 'push presents' are a wonderful excuse for diamonds and god knows we need as many excuses as we can get. I am 9 months pregnant now and the question is - how many carats is it all worth? I guess I will be finding out pretty soon...

re: How Many Carats is YOUR Labor Worth?

1Marc2Elise — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:12:23 GMT

Then I guess a mother's ring would count as a push present. Your article really pissed me off. A push present to me is a way for the men to show you how much they love you and to show that they appreciate the nine months of hell you went through, not a good job for bringing MY child into the world. No wonder men are not romantic anymore, they have people like you who tell them it is degrading. UI am going to stop now before I start swearing.

re: How Many Carats is YOUR Labor Worth?

Robin — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 01:53:38 GMT

I wish I could give my husband a present for agreeing to have a baby in the first place! That was like pulling teeth. But hell, I'd take diamonds for any occasion, so sure..I am all for push presents. Or maybe I am just for presents in general.

Strollerderby Finish Line: The Dad Job.

Strollerderby — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 20:11:14 GMT

You may have noticed. How could you not? It's all we've been talking about. The hoo hoo. The yum yum. The vajayjay. The goodies. Na na. Fanny. Flower. Lady business. Cho Cho. Choo Choo. Hee haw. Lordy sweet gentle and kind infant precious darling

re: How Many Carats is YOUR Labor Worth?

jcs — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 14:46:16 GMT

Geeez, when you put a label on it like "Push Present", of course it sounds materialistic. My husband gave me a small ring with my son's birthstone on it the Christmas after he was born as a "thank you for carrying our baby" present. And it's something we both cherish seeing me wear.

And when a friend of mine recently became a dad, we *both* suggested to him that he commemorate the occasion in some way to his wife. It really doesn't have to be as vulgar as you make it out to be.

re: How Many Carats is YOUR Labor Worth?

sweeet_pea — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 00:49:05 GMT

Uhh. What if these new fangled "push presents" were actually a long-standing family tradition, and not some kind of response to a marketing campaign or new trend? Does that make them okay?

Also, can we just acknowledge how much harder it is to actually deliver & nurse a baby than to father one? Please?

This is silly.

re: How Many Carats is YOUR Labor Worth?

ChagHolland — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 00:30:05 GMT

My wife's first labor would've been worth about three carats. Her second would've been worth one and a half.

And I know this'll sound cheesy as hell, but our presents were our children.

Friday Night Light.... Because You Can Be Heavy Tomorrow

Strollerderby — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 23:57:29 GMT

Sometimes parenting and writing about parenting can be an overly serious business... what with the worry and the fretting and the studies. Then, along comes a story about a teacher named Budge and all of a sudden, you laugh and forget all about the co

re: How Many Carats is YOUR Labor Worth?

jenseju — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 19:35:19 GMT

Hey, I got a cute little white gold and garnet ring (just cuz I like garnets) as a nice celebratory memento of my surprise pregnancy. I thought it was just sweet. (I picked it out when my husband noticed in the jewelry store how weird I felt that I had to get my wedding band cut off and my finger felt naked.) It's not a super-expensive ring, about $200, just a nifty and pretty souvenir.

My mom got a similarly valued opal (my birthstone) and garnet (cuz my dad couldn't afford rubies, her birthstone) ring when I was born, and I'll inherit it someday.

Someday, my daughter will inherit MY ring.

Now, don't get me wrong: I have HUGE problems with the diamond industry, from blood diamonds to overpriced engagement ring propaganda.

But a nice little "I love you" trinket with just a little intrinsic value?

Priceless.

re: How Many Carats is YOUR Labor Worth?

Shell — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 18:30:50 GMT

H#$% yeah! But only if we're required to give up our repro rights and birth according to society. I'm fighting my in-laws right now about home birth which they are against. If they want I'll be glad to exchange $5,000 (in something other than diamonds, which I won't wear for ethical reasons), for another go round with big pharma.

That's bitter, tainted sarcasm if you missed it. We wouldn’t need “push presents” (and a lot of the consumerism surrounding babies and birth) if we still respected women’s sacred roles in reproduction and passed down knowledge through the generations. We’ve been trained to ignore our bodies, not to touch and to hand over our lives and the lives of our children unquestioningly to medicine, forgetting that in some instances it too is just a consumer product.

But that's just my opinion.

re: How Many Carats is YOUR Labor Worth?

Rebecca — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 18:20:57 GMT

Some lovely cynicism happening here today!

As someone who has actually pushed out a baby (or two, not at the same time or anything, but still) I can say, with all assurity: I DESERVED those gems.

Bring 'em on!

re: How Many Carats is YOUR Labor Worth?

Coolshoes — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 18:07:56 GMT

Let me get this straight: A woman gets diamonds for doing what her body is designed by nature to do,and really what she has little choice about anyway? Hmmm...is there Labor Loot for those who didn't push much? Prizes for Pregnancy? Cash for Comforting baby? Breastfeeding Booty? What if the pushing wasn't (too) painful? Do you still get the gift? Guess you could fake it (come on you do too know how) and still get the swag. Sheesh.

re: How Many Carats is YOUR Labor Worth?

paulahess — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 18:05:31 GMT

I think push presents are gross. What a step back for women. What a flagrant marketing ploy for jewelers! How 50s. Seems like the gift of a man who sat in his favorite easy chair reading the sports section for nine months while the little wifey with a bun in the oven ran around cooking and cleaning and nesting. My pregnancy and birthing was a total partnership. Hell, it might have been more apropos if I had gotten my husband something! He definitely did more than sit in the waiting room, smoking cigarettes, waiting for the announcement.

re: How Many Carats is YOUR Labor Worth?

mamarama — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 17:54:18 GMT

i don't see what the big deal is, as long as it's not expected, or, worse, demanded. my husband gave me a beautiful ring for each of my two beautiful children; i look forward to passing them along to them some day.

Bump Watch: Steve Madden Only Works in Pairs

FameCrawler — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 23:28:57 GMT

Shoe guru Steve Madden and his wife Wendy are parents to brand spankin' new twins. Do twins score you extra push presents ? The babies, Jack and sister Stevie, wait, did he just name his daughter after him? I suppose he could be a big Stevie Nicks

re: How Many Carats is YOUR Labor Worth?

mrs. chicken — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:54:32 GMT

oy.

re: How Many Carats is YOUR Labor Worth?

RachelZ — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 18:49:01 GMT

You guys are repeating yourselves with ever-increasing frequency! We just had a post about this YESTERDAY. Please, this is one of the few places I can go to find reasonably intelligent reading - stop repeating yesterday's posts, for the love of God.

Now THIS....

Now THIS.... — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 06:32:19 GMT

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