From the marketing industry's point of view, the TV of Gen-X's childhood changed, well, childhood. According to Penn State historian Gary S. Cross, the 1980s latch-keyism marked the first time in American history that TV advertisers and marketers had their own television shows. By 1987, about sixty percent of all toys sold in the United States were based on licensed characters, a dramatic increase from about ten percent in 1980. Gen-X kids were captive customers. According to a Carnegie Council report, the average American 1980 high-school senior spent more time watching TV than in school or with her parents.

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Given such a bleak portrait of their childhoods, one might expect Gen-X women to be numb, emotionally unavailable mothers. In fact, marketers confirm that the opposite is true. It is speculated that as a response to her own early fears of abandonment, the Gen-X mother practices some form of "attachment parenting," which advocates for a high level of closeness (tell me about it — I still sleep sandwiched between my kids). According to marketers Maria T. Bailey and Bonnie W. Ulman in Trillion-Dollar Moms: Marketing to a New Generation of Mothers, Gen-X mothers would generally rather err on the side of being too close, too involved, too loving than to repeat their own mothers' sin of neglect. In surveys, Gen-X mothers report their top priority is spending as much time as possible with their kids. Indeed, the 2005 National Study of Employers study showed that small businesses are increasingly offering flexible hours to keep Gen-X mothers. According to the kids marketing firm WonderGroup, eighty-seven percent of Gen-X The ultra-attached Generation X mom worries that her baby will feel abandoned during her absence, no matter how brief.moms said they would prefer to stay at home to raise their children rather than work at an office. But Gen-X mom is no Carol Brady, say marketers: She's still ironic, pop-culty, etc. She may be tattooed (according to market research, thirty-two percent of Gen-X women are), and her baby may be wearing a Cocoa Puffs cuckoo bird T-shirt. But, unlike her Baby Boomer mom — who marketers say bought their kids junk food and all kinds of merch to assuage their guilt for being gone so much of the time — Gen X mom is not going to buy Cocoa Puffs. And that tee-shirt is made out of organic cotton.

When I was sitting in on such presentations, it was always at this point that I would think, You need a study to tell you that? Just park yourself at the Tea Lounge at 10:30 AM nursing time in my neighborhood, and let the market data flow. But it is one thing to know what marketers have observed about oneself and one's peers, and another to learn what they do with that information. Marketing to such a nuanced personality, it turns out, requires more than the usual dose of deception; it involves supporting self-deception. Marketers know, for example, that for Gen-Xers with babies, taking a shower — alone — is a high-stakes proposition. The ultra-attached Generation X mom worries that her baby will feel abandoned during her absence, no matter how brief. So, marketers have learned to pitch her absence as a learning opportunity for her young child.