Now I'm Baa-aack: in the last 10 days, I have lost my broadband connection and, for four days, all incoming e-mail. Needless to say, blogging dropped off my priority list altogether. But the high-speed juice is flowing again. I'll probably never catch up now, but I'll at least flag a couple of things in the coming days, starting with ...

... the fact that I'm not the only one ticked off at Caitlin Flanagan. A New York Observer piece chronicles the anti-Flanagan backlash, leading with Rebel Dad's favorite work-life guru, Ann Crittenden, who has this to say:

Why the hell did The New Yorker hire this person who’s utterly not serious and turn her loose on a serious social issue? ... It’s a really big issue bothering a lot of people. ... She’s got a shtick: attacking other women. Catfight sells. Nasty, ad hominem, bitchy attacks on other women sell magazines. She’s made her name by this stuff.

Also worth noting: the piece more or less labels Flanagan a fabricator on the subject of what -- if any -- domestic labor she's done as an at-home mom.

(General note: I have a policy of not criticizing anyone's care situation or family arrangement -- everyone is doing the best they can. And in many senses, I don't care that Flanagan has had a longtime nanny and never cleaned a set of sheets. But if you want to sell yourself as an uber-mom who speaks from experience to glorify 50s housewives and Dr. Laura while denigrating working women, you had damn well better have had that experience. And, increasinly, it looks like Flanagan has never played the role of at-home parent the way most of the mothers and fathers I know have played it. That's not a crime on its face. It's the hypocricy that drives me batty.)

(Thanks to the back and better-than-ever Ms. musings for the link.)

(Also, some of the links from last month were found via Daddy Types and Apartment 11D. Apologies for not giving credit more immediately.)