I love Amazon, and so does my husband. He is all about efficiency and setting things up to take care of themselves. We never run out of vitamins, toothpaste, or hair product, thanks to whatever he does on Amazon.
I have a more flexible schedule, so while I’m more likely to pick up toilet paper at a store during the day, Ryan keeps himself stocked in shaving cream via the Internet. For convenience sake, when he’s placing an order, he uses his computer science brain to optimize the order by throwing in stuff we’re going to need eventually, like sunscreen.
Taking care of our family is one of his skillz.
Amazon Mom, a subscription program from Amazon.com, encourages parents to “set it and forget it” when it comes to diapers. Or does it not encourage parents, but rather moms, due to the name of the service?
Amazon includes this sentence in the description on their website:Â Amazon Mom is open to anyone, whether you’re a mom, dad, grandparent or caretaker.
So why is it called Amazon Mom?
While Heather and I created this website for moms, because we were focused on a phase of life that included postpartum healing and breastfeeding, we have another website for Bay Area parents called 510Families.com. We thought long and hard about the name of that site, and because the content focuses on local activities for kids, we did not want to exclude men from the name. Wouldn’t any parent be interested in finding out what family-friendly weekend events are coming up? We think so.
By offering discounts and conveniences on diapers and other baby supplies, Amazon is providing a great service to families. No parent wants to run out at 7 am to pick up diapers to leave at their baby’s daycare. Hence the name Amazon uses in the UK and other countries, Amazon Family, for the same service, is a better choice.
This matters, you guys. We have to break open the assumption that diapers and shopping are women’s issues. Even if they are in your house, we have to welcome participation and accountability from parents of both genders. And, dads who stay home, or take on more childcare, diapering, or shopping duties, shouldn’t be made to feel that they are playing Mom when they do those things.
The dad blogging community has been getting vocal on this issue, asking Amazon to make the change. If you would like to see Amazon change the name, you can sign this petition.
Please note that I am not suggesting a boycott of Amazon, because I have to live here.
Related: Are these dad stereotypes true, fair, or productive?
