After a hectic morning of diaper changes, playtime and finger rhymes, you just need a little pick me up at your favorite coffee shop. After all, being a baby is hard work. Sigh.
That is right, I said baby. One of the hottest trends in both urban and suburban parenting these days is to take your toddler out for a babyccino. While you indulge in your favorite coffee drink, you baby can stay happily occupied with his or her own.
Babyccinos have been around since well, since the fancy coffee baristas. Parents have been requesting a shot of warm milk for junior along with their own coffee drinks for years. Baby sees it as a treat, and mom gets a chance to catch her breath and enjoy a cuppa herself. Coffee shops were happy to donate a little milk to keep the parents coming back.
But as I said, the trend has been taking off lately, along with the fancy name and one or two significant changes. Parents are requesting the inclusion of a shot of decaf espresso, and they are paying as much as $2 for the tiny cup.
Marketing genius isn’t it? Take something that parents are already requesting, step it up a notch and then charge for it.
I confess that I am not quite sophisticated enough to offer my baby espresso, decaffeinated or not, despite growing up in the city and having been born into an Italian family that rubbed wine on my gums for teething.
Facing my own coffee addiction, I am in no hurry to compete with my kids for the Tassimo. They may be younger and quicker, but I’m the only one who can reach the counter. Heh, heh.
Seriously though, decaf espresso does have a little bit of caffeine in it, although most doctors will tell you that it isn’t enough to do any damage, assuming of course that you admit to the question. I tend to be paranoid at the pediatrician’s office, myself, wondering if the doctor will think that strange rash that cropped up behind my baby’s knee means I’m a bad parent.
What do you think?
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