This is the start of a weekly (ish) round-up of what’s going on in the world. I’ll be summing up some new research, explain something that’s happening in the “Very Online” world, tell you what I’m reading this week, and provide a few relevant links you may enjoy.
“New research shows….”
Good Covid vaccine news is coming out for parents and parents-to-be. A handful of preliminary studies have shown that breastfed babies and toddlers are receiving antibodies from vaccinated mothers (or other lactating people); further, people who are vaccinated while pregnant appear to be passing antibodies through the placenta/cord blood.
Clinical trials are ongoing for children aged 12 to 17, and some trials for even younger children, toddlers, and infants have begun as well. While the older group may have an approved vaccine as early as Fall 2021, the younger cohort is unlikely to have a vaccine until at least 2022. This makes the research on nursing babies/toddlers all the more prescient as parents decide whether to receive the vaccine themselves.
Personally, I have committed to extended breastfeeding (breastfeeding beyond 12 months) to pass on some protection to Toddler Rydzik once I’m vaccinated. That will make us feel more comfortable traveling this summer as more research confirms these findings (and determines the risk of exposure from non-vaccinated people in the wild). While I haven’t looked into it in detail, I also wonder if the research on pregnant people passing on some degree of immunity if they are vaccinated while pregnant will lead doctors to begin recommending a Covid booster vaccine to people in the second/third trimester, as is currently the best practice with the seasonal flu shot and TDaP vaccine since some degree of immunity is transferred to the child before they can be vaccinated after birth (a child must be a minimum of 6 months old for the flu shot, for example).
What your Very Online friends are into this week
A popular tweet format on Twitter is “imagine explaining X to your friends who aren’t on Twitter.” There is an entire world of news and viral activity that does not translate well offline. I thought it might be fun to tell people about some of these things once a week here.
This week’s “Twitter Main Character” was Cinnamon Toast Shrimp guy (CTS guy), who, curiously, has the topical seafood-adjacent last name of Karp.
CTS guy is a comedian, podcaster, and otherwise somewhat known person in certain circles. He is married to Topanga from the 90s TV show “Boy Meets World,” who also has the seafood-adjacent surname of Fishel.
Earlier this week, he posted a picture of shrimp tails (and, eventually, other items….) he claimed to have found in a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Normally, in circumstances like this, a brand’s social media manager will apologize publicly and ask the poster to direct message them with more details (for example, about the lot number of the box, where the box was purchased, and so on).
For some reason, the official Cinnamon Toast Crunch account decided to publicly state that they had determined that the shrimp tails were not, in fact, shrimp tails, but instead a conglomeration of sugar at the bottom of the bag.
This sent the internet into a tailspin that created more buzz than it would have had the brand just admitted this was a problem or taken the conversation offline.
The interesting twist, however, was that as the story picked up steam, CTS guy himself came under fire for allegedly being abusive to women in his past. Once these allegations arose, people became less interested in the story and the buzz died down.
And that’s the life cycle of Twitter fame. An interesting story arises that everyone wants to know more about, allegations about their past come out to haunt them, and you never get a satisfying conclusion to the story.
What I’m reading
I like to have a variety of fiction and non-fiction books in rotation at any one time to ensure I can’t get too bored with something.
One of the books I recently finished was BRINGING UP BÉBÉ: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman.
Now, I’m not into a lot of “wow, Europeans have it all right and we have it all wrong!” takes, but I am very intrigued about how different cultures choose to parent. The fact that the author was a journalist living in France while having her children was the type of fish-out-of-water/travel memoir/parenting book mix that caught my attention.
While, like many people, I took what I needed from the book and left the rest, my favorite thing to come back to is the idea that at French daycares the children enjoy a full multi-course meal crafted by on-site chefs each day, including a cheese course with more sophisticated choices like brie or blue cheese.
As foodies, Matt and I took that as the go-ahead to keep feeding H the fancier foods we sometimes eat. The funniest thing is that sometimes he will ignore the standard mac ‘n cheese in favor of some fancier type of dish on his plate; other days, he subsists almost entirely on fruit and crackers. C’est un bébé.
Link round-up
My intention is normally to provide a link round-up here of interesting articles I’ve read; however, H is about to wake up from his nap, so I have to wrap this up if it’s going to get published.
Thanks for stopping by!