In the past couple of years, attachment parenting has attracted quite some coverage in the press. Most notably, Time Magazine asked "are you mom enough?" on the front cover of its May edition which featured a shot of Jamie Lynn Grumet nursing her three year old son. The debate which followed was fierce, with critics claiming extended breastfeeding is unnatural while attachment parents defended their right to nurture and bond with their children.

"Attachment" connotes codependency, clinging, smothering, and that is a big turnoff for many people.

So what exactly does attachment parenting entail, and why do some families choose to parent their children this way?

For many women, the dawn of motherhood signals a pause in their pursuit of personal development. They become nurturers, caregivers, selfless beings who when faced with a moment to themselves wonder how best to spend this time for the good of the family, rather than on themselves.

Dreams are put on hold and plans for growing the self are held off until children are older, perhaps even flown the nest... Unfortunately these women fail to understand that personal development is not a selfish treat enjoyed only by themselves, it is an important investment in family life.

During pregnancy, you'll find a plethora of literature and advice about dealing with your growing baby and what to expect during the birth. Unfortunately there is little mention about what happens to a mother after baby is delivered. And ladies, these are things you really need to be prepared for!

There are several lists of top books to read, many of which are a little dated, or include mostly classic fiction which we may not particularly want to read for our pleasure.

Laundry symbols can be a little confusing. Many clothes labels provide only pictograms and omit written instructions for important details to keep our garments looking their best.

Over at A Modern Mother, Susanna posted a link to the Net Addiction Center's Internet Addiction Test (IAT). Since most of my work involves working online, I decided I ought to take the test myself just to see if my surfing habits were causing a problem that needed to be addressed.

As it turned out, I scored only 38 and fall into the category of an average online user:

20 - 49 points: You are an average on-line user. You may surf the Web a bit too long at times, but you have control over your usage.

There are three categories which scores fall into, with the next level suggesting there are occasional or frequent problems due to internet usage, and the highest warning of significant problems in life.

I'd imagine most people would fall into the lower category, though it is interesting to answer the questions honestly to discover if addiction to the Internet could be causing problems in your life, or that of someone you hold dear.

Why not take the test yourself (or pass on the link to others who might be interested in their scores)?

Image credit: Amelia Speed, via Flickr