> ***************************************************
> One, two, three, many loving, steady, caregiving parents!
>
> Collectively yours,
> MIke B)
>
>
Which is essentially the "moral" of sociobiologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy's "Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection." Humans (and many primates and some birds) do better through cooperative parenting; it is better for the mother, the child, and for society at large when many (trusted and trusting) people share in parenting.
Jerry
^^^^^ CB: Supposedly, there's an African proverb: It takes a whole village to raise a child. (Problem is we aren't organized into villages today in the U.S. :>( )
In older human societies, multiple people stand in the category "mother" and "mother's brother" to every child.