mOther TIME covers deal with people accustomed to the harsh aura of fame. Others describe people who get caught up in situations that are not of their own choosing. But sometimes, an ordinary person accidentally strays into the red line, because their life and news overlap for a short time. Such was the case in 2012 when Jamie Lynne Grumet and her son Aram appeared next to the question DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH MOTHER?
Grumet and her son are doing something they do every day, usually around nap time: Nursing. Aram is 3 years old, older (and taller) than most breastfed American children, but Grumet, who breastfed until age 6, is a supporter of his attachment parenting theories. Dr. Bill Sears – including allowing children to be independent. weaning timeline, and that’s the theme of the cover story. “Aram was drowsy, so he just stood there nursing the baby while they were pulling my hair back,” Grumet recalls the moment photographer Martin Schoeller captured this photo. “That’s not necessarily what we’re setting out for. That’s not unusual either. That’s just the way we used to be.
Read the original story: The man who remakes motherhood
The combination of Aram’s unique pose, size, and provocative cover line caused an uproar. Grumet, who lives in California, said: “I saw it in the media before I saw it on the cover. “Those who were awake before I sent the video about all the news outlets covered it.” She was shocked at the level of attention it received, not all of it was positive. “It’s just an unusual human experience, to get this much attention, and it’s not necessarily healthy,” she said. “It was really exciting, but the focus on me was scary. I feel really vulnerable.
Jamie Grumet, right, with son Aram, now 14, pictured at home on February 20, 2023
Christie Hemm Klok for TIME
The cover has been the subject of considerable controversy among TIME staff, with some calling it sensational and others saying it accurately reflects the pressure mothers are under. Outside the walls of TIME, the cover is fodder for comedians, parenting experts, and countless letters to the editor. Thousands of people emailed Grumet, from Dr. Sears to Alanis Morissette, who respectively wrote the introduction and preface to a parenting book that Grumet wrote in 2019. -origins returnees and refugees, working in Europe, Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Now she thinks she’s traveled a lot, partly to prove a point that attached parenting doesn’t lead to clingy kids. Her feelings about the cover have changed over the years. “At the time, I worried that it did more damage than help—but it didn’t happen,” she said. “Close parenting has been much more normalized The past 10 years, and so is breastfeeding.”
As for Aram, now 14, he remembers very little about the photo shoot and almost nothing about the uproar that followed. He recalls his appearance on Today displayed as “a room full of cameras.” The cover hangs on the wall of his bedroom along with pictures of his grandmother. His friends don’t ask about it, but if they do, he’ll gladly explain. “I’m proud of it. I like it,” he said. “I just see myself and my mother. It makes me feel happy that my mother helped everyonesuch as breastfeeding in public, so they don’t feel awkward or anxious.”
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