From crowd-birthing to paying others to name your child, we have come across some rather strange trends in recent times. None of these have anything on the new rent-a-mum trend that has swept the States, however.
The premise is pretty self-explanatory – for a predetermined fee, youths can pay to have ‘experienced’ mums help them out with anything from food deliveries to pep-talks and counselling.
The trend has really latched on in Brooklyn, in particular, and experienced rent-a-mum Nina Keneally has shed light on the popular scheme by sharing her story this week.
Nina is a former drug rehab counsellor and theatre producer, and with her children all grown-up now, she decided to use her maternal know-how to make a little extra cash.
“As I started to live in the neighbourhood [of Bushwick]…I noticed that a lot of young people there wanted to talk to me about what was going on in their lives,” she said, explaining the motivation behind her service.
While Nina herself doesn’t have any set rates, she admitted to charging $40 for a delivery of soup along with a pep-talk. She even has a website for her service.
It seems that the trend is catching on, with a number of other women following Nina’s example.
What are your thoughts?
