bathwater or hearty and hale

A strange twaining of two articles that I read about cultural norms—well the first is more an ageless tradition while the second is maybe a marketing gimmick.

In Iceland, not even the most fretful first time parent would bat an eye about leaving their babies, safely cocooned out of doors to doze in sub-zero temperatures while at home or on the go, strollers left seemingly unattended, but the Icelanders and all the Nordic peoples having assuredly developed—out of custom, extra-sensory perception to know baby’s comfortable and safe, lining the sidewalks in front of shops and cafes. Of course, this fuss-adverse method and exposing the infants to the elements is happily spartan, better equipping them to handle the cold and dark winters through their lives. The other example, a US patent for a baby-cage, came at a time before helicopter-parenting, and while I suppose it never caught on, I bet home-makers liked the little bit of extra space. I imagine that the air outside, however, in the areas where high-rise apartment dwellers lived was not the best quality and nowadays only window unit air-conditioners are perched precariously on the sides of buildings.