wow. what a year...
ready to move forward to 2012. happy new year!
12.31.2011
12.29.2011
get up, stand up...
...stand up for your right. get up, stand up. don't give up the fight (if you didn't get the reference check out this link).
yesterday, my sister-in-law and a friend of mine took part in a movement. a movement to educate. a movement to change public perception. a movement to normalize nursing (especially nursing in public).
this is not the first time i've written about breastfeeding in public. the last time was a short little post 5 years ago about a magazine cover showing a babe nursing. my views about breastfeeding since then haven't changed.
if you haven't already heard about it in the media, there was a national nurse-in yesterday at hundreds of targets across the nation (and canada too). the nurse-in was in response to one woman's experience while at a target breastfeeding her baby about a month ago (details found here). based on what i've read, it was not the first time target employees had given nursing mothers a hard time at their store (2006 incident here and 2009 incident here). while target policy apparently supports breastfeeding mothers, i think the consistency in training their employees about this policy is obviously lacking.
so why the big hub-bub about a national nurse-in? why not just have a nurse-in at that one particular target where the mother was harassed? honestly, i don't think a local nurse-in would be as effective. i think the purpose of the national nurse-in is really to change public perception on public nursing. to make it normal. not sexual or offensive or disgusting. how is it disgusting and sexual to provide your baby with nourishment? i think that part of the problem, when people view breastfeeding as offensive or disgusting, is attributed to the oversexualization of the female body. i loathe going by the victoria's secret where you see blown up models clothed in merely a bra and panties. or how about a mall? or some of the men's magazines we have around (maxim, sports illustrated swimsuit edition to name a few). i have an impressionable 14 year old son for pete's sake! how is he supposed to respect a woman's body, when the majority of imagery of women that he sees is about sex, sex and more sex?? i also have a beautiful, sensitive little girl. when she is exposed to a lot of the same imagery, what does that tell her about herself and her body? i was that girl. i remember feeling insecure about my self-image and seeing those magazines and catalogs only fueled my insecurities. thankfully, i have my sweet jesus who gives me security in who i am and how i look like (and also my husband...who pursues me daily like i'm one hot potato!).
but i digress. the national nurse-in...important? yes.
why? we want mothers to breastfeed their babies, because it's the perfect food for them. according to the world health organization, breastfeeding is recommended up to 2 years of age and beyond. we want mothers to be encouraged when nursing their babes, especially first time mothers. but when things like this target incident (or how about the victoria's secret one and the whole foods one) happen, it provides a barrier to breastfeeding mamas everywhere. if you are made to feel unwelcome each time you try to feed your hungry baby, then how much more will you continue to nurse your child? it isn't always convenient to pump (and for me personally, i had difficulty pumping for all my kids so if i had given up nursing i would have turned to formula early on). it takes time, and if you have more than 1 child finding time to sit and pump becomes even more difficult. so the national nurse-in is more about re-educating the public about breastfeeding and normalizing nursing.
our own personal nurse-in experience yesterday went quite well. we were a small group of 3 mamas (and 1 supportive friend), but it was great to be able to hang out and support one another. choosing to breastfeed in public is not always easy. as a first time mom, i was quite gun-shy about it at first. and if i hadn't had positive experiences and supportive family during those first few months i probably would have given up nursing after the "recommended" 6 months.
there was no negativity experienced by us in our target store. the employees were friendly, and though they were made aware (like all the other target stores nationwide) about the nurse-in i'm not sure if they knew that the 3 of us were the "protestors." and that's totally fine. the point of the nurse-in is to normalize breastfeeding. so if no one noticed or thought it was a big deal, then that's fantastic. because it shouldn't be a big deal. we had a couple of customers who chatted with us, but made no reference about the nurse-in. most of their comments were about our kids and how cute they were. but i know that this experience was not the same at all the targets. there were some who endured some negative comments, and even reading the comments on some of the media websites after the nurse-in coverage can be disheartening and hurtful. but again, that was the whole reason for the nurse-in. there's definitely so much more i can add to this post, but then it would turn into a post too long for anyone to want to read. plus, my children are calling me.
i don't know if we'll make the history books, per se, but it was an awesome experience to be a part of. i am thankful that where we are at, i can be a part of a supportive community that doesn't bash on women who choose to nurse their babes (privately or publicly).
it isn't about us. it's about our babies and their right to eat.
yesterday, my sister-in-law and a friend of mine took part in a movement. a movement to educate. a movement to change public perception. a movement to normalize nursing (especially nursing in public).
this is not the first time i've written about breastfeeding in public. the last time was a short little post 5 years ago about a magazine cover showing a babe nursing. my views about breastfeeding since then haven't changed.
if you haven't already heard about it in the media, there was a national nurse-in yesterday at hundreds of targets across the nation (and canada too). the nurse-in was in response to one woman's experience while at a target breastfeeding her baby about a month ago (details found here). based on what i've read, it was not the first time target employees had given nursing mothers a hard time at their store (2006 incident here and 2009 incident here). while target policy apparently supports breastfeeding mothers, i think the consistency in training their employees about this policy is obviously lacking.
so why the big hub-bub about a national nurse-in? why not just have a nurse-in at that one particular target where the mother was harassed? honestly, i don't think a local nurse-in would be as effective. i think the purpose of the national nurse-in is really to change public perception on public nursing. to make it normal. not sexual or offensive or disgusting. how is it disgusting and sexual to provide your baby with nourishment? i think that part of the problem, when people view breastfeeding as offensive or disgusting, is attributed to the oversexualization of the female body. i loathe going by the victoria's secret where you see blown up models clothed in merely a bra and panties. or how about a mall? or some of the men's magazines we have around (maxim, sports illustrated swimsuit edition to name a few). i have an impressionable 14 year old son for pete's sake! how is he supposed to respect a woman's body, when the majority of imagery of women that he sees is about sex, sex and more sex?? i also have a beautiful, sensitive little girl. when she is exposed to a lot of the same imagery, what does that tell her about herself and her body? i was that girl. i remember feeling insecure about my self-image and seeing those magazines and catalogs only fueled my insecurities. thankfully, i have my sweet jesus who gives me security in who i am and how i look like (and also my husband...who pursues me daily like i'm one hot potato!).
but i digress. the national nurse-in...important? yes.
why? we want mothers to breastfeed their babies, because it's the perfect food for them. according to the world health organization, breastfeeding is recommended up to 2 years of age and beyond. we want mothers to be encouraged when nursing their babes, especially first time mothers. but when things like this target incident (or how about the victoria's secret one and the whole foods one) happen, it provides a barrier to breastfeeding mamas everywhere. if you are made to feel unwelcome each time you try to feed your hungry baby, then how much more will you continue to nurse your child? it isn't always convenient to pump (and for me personally, i had difficulty pumping for all my kids so if i had given up nursing i would have turned to formula early on). it takes time, and if you have more than 1 child finding time to sit and pump becomes even more difficult. so the national nurse-in is more about re-educating the public about breastfeeding and normalizing nursing.
our own personal nurse-in experience yesterday went quite well. we were a small group of 3 mamas (and 1 supportive friend), but it was great to be able to hang out and support one another. choosing to breastfeed in public is not always easy. as a first time mom, i was quite gun-shy about it at first. and if i hadn't had positive experiences and supportive family during those first few months i probably would have given up nursing after the "recommended" 6 months.
there was no negativity experienced by us in our target store. the employees were friendly, and though they were made aware (like all the other target stores nationwide) about the nurse-in i'm not sure if they knew that the 3 of us were the "protestors." and that's totally fine. the point of the nurse-in is to normalize breastfeeding. so if no one noticed or thought it was a big deal, then that's fantastic. because it shouldn't be a big deal. we had a couple of customers who chatted with us, but made no reference about the nurse-in. most of their comments were about our kids and how cute they were. but i know that this experience was not the same at all the targets. there were some who endured some negative comments, and even reading the comments on some of the media websites after the nurse-in coverage can be disheartening and hurtful. but again, that was the whole reason for the nurse-in. there's definitely so much more i can add to this post, but then it would turn into a post too long for anyone to want to read. plus, my children are calling me.
i don't know if we'll make the history books, per se, but it was an awesome experience to be a part of. i am thankful that where we are at, i can be a part of a supportive community that doesn't bash on women who choose to nurse their babes (privately or publicly).
it isn't about us. it's about our babies and their right to eat.
12.27.2011
christmas day
christmas day started early for us. and i mean early. as i came down to nurse cash, emma's light was already on in her room. and that was 5 a.m.
an hour later, the loud pattering of gibson's feet were heard as i lay half asleep with cash in his room. i wasn't ready to get up that early, but by 6:30 even baby cash was bright-eyed and bushy tailed.
we dug into our stockings and found some wonderful surprises.
"magic towels" for the kiddos kept them entertained (and got my floors cleaned) while breakfast was baking in the oven.
we sang happy birthday and enjoyed some very tasty monkey bread before continuing with our christmas day festivities.
after a few swigs of coffee for mom and dad, we were all ready to open our gifts. emma was an old pro, while gibson took a while to get used to "the process." we started off slow. the kids opened a few gifts and then wanted to play with them instead of opening more (i'm totally okay with that!).
but little by little, we made our way through the pile of gifts under our tree.
many thanks to everyone who gave so generously! and so thankful we were able to skype with my family on christmas day. we miss you guys!
an hour later, the loud pattering of gibson's feet were heard as i lay half asleep with cash in his room. i wasn't ready to get up that early, but by 6:30 even baby cash was bright-eyed and bushy tailed.
we dug into our stockings and found some wonderful surprises.
"magic towels" for the kiddos kept them entertained (and got my floors cleaned) while breakfast was baking in the oven.
we sang happy birthday and enjoyed some very tasty monkey bread before continuing with our christmas day festivities.
after a few swigs of coffee for mom and dad, we were all ready to open our gifts. emma was an old pro, while gibson took a while to get used to "the process." we started off slow. the kids opened a few gifts and then wanted to play with them instead of opening more (i'm totally okay with that!).
but little by little, we made our way through the pile of gifts under our tree.
12.25.2011
12.21.2011
wordless wednesday::who's been busy?
christmas preparations have been in full effect for the past couple of weeks. plenty of making, wrapping, sending...it has been a flurry of fabrics, thread, paper, tape, chocolate, flour and icing.
what's your holiday to do list looking like as we approach christmas?
more wordless wednesday here and here.
what's your holiday to do list looking like as we approach christmas?
more wordless wednesday here and here.
12.14.2011
12.07.2011
wordless wednesday::a friendship
12.06.2011
reconnecting: time out for us
with the hectic holiday schedule beginning to pick up (longer hours for my man and additional projects for me), reconnecting as a family becomes even more important.
how do we do this as a family? there are set things we do together as a family during the holiday season, which allows us to reconnect and slow down. it's not an elaborate list, and we're not legalistic about it or anything. but aaron and i do plan out a few things. we sit down for a few minutes and talk about december schedules (mostly his since it gets pretty crazy for him at work) then figure out what things we'd like to do (some may be different from last year while others are established family traditions). we keep it simple which minimizes stress and allows us to focus on the reconnecting part of the activity.
why is this important to us? we need to be intentional about carving out time together otherwise we become distracted with other things, and then time together is lost in the hustle and bustle of finding gifts, making gifts, aaron's work, baking, parties, aaron's work, events, christmas cards, aaron's work. pretty soon you find yourself waking up christmas day and realizing that you need a vacation!
what are some of the things we do each year? there are a few family-togetherness activities we do that are the same each year. one is trimming the tree. this is usually the first of our reconnection points, and the kick-off to our holiday traditions (for more on our family's christmas traditions, check out the links at the end of this post). the second is our jesse tree, which is another family tradition that has been going strong for the past 3 years.
other things we do that may change each year include our alternative black friday activity during the thanksgiving holiday weekend, visiting downtown cleveland's tower city, bazaar bizarre and the cleveland handmade holiday markets, and seeing the griswold-esque christmas lights display.
here is more information on our own christmas traditions:
:: jesse tree ::
:: christmas tree decorating ::
:: gifts and stockings ::
:: christmas cards ::
:: the night before christmas ::
how do we do this as a family? there are set things we do together as a family during the holiday season, which allows us to reconnect and slow down. it's not an elaborate list, and we're not legalistic about it or anything. but aaron and i do plan out a few things. we sit down for a few minutes and talk about december schedules (mostly his since it gets pretty crazy for him at work) then figure out what things we'd like to do (some may be different from last year while others are established family traditions). we keep it simple which minimizes stress and allows us to focus on the reconnecting part of the activity.
why is this important to us? we need to be intentional about carving out time together otherwise we become distracted with other things, and then time together is lost in the hustle and bustle of finding gifts, making gifts, aaron's work, baking, parties, aaron's work, events, christmas cards, aaron's work. pretty soon you find yourself waking up christmas day and realizing that you need a vacation!
other things we do that may change each year include our alternative black friday activity during the thanksgiving holiday weekend, visiting downtown cleveland's tower city, bazaar bizarre and the cleveland handmade holiday markets, and seeing the griswold-esque christmas lights display.
here is more information on our own christmas traditions:
:: jesse tree ::
:: christmas tree decorating ::
:: gifts and stockings ::
:: christmas cards ::
:: the night before christmas ::
