Monday, May 28, 2012

My Dude

I've spent the last three days with my dude and it has been absolutely fantastic. Going back to work tomorrow is going to suck big time.

At least it will be a short work week.... I'm so looking forward to Friday :)

Monday, May 14, 2012

Weighing In

I'm a little late to weigh in on the crazy Time magazine cover that has been all the buzz:

If this is the first time viewing this photo you might want to crawl out from under the rock you've been hiding under. It's been everywhere and on everything and been debated every which way on every tv and radio station. I'm imagining that maybe some of my readers have yet to see this photo or hear of this story.

Allow me to provide a brief synopsis, and by brief I mean brief.

Apparently, there is a brand of parenting out there termed "attachment parenting," which is essentially what it sounds like. Mothers choose to be with their children 24/7 which includes sleeping with their children, strapping infants to your body in a sling and extending breast feeding. To simplify - basically having the child up one's butt all the live long day. So go ahead, check out the picture. That is a 4 year old in a pair of cammo cargo pants standing on a chair suckling his mother's breast as if she were dairy cow.

Sorry, trying to stay unbiased here. Ahem.

I really wanted to give the breastfeeding mother the benefit of the doubt because like many women, I completely agree with breastfeeding. It's the reason why we have breasts.  Contrary to popular belief, breasts were not invented to act as handles for men to hold on to. I know, shocker right? Boobs serve a purpose.  Boobs feed babies food produced by the mother's body.

Come on! How cool is that!

We have the ability to create life, grow life, and sustain life once it's left our womb.  If you ask me, that's pretty darn amazing.

I believe that breastfeeding gets people all worked up because OH MY GOD it's a boob and she's whipping it out IN PUBLIC to feed her hungry child.  This sh*t freaks Americans out, but really, what's the big deal?  The baby has got to eat.

On the other hand - and this is a HUGE other hand - my immediate, and I mean IMMEDIATE reaction to this photo wasn't a spoken word or a particular thought in my head.  Some critics threw around negative terms like, "gross, pornographic, wrong," while other critics praised this mother with positive terms like "natural, and courageous."

My very first reaction to this photo was that it made my face crinkle in a "yuck" like formation.  The same face one would make if stepping in dog poo, or taking out smelly garbage, or witnessing an overweight woman wearing daisy dukes and a crop top.....

You know the face....

I really, really, really wanted to stick up for this woman for holding strong to her convictions and doing what she thinks is right for her children but COME ON!!! The kid is four!! In my opinion if the child has teeth, then biologically the body is now prepared to chew food and breastfeeding time is over.  In my opinion if the child utilizes utensils for his other meals then breastfeeding time is over.  In my opinion if the child can physically pick up the chair, park it in front of his mother, climb upon it, lift her shirt and go to town.....breastfeeding time is O-VER.

Breastfeeding is for babies, and in my opinion, a four year old is no longer a baby.

I think this lady is pretty gross.

Thoughts?