I love this breastfeeding ad from Scotland. Would an ad like this one ever run on American TV?
This one from Australia is wonderful, too!
We did have a fantastic breastfeeding campaign here in the states but it was never launched. The US Dept of Health tried but the ads were squashed by political pressure and a powerful pharmaceutical lobby. Here is an example of one of the commercials:
I’ve been absent.
For some crazy reason, I decided to make all our gifts this Christmas. So I’ve been busy, busy, busy sewing, baking, concocting, and knitting.
Norah turned three this month and with the grand old age of three years, she also turned chatterbox. Seriously. We obliged her wish for a “blueberry birthday” and celebrated with our family. Thank you Zach for the amazing blueberry smoothies. Thank you Broomes for the incredible blueberry bush. Thank you mom and dad for letting us use your house. Thank you everyone for the precious time together and of course, Norah thanks you for her gifts!
One quick story before I get back to the gift making: Norah had her very first sick visit to the doctor. I was furious because our oh-so-carefully-selected-for-this-very-reason family doctor could not fit her in and told us to go to urgent care. !!$&*#&@!! Incidentally, earlier this year, they could not see my husband when we thought he smashed his face in a kayak accident. That was an urgent care trip, too. I thought this is why we HAD a family doctor!
At urgent care, we were honored by the extraordinarily brief presence of a doctor who had consumed way too much coffee and barely looked at Norah before ordering a chest x-ray.
After the chest x-ray (which was clear), the not-on-a-caffeine-buzz technician showed Norah her heart. Norah squinted at the x-rays, paused a moment, then asked “But where is Jesus?”
If I sent Christmas cards (which I don’t under the guise of sustainability– ah, but note the non-LED lit, freshly cut fraser fir in the background, bah humbug, I’m found out), they might look something like this:
And yes, I do remember that Samuel Clemens said “Parentheses in literature and dentistry are in bad taste.” I went a little crazy with my parentheses. (Sorry).
I’ve had a wonderful streak of unmedicated hospital births lately. Strong mamas and papas who were prepared and thoughtful about their births.
I learn so much from each birth. My latest birth was unusual–days of prodromal labor, slow progression with intense contractions. We were laboring at home when Dr. Polo Shirt (you’ve read about him before here and here) stopped by the house to see how we were doing! What a great encouragement to this family for their doctor to step onto their turf, validate their progress, and then leave them to their privacy to continue laboring.
[Let me interject here: if you are pregnant, live in the area, and are planning a hospital birth, you will not find care like this anywhere else. I won’t promise you’ll get a house call, but I do promise you’ll be surprised by the personal care you’ll receive. I’ve seen many doctors in the delivery room. Trust me.]
I won’t go into all the details of this birth but I’ll sum up with: beautiful baby, happy mama, and proud papa.
I’ve also loved that all my recent births have involved immediate skin-to-skin contact with babies left on mama’s chest for at least the first hour. That sounds like such a reasonable request but sometimes it is so difficult to get in the hospital setting.
Now I’m lounging beach-front at Hilton Head. Lazing the days away for a little while. And I must turn off the ‘puter to take my tot swimming!
I don’t like to think about crafts. Planning them makes me shiver. So, when the whim strikes, I plunge in without pattern or really much of an idea. This craft began yesterday with the thought: “I should make an advent calendar.” Scott carefully reminded me that tomorrow was Dec. 1. The gauntlet thrown, I walked to the craft closet, grabbed random items and began cutting strips of construction paper. No idea what I was going to do with them. Here is my finished product.
Fancy-schmancy, I know. Seriously, my craft ability is equal to a 2nd grader’s. Thankfully, Norah thinks I’m amazing because I can use scissors.
Each envelope contains a small surprise–I didn’t buy anything. I found objects around the house: a button, jingle bell, seashell, bead, pebble, pecan. Norah loves collecting these little treasures and sorting them in an egg carton.
[Guest Post from my sister]
It was my senior year at Southern Wesleyan when I first heard about human trafficking. I don’t know if you remember the first time you heard about the fact that slavery still exists in our world. I don’t know if it struck you the way it struck me. Maybe this is the first time you are hearing of the enslavement of millions of people who are made in the image of God. If so, read on! If you know about modern slavery and you feel paralyzed by the overwhelming statistics, my hope is not to drill more statistics into your head so that you feel even more discouraged, but rather empower you to feel you can do something.
Maybe you don’t care. You have more pressing issues in your life. I know. I don’t understand where you are or what you’re going through. When you are hurting, it is so hard to even begin to hurt for others. As a counselor, my deepest desire would be to walk with you from point A to Z, to be with you on your journey of healing. If this is your place, maybe you can find someone to help you heal. Because being a part of redeeming the lives of those participating in and victims of injustice is, I dare say, the most fulfilling work on the planet. And I don’t want you to miss it.
My journey began in the spring of 2003 when I had lunch with Dr. Joanne Lyon, the executive director of World Hope International. I was a psychology major and I really wanted to do counseling. I felt drawn to women and children in distress, victims of violence and abuse. Dr. Lyon began to tell me about Cambodia and the problem of commercial sexual exploitation. She talked about the need for mental health professionals to work with these girls after they had come out of prostitution. I wept that night. It was the first time I had heard about modern slavery. A little over a year later, I boarded a plane for Cambodia. My assignment was to assist in the set up an assessment center–the first place children rescued from slavery would be brought. The first rescue of three little girls took place in June 2005. Today, the center has served hundreds of girls who are victims of rape or commercial sex trafficking.
Worldwide, there are nearly two million children in the commercial sex trade (UNICEF). Human trafficking is the world’s third largest criminal enterprise, following drugs and weapons (U.S. Dept of State). Slavery is particularly lucrative because while a drug may only be sold once, a human can be sold over and over again. There may be as many as 27 million slaves in the world today and it is believed that half are minors (U.S. Dept of State). And slavery isn’t some third world problem. The U.S. is currently home to an estimated 175,000 slaves.
So what will you do? How will you be an abolitionist? Would you choose just one item from the list below? Something you could do to spread awareness, stop the trade, redeem a life?
Learn more. Download the Trafficking In Persons report from the U.S. Department of State or visit the Polaris Project.
Talk to your friends, your children, or your co-workers about modern slavery. I know it isn’t light conversation but haven’t we all had enough of that?
Read books like Disposable People, Enslaved: True Stories of Modern Day Slavery, The Natashas, or Children at War.
Watch movies like Born into the Brothels, Blood Diamond, or Human Trafficking.
Sign up for the latest news on sexual trafficking here and here.
Hang anti-trafficking posters in your business, church, or local community boards. Victims, potential victims, and those who may know them can see the victim hotline with instructions in their language. Posters are available for free download here.
Blog about human trafficking.
Teach youth and young adults about the link between the sex industry and slavery. Adults Saving Kids offers a complete curriculum for youth.
Ask your legislators what they have done to stop slavery in your state. If they haven’t done a thing…offer to provide information. Give them a nudge.
Create and Distribute anti-trafficking stickers, buttons, or t-shirts. Cafepress is an easy way to print your issues. Or order from a cafepress store already established.
Serve as a volunteer. Organizations like FAAST welcome volunteers who can do research, write, design, organize, or staff events. Or use your skills to serve vocationally–either short term or long.
Buy “slave-free” goods. Buy rugs carrying the Rugmark symbol. Buy coffee, tea, and cocoa labeled “fair trade.” Ask stores to stock these items. Encourage your church or business to serve fair trade coffee. Provide your faith community with info about coffee campaigns.
Give gifts purchased from places like Ten Thousand Villages or Go Fish. Or choose an alternative gift like this.
Do something. Become an abolitionist. It matters.
By request from some of the ladies working with my hubs:
Beans: The quick way–buy a bag of 15 bean mix at the grocery store. My personal quirk: I pick out the garbanzo beans because I don’t like them (with other beans). The better way–head to the Greenville Farmers Market and mix up your own assortment of dried beans in bulk. No pesky garbanzo beans that way! Soak the beans overnight so you can quickly cook them when you get home from work. If you don’t have enough time (because you forgot to soak like I always do), substitute with lentils. They don’t require soaking and cook up quickly.
The add-ins: The quick way–toss in a packet of dried soup mix like onion or veggie. Do not use the flavor packet that came with your store bought beans. The better way–chop up some veggies in a food processor or chopper. I like carrots, onions, celery, zucchini, squash, garlic, peppers. Whatever you have on hand, toss in! Throw in spices like onion powder, dill, chives, parsley, turmeric, pepper. Salt to taste.
Serving: The quick way–carry the pot to the table and serve! The better way—grind some flax and mix in before serving to add an extra nutritional punch. I use a coffee grinder for flax but you can buy it already ground. Serve beans over whole grain brown rice, bulgar, or barley.
I’m sure it gets old for my family, but I use the same basic plan for any brown bean I serve (kidney, lentil, crowder, field, etc). Rice and beans are a staple at our house.
Enjoy ladies!
“We make fun of what used to be called ‘yes-men’ at the office, those deferential employees who never disagree with the boss, so what makes us think that ‘yes-children’ would be ideal?” —Alfie Kohn Unconditional Parenting
It is my annual re-reading of my parenting manifesto. I’ve been thinking about my long-term goals for Norah. What characteristics are most important to shape? And are my day-to-day actions mirroring these long-term goals? Or am I simply trying to get by and create a child most convenient for the moment?
My long-term goal is not obedience. Nope. Not at all. I want an independent thinker. One day, she’s going to be a teenager (excuse me while I scream!) and she’ll have all sorts of authoritative voices around her. I certainly don’t want her obeying her creepy karate instructor when he asks her to stay after class and I definitely don’t want her obeying her peers when they ask her to try some new chemical candy. I don’t want her to absorb everything her college professors tell her. I want to teach my child to discern, to question, to weigh, and to decide for herself. Ultimately, I pray she makes good decisions but it is important to me that she understands why she is making them. And that is something I cannot force.
So what does that look like in the day-to-day raising of an almost three year old? Wooo. Tricky. And frustrating. And time-consuming. And hard. And rewarding.
And the icing on the cake–most of the research (both recent and dating all the way back to the 1950’s) shows me that the happy side-effect of this type of parenting is obedience. By not punishing, rewarding, or controlling, I get a child who both thinks for herself and is more likely to obey me. Score!
Why do you see the worst parenting at the grocery store?
Like today. Some negligent mom was loading up on one of her favorite flours which happens to be on sale this week. I mean, I guess it was her favorite flour. Anyway, so her kid (who looked to be a month shy of 3 yrs old) climbs under the cart on her hands and knees. Again, this mom is just ho-humming it across the aisle–totally oblivious. And her kid’s knees slip through the grate on the bottom of the cart. You guessed it. Kid is stuck.
Small towns love this kind of drama. The crowd that gathered was quick to offer all sorts of helpful solutions. One even suggested calling the fire department. Strangely not a single grocery store employee offered to help.
I have to say, that kid was really cute. She was saying, “I don’t need help, anybody. It’s not very comfy. But don’t touch me.”
This mom clearly doesn’t deserve such a brilliant and calm kid. I guess maybe 20 minutes passed before the tot was finally free. She only yelled when anyone touched her. Independent little thing was determined to “do it by myself.”
Sheesh. I hope that mom learned a lesson. I would be mortified if that happened to me.
When I first heard that Motrin was bashing babywearing, I thought the momsphere was overreacting. And since I apparently don’t have some component installed on my computer that would let me view the commercial online, I put it out of mind.
Then. Then, I read the transcript for motrin’s “I mean, in theory, it’s a great idea” commercial. Are you serious? Insensitive on so many levels. Don’t companies realize that it is never a good idea to question parenting choices? Nothing makes women angrier than someone (especially a corporation) questioning their choices. Motrin actually has a computer animated mom saying that even though babywearing hurts, it makes her “look like an official mom.” Good grief.
For the record, lugging the heavy carseat carrier = backache.
Using a simple piece of woven cloth to support my baby in my arms = sanity.
By the way, women have known this little “theory” for hundreds of years. Long before motrin…
Psst…want to see more pictures of mamas and papas sporting comfortable carriers? Check out our local babywearing group’s gallery.
ETA: Thanks to a massive backlash, motrin has removed the ad. It will still run in ads that have already been printed. If you want to see the fuss and missed the motrin.com link, find it here on youtube.
Inexplicable Ways 