…Or is the anchor kind of laughing at this story as he announces it? Because that would be fair, in my view. It’s funny. Here’s the story of one Montreal woman who wants to be allowed to go topless on any beach. Because men do. Seriously, that’s her reasoning. She’s launched a Human Rights case.
I chuckled when I read this paragraph:
Hey, it may sound nuts to me to give up the most creative project of all – baby-making – to write blogs and bake, but then that’s me. Who am I to judge? I am one of those rare pro-lifers who doesn’t believe in forcibly impregnating women with the seed of country music singers and Republican senators and replacing all their highfalutin’ books with Bibles and recipes. I know most of you are totally into that, but hey, not me.
It comes from an interesting commentary by Kristen Hatten on childlessness in America.
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Andrea adds: Lots of good lines in this light-hearted commentary on a serious subject. I like this one: “Young people are being taught to share the highlight reel of their lives via Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, and kind of marvel at their own brand.”
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Faye adds: I marvel at Andrea’s Facebook brand.
Here’s a little interview with moi in promotion of NCLN’s September 27-29th Symposium. I’ll be leading one session on the Morgentaler decision.
(After I drafted the answers to the questions, I emailed them to Andrea and my husband for their review. Andrea wanted to know why I didn’t mention her dreamy eyes and my husband asked why he couldn’t be a merman. Seriously. Oh, the high maintenance people in my life.)
Finally, something I can be pro-choice about. Should nursing moms be asked to cover up in public? Of course not, but it’s entirely up to the mother whether or not she wants to “go commando” while breastfeeding.
Before I began nursing my oldest child, I imagined I would be freely breastfeeding, onlookers be damned, with my head held high. But after a failed attempt to nurse while covered at a Starbucks, I quickly learned that the bold nursing image of myself wasn’t the reality. I felt embarrassed while my daughter kept fussing and pulling away, leaving me exposed and uncomfortable. Until my second and third daughters came along, I nursed exclusively at home or in the car. These days however, I can nurse my third child quite easily while covered, though I do from time to time go uncovered when I feel it’s too hot for her otherwise. Covering up has not come without it’s own share of controversy either. Other women have felt the need to inform me that I am not championing the bare breasted movement because I often use a cover, as if breastfeeding itself wasn’t stressful enough! From what I’ve experienced, Canadians are blessed with a fairly lax attitude toward uncovered breastfeeding in public places. In the United States (my homeland), that is not always the case, as this viral video from Texas has exposed.
My opinion? It’s up to you, and whatever the effects are of witnessing bare boobs doing what they are intended to do, they pale in comparison to the impact the other kinds of nudity we’re faced with on a regular basis have. So if you happen to see a mother nursing in public (covered or not), give her a thumbs up and let her figure it out on her own.
(It gets even better about the 4.20 mark.)
This CTV story needs much, much more coverage.
This mama adopted four children, all with very significant special needs, as babies. Her doctor expresses that she is an “angel” sent to care for these children. He is effusive about the quality of care that she provides and her devotion. She also has a Masters in Special Education and has been a foster mother for 25 years.
According to the CTV coverage, it appears that the Quebec Department of Youth Protection took two of the children away from their mother because the mother put the children on a gluten-free and dairy-free diet. The children have Down Syndrome and autism. One of my doctors has a large autistic patient clientele. Just from sitting in the waiting room and picking up the various autism-related magazines and books, this appears to be a fairly common diet adopted by parents exploring different avenues in hopes of helping their kids. Regardless if you believe in the benefits of the diet, is this really a reason for the state to step in and take children from their mother?
(I’ve been on a gluten-free and dairy-free diet due to allergies for years. Trust me, you can eat healthy without gluten or dairy.)
Additionally, it appears that the Department didn’t follow its own policies when it comes to removing children from their parents. Allegedly, they did not contact teachers, family members or the children’s doctor to verify whether the children were receiving appropriate care, as is supposed to be the case. The mother wasn’t even notified that the children would be taken from her, apparently a very rare move. The Department just took the kids from school and put them in foster care.
The comments made by the mother’s lawyer, Politimi Karounis are insightful. Watch the interview here. Here’s an interview with the mother.
[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZDMOIqn7LQ]
If I had the time, wouldn’t be too hard to do a spoof. (I resent that they put it to one of my favourite pieces of classical music.)
(h/t)
…this article makes me laugh. Out loud, even, as happened in the doctor’s office early this morning. It’s about a woman and her two husbands. She just couldn’t “shake the feeling that some part of me was repressed.” She knows what she wants: “When I learned about polyamorous relationships, I knew that’s what I wanted. My husband wasn’t so sure, though.” …”One of the biggest hurdles in non-monogamy — probably the hurdle — is jealousy.” …
For crying out loud, if I was to try and clip all the parts that made me laugh, I’d have to paste the entire article. This of course, with the exception of where she talks about her daughter, which sobers me right up. In general, however, the Onion couldn’t do this any better–they should just cut and paste the whole thing and click the magic publish button.
Sometimes when someone dies, we consider that we should have spent more time with them. That we should have treasured them more while they were here. Prioritizing people and relationships is a good thing, an important thing, especially in our fast-paced, workaholic world. It occurred to me then, that small children demand we spend more time with them not just because they need care, which they do, but because we want to know them in whatever stage they are, before that stage “dies.” My four-year-old niece will not always wander around the house randomly singing out “la la la,” and chuckling to herself, but it is something fun to behold. We benefit from seeing this and from living in the moment, even while we continue to frame having kids as being a lot of work, and costing much, which it also does. Perhaps when we have fewer children around, which in modern western society is certainly the case, we don’t live in the moment quite as much.
On the flip side, I might be over thinking things, because in a bygone era when people had lots of kids, it’s hard to consider that they would have had any time to really notice these small “la la la” moments. Perhaps noticing these things are one of God’s gifts to visiting Aunties, gifts I will happily accept.
Why this came to me as I drifted off to sleep last night, I don’t know.
A short snippet on how more children are arriving in South Korean orphanages, an unintended consequence of a new adoption law. Someone once asked me why Canada doesn’t have orphanages anymore. I answered, “because we have abortion.” So while this situation is clearly far from ideal, you have to ask yourself whether these babies ought to be dead, instead. I wonder whether these babies might be adopted now, due to the media attention on the matter.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3iUM_QYpAk]