The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog

My heritage, as represented in file folders.

We're just through a rash of celebrations including two birthdays, an anniversary, and two Passover Seders.  Last week brought Childrens' Day, a Japanese holiday which is sometimes celebrated in the Japanese American community.

For Passover I was asked to lead an activity which involve hiding the afikoman - a piece of matzoh which the kids hide during the Seder and is later returned in exchange for a small prize.  Since the kids who were attending aren't old enough to sew with cloth and needle, I punched holes in blue file folders and they sewed them together with yarn.  I found some clip art for them to glue on one side, too.

For Childrens' Day I wanted to do an activity with my son's preschool class.  With some help from my mom I settled on making koi wind socks (koi nobori), which are traditionally put outside houses for this holiday.  Here are directions if you'd like to make your own.

So I cut carp bodies out of yellow file folders and had the kids glue on scales and eyes and stuff them with newspaper.  They also added streamers to blow in the wind. 

You never know what to expect from file folders.

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Local news.

With apologies to those of you who don't live in my area, here are several announcements for moms who live in Western Massachusetts:

I'm working with some other women on advocating for pumping rooms at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  We're having our first organizational meeting this week on Monday, April 28, 2008, at 4:00 at the Everywoman's Center.  Email me if you'd like to come, or if you'd like to be on the mailing list for the next meeting.

Our breastfeeding coalition is selling some great organic, fair trade Dean's Bean's coffee as a fundraiser.  If you're interested in ordering (local folks only, please) see our coalition's website for the order form.  Our next coalition meeting is on May 8th at Motherwear.  If you don't live in the area you can still support our coalition by buying a sticker or shopping at our Cafe Press store!

UMass professor Dr. Kathleen Arcaro is seeking breastmilk samples for her research.  If you're interested, contact her through this website.  Here are some pictures from her visit to our breastfeeding support group last year.

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Some recent projects.

Last weekend we headed up to New Hampshire for our cousin's annual maple sugaring party.  It was like stepping back two months into the heart of winter. There was at least a foot of snow on the ground, and we spent much of the time sledding.  At one point we heard my otherwise extremely cautious son say "Hey, look at me!" We turned in time to see him gleefully barrel down a steep hill, heading straight for a snow-covered ledge and some bushes below.  My husband made a diving catch and grabbed him just in time. 

Last week I went to a bag sewing get together, coordinated by a local effort called the Bag Share Project.  Volunteers are sewing hundreds of cloth shopping bags which will be kept at the check-out counters at local businesses.  People who have forgotten to bring bags will be able to take their stuff home in these cloth ones, and return the bags later.  Each bag has a label stating where the bag should be returned.  Even the inmates at the county jail have gotten in on the project.  My friend Alexis, who works in the high-end fabric business in New York, has been giving me samples of beautiful fabric, so I'm making some extras for us, like the one to the right.

Our local breastfeeding coalition still working on setting up a milk collection depot for the Mothers Milk Bank of New England, and our friend Mo recently wrote a really nice article about it for the local independent paper.  It's looking like the initial milk processing will be done by the Mothers' Milk Bank of Ohio, with a gradual transition over to the New England milk bank as they get their facility set up.  I agreed to manage the newsletter for the milk bank (you know that you're overcommitted when you try to hide a volunteer job from your husband!).  If you want to be on the mailing list, email me.  I also set up a Cafe Press store for them.

There are other projects which I'll write about soon, but that's all for now!

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What happened to recess?

Taking a little break from breastfeeding for a moment to discuss a school issue. 

My son will start kindergarten in the fall, and my husband and I have been checking out our local public schools.  In general we're pretty happy with what we're finding (and we're both former teachers, so we're a little picky).  But one thing is really bugging me:  recess is almost gone.

The public schools in our district all offer full-day kindergarten.  This means that 5 year olds are in school from roughly 9:00 to 3:00.  There is one recess break after lunch, for about 30 minutes.  That's it.  When I taught, ten years ago, there was both a morning and afternoon recess.

When I asked about it, the answer I got was 'we have a lot to cover' or 'we make the afternoon pretty low key academically.'  I could tell by the way the teachers answered that they were sympathetic to the concern, but aren't in charge of the policy.

What I didn't ask then, but will certainly do next year, is "Don't you think they'd learn more if they had the chance to run around a little bit?"  And while it's not tested on a state exam, aren't they actually learning something pretty important while they're outside shaking their sillies out?  Like how to be with other people?  Not to mention physical fitness in the age of childhood obesity.

I get where this comes from.  The public wants high standards, accountability, and good test scores, and this has translated into a lot of assessment and a lot of pressure on teachers.  But I just can't believe that kids as young as five learn more when they are inside all day.  I've also been reading about the death of outdoor play in general, so it's even more disturbing to see outdoor play even at school go away.

Is this the way it works in your community?

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Link Love, part II

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

My blogroll is very limited, so to show my affection for those of you who link back to my blog, I'm posting your sites here.  I did this last year, and I'm happy to update it now with over twenty more.  Check out my alphabetizing skills, too.  Actually, please don't.

If I've missed your blog, or you're adding a link now, leave a comment with a link, or email me.  And if you're linking to me and we haven't "met," feel free to email me!

• A Booblog
• A Mom for All Seaons
• Adventures in Babywearing
• Adventures in Imperfection
• Adventures of a Breastfeeding Mother
• Another Work in Progress
• Baby GooRoo
• The Baby Gravy Train
• Baby Whys
• Black Breastfeeding Blog
• Blessed Quiver
• Breastfeeders Anonymous
• Breastfeeding 1-2-3
• Breastfeeding Mums
• The Breastaurant Baby
• Bumblebaby Mommy
• Cairo Mama
• Celebrity Baby Blog
• Charity Grace
• Crunchy Domestic Goddess
• Crystal Voice
• Elijah Zvi
• Ewokmama
• The Floyd Files
• Fot Life
• Half Pint Pixie
• Hilltown Families
• Hyperactive Lu
• iMom
• The International Breastfeeding Symbol Blog
• It's a Wonderful Life
• James and the Giant Moose
• Keep Abreast
• The Lactivist
• Learning a Little Every Day
• A Little Crunchy
• Lord Guard and Guide
• Mama Knows Breast
• Max Arthur
• The Milk Memos
• Mocha Milk
• Momma's Angel
• Motherlove Herbal Company
• My Adventures in Motherhood
• My Baby and More
• My Everyday Life
• Next Stop Wonderland
• On School Street
• The Only South Bay Mom without a Bugaboo
• Our Home on the Range
• Patience, Grasshopper!
• Peanut Butter and Jelly Boats
• Pregnantly Plump
• Pump Esteem
• Radical Catholic Mom
• The True Face of Birth
• Sidetrack'd
• Significant Self
• Sniggle Shack
• So Much for the Plan
• Spilled Milk
• The Sombat Family Blog
• Some Fine Taters
• Spit up on my Shoulder
• Such Great Heights
• These are the Days
• These Choices
• Twintastic
• UNM Breastfeeding Support Program
• The van Eaglegiessens
• Veggie Way
• The Whole Family

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Back from Mars.

For the last three days I've been serving on the jury for a criminal trial in my area.  I won't get into the nature of the charges (not pleasant), but I do want to reflect a bit on the experience, even though it doesn't have anything to do with breastfeeding.

First, unlike just about everyone I know, I've always wanted to serve on a jury.  Call me sentimental, but it's one of so few things that this country asks of its civilians, and it's such a uniquely American institution which I wanted to experience (not that other countries don't have jury trials, but this is an opportunity to experience our particular system of justice). 

So, here's what I've been thinking:

Serving on a jury is a huge and humbling responsibility.  I could hear the foreman's voice tremble a bit when he read the verdict, and he's a big and tough-acting guy.  I've heard the words "reasonable doubt" thousands of times, but I've never had to use it to determine someone's fate. 

Being on a jury is a little like trip to another planet, say Mars.  You're suddenly a critical part of the nightmare which the parties are living, though you've never seen or heard of them before.  It feels a bit like "We interrupt your regularly scheduled week of reading Franklin books and helping fix latches so that you can make a life-altering decision in the life of a perfect stranger."

And while this is trivial in the scheme of things, life as you know it is put on hold for the duration of the experience.  This isn't necessarily bad, but it does feel strange.  I found that I lost track of which day of the week it was.  And of course it's strange to not be able to discuss what's happening with your partner or anyone else but the 11 other strangers in the deliberation room.

At the risk of sounding like a bad political speech, I feel very priveleged to have served in this way.  Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.  Where's that pump?

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Advice from my baby book.

When I was at my parents' house over the holidays I got out my baby book to show my son.  I learned, among other things, that I started solids at 6 weeks.  I also found a pamphlet on baby care given to my mom by her doctor.  Here is some of the advice in it, circa 1969:

On sleep:  "It is safer to have the baby sleep on the abdomen or side rather than the back." 

On breastfeeding:  "Until the milk supply is well established you may offer a couple of ounces of sweetened boiled water after each nursing...Use one teaspoon of light Karo, or other sugar, to each two ounces of boiled water."

"You may get considerable relief for the nipples by applying a tincture of benzoin (available at any druggist) after each nursing, let it dry for a minute, then apply a little cornstarch to prevent stickiness."

"It is best to nurse him when he seems really hungry.  This will probably be at about three to four hour intervals at first and should gradually lengthen."

On spoiling your baby:  "You will soon learn the pattern of your child and will be able to avoid too frequent feeding efforts, picking up, turning over..."

Apart from feeling a bit mortified at the idea of having downed bottles of water and corn syrup, reading this actually gave me some sympathy for the generation of women (now grandmothers) who just can't get behind things like exclusive breastfeeding, back-to-sleep, solids-at-six-months, or the idea of attachment parenting.  After all, they got the above advice from a trusted authority. 

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National Delurking Day, or Week, or... oh, just leave a comment!

So I'm told that today is National Delurking Day.  I was hoping for a National Delurking week, like last year, so that I could meet more of you! 

Anyway, if you've been lurking in the shadows, come out and leave a comment!  Tell me anything - about breastfeeding, about babies, about what you ate for breakfast.  I'm really very friendly.  After coffee.

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Wordless Wednesday: Snow faces

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Meetup in the Bay Area over the holidays?

I'll be in the San Francisco Bay Area over the holidays and was recently emailing with reader Maureen about getting together for some coffee. 

If anyone else in the South Bay area is interested in joining us just shoot me an email and we'll figure it out.  I'd love to meet you!

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