Public Breastfeeding....the debate goes on...

Ok, so here's what we know:  Everyone has an opinion on public breast feeding and there are many different ones.  Whether you are for it, against it, cover up, don't cover up, it would be nice to know the breast feeding law in your state.

There's a place you can go to find out what the current laws are and discuss and ask questions.  Visit:  http://breastfeedinglaw.com/

Incidentally, I read about a place down in San Antonio called Baby Café. They provide a non-clinical place and encourage Moms to come in feed their babies and talk about pregnancy and health issues. Way to go Texas! Read about it here:  http://www.woai.com/articles/woai-local-news-sponsored-by-five-119078/baby-cafe-will-promote-breast-feeding-12084695

Genetic Odds, Waiting and Tears

A pregnant mother and career cartoonist, illustrator and painter receives news that her and her husband both carry the genes for a chronic fatal disease. Lauren Weinstein and husband are sent to a genetic counselor.  It’s a scary time. This is the story of their wait told through her cartoons.

Follow along as this cartoonist and mother worries and hopes through the waiting to find out the results of their genetic testing.

http://nautil.us/blog/carriers-a-webcomic-on-health-luck-and-life

Election 2012 - Wicked Cool Baby Style

Now that the election is over, we can go back to life without all the political ads. Whether you’re Republican or Democrat, the months leading up to Nov 6 are taxing on everyone (pun intended). Even though the littlest “constituents” don’t really know what’s going on and they won’t be able to vote for years, judging from their little faces, they were OVER it!


Incidentally, the practice of “baby kissing” is believed to have started back in the time of Andrew Jackson and has survived, even flourished, through elections as a time honored way to get out the vote and gain public (women’s especially) support trying to get out a positive image. Today, it’s almost a superstition although there’s no case as to whether it helps or hinders.

Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis act out this humorous version of the cliché in this scene from a recent movie “The Campaign”, http://youtu.be/QKbziodzimo

As for Obama and Romney, they were both reported as being fairly ill-at-ease while holding infants and likely to hand the child back like “a grenade with the pin pulled out”.

So how about you? Does kissing babies make the candidates any more appealing or charismatic to you?

Men in Distress, Crisis TV

A new TV show series on Lifetime aired their first episode yesterday, called “The Week the Women Went”. Did you watch this? It’s a reality type show where TV cameras descend on a whole town in South Carolina and tape what happens when they remove all the women over 18 yrs old and leave the men to fend for themselves and their children for 1 week.

Now, I’m not a huge reality fan and I don’t believe for a second that none of this program’s pandemonium is pre-planned but it is VERY entertaining none the less.

The men have to take care of everything from the toddlers beauty pageant and running their wives businesses to the everyday get-the-kids-fed-bathed-and-to-sleep that every mom deals with all the time. Some have babies, some are dealing with school aged children and some have teenagers giving them problems.

It’s funny to see expressions on the husband’s faces that can only come from dealing with unreasonable children and toddlers. They are fish out of water and many have the glazed over eyes already and we’re only into the first day! It promises to be a rollercoaster series indeed.

To see Lifetime’s official “The Week the Women Went” page;

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/the-week-the-women-went

On a side note: I was appalled to see one dad giving his 3 year old daughter coffee (simply because she asked) and mentions that they (parents) do this all the time and that she loves It! Stay tuned to the post, “Should I be giving my child coffee (or any other adult beverages)?”

Three Mile Island - Baby Style

Actress Natalie Portman was in the celebrity gossip news this week when her 1-year-old son Aleph had what the report called a “Major Meltdown” in a popular eatery in Los Angeles recently. Kudos to Natalie for handling it gracefully; she even offered to pick up the check for a few other tables close by before taking her meal to go. While I surely don’t think her paying for others meals was necessary, it was a very nice gesture.

Everyone has had this experience at some time, probably from both sides; as a mother and as another patron of the restaurant. No matter how careful you plan the baby’s nap or happy time, sometimes it just doesn’t work out. They aren’t feeling good or are just having an off day or their little schedule is off slightly….and they throw a huge fit that you can’t seem to calm. They scream and/or cry no matter what you do. It’s just what babies do.

Give us your go-to plans for this type of meltdown. How do you handle the situation when it’s your little darling that’s throwing a fit? Give us your best advice!

Truth of Consequences

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve mentally counted along with the mother standing in the grocery line telling her 4 yr old to stop doing whatever he’s doing….1….2….2 ½…. Whose idea was the counting thing anyway? Does it ever work? I’ve never seen it work. I’ve seen kids say, ”3-4-5!” I’ve seen kids laugh and run…I’ve even seen kids stand there staring and waiting to see what’s gonna happen. You know why? Because whatever the parent is counting to is not readily apparent to the child because the parent hasn’t been consistent. The child has no concept of consequences. The counting thing has become a countdown of I’m-getting-ready-to-say-no.

Who decided we shouldn’t punish our kids or get angry when they misbehave? (I’m not talking about spanking or abusiveness) Age appropriateness comes into factor, for sure. As they get a bit older and can understand when told not to do something, aren’t we supposed to parent them in, well, life. After all, there are consequences to everything we do in life until we die. You’re just preparing them when you set boundaries and rules they have to abide by.

Children who learn that rules need to be heeded early on are better behaved in civilized society. We had rules growing up, everyone does. You know, like don’t run with scissors, no drinks in the formal living room, don’t let food fall from your mouth onto the floor purposely, no throwing toys at people, no running around restaurants like it’s romper room, no screaming because you’re not getting your way, no drawing on the walls, I can go on and on. The point is, yes, most times I followed the rules when I was little because I didn’t wanna make Mom and Dad mad. But I didn’t like the consequences of breaking the rules. Believe me the rules were very concise and presented a “clear and present danger” if we didn’t follow them. I already knew what would happen if I chose the opposite because my parents were consistent. And trust me, there was no counting.

I’m also not talking about making your kids scared of you. Make the consequences…. very undesirable. Take the birthday party next weekend away or remove something from their day that they really like. If you’re going to give in once the rules are set, you’ve already lost the battle. Let’s face it, it’s hard to raise children. With most kids, you’ll only have to punish them a few times before they realize you’re serious the next time you tell them not to do something. Then you can leave the counting for your toddler learning his numbers.

More Santa's Lap

Think back to your days in a crowded mall, standing in line for days (it seemed), nervous, watching the other kids before you to meet Santa Claus and tell him what you wanted for Christmas? Remember this?

Over half of the time the scene looked like this.  Parents frantically waving their hands to let the kids know where they are and that it's OK, they don't need to cry, trying to get a picture, come what may. One kids crys and they ALL cry.....Ahhh, memories. Santa definately has his hands full this time of year!

Screaming Meanies

As my husband and I are sitting down to a nice meal in a not-too-cheap Cantonese and Sushi restaurant recently (looking forward to a quiet dinner), I am guilty of the oh-no-eye-roll as the hostess seats the booth next to us with two parents and three children under the age of 4. I do this because I suspect what will happen to my quiet dinner. I wasn’t wrong.


Now, I’ve heard talk here and there on the web that small children should be banned from restaurants and I do not agree. Families have a right to eat out just as anyone else. That being said, I also think that other patrons of the restaurant have a right to a dinner sans children screaming, crying or in our case, banging a spoon on the table for nearly 40 minutes.

I love kids, don’t get me wrong, but what I don’t love is parents that do absolutely nothing to quiet, comfort or remove their screaming children (or perhaps just take the spoon away). Kids will be kids and parents, well, you had the kids and it’s your job to teach them how to behave in a public restaurant. Becoming a parent involves sacrifices, not mine, yours. Common courtesy should be the words of the day….and before you tell me that I have forgotten that I was a child once too, I will tell you that I certainly was never allowed to act out in a restaurant (or any public place), throw food, run around between the tables, scream or throw a tantrum. I do remember being a child; I spent some time being escorted outside until I could calm down before going back to my seat.

We all know it’s hard, hell impossible sometimes to keep all the children cool and calm. We get it, just asking for some actual parenting. If it at least looks like you’re trying, I’m good. Oh and maybe you replace the banging spoon with a breadstick or something?

No More Tears

Although, I have a hairdressing background, it was a long time ago that I stood behind the chair. When I heard recently that Johnson and Johnson were being questioned about the ingredients in their baby shampoo, I thought of a boss I had at one time who insisted that the shampoo had novocaine in it and that was the reason it didn’t hurt baby’s eyes. Novocaine, really? … she said her mother told her that, and she believed it.


Obviously that’s crazy but, we were taught in school that J & J had simply balanced the PH of the shampoo so that it wouldn’t be alkaline or acidic and that was the secret of the “no more tears”.

Now, consumers and activists have pressured J & J enough apparently, that they are now, according to the Huffington Post, “continuing efforts to remove traces of two harmful chemicals from its baby products around the world.” The two chemicals, 1,4-dioxane and quaternium-15 are the ones in question now although J& J have removed other dangerous chemicals and ingredients from their baby products before. The worry is in the fact that babies have more sensitive and highly permeable skin than adults which contributes to higher health risks. J& J has no known plans to remove these chemicals from their adult product lines at this time.

To read the Huffington Post article in full: http://tinyurl.com/br9ntja

Viral Baby Video Stresses Mom out

I watched a cute video the other day because it had a baby, went viral quickly and I wanted to see what people were talking about. A mother taped her 2 year old having a tantrum and the family dog had a reaction to it. Cute, right? No one was hurt in the taping, no one was mistreated, no one was humiliated, it was just a very short, cute video of a 2 year old and a dog.


It actually started to get some major attention but it was the negative comments from the "internet crazies" that may cause Mom Caroline to need therapy. Internet anonymity causes people to be cruel and mean spirited for no apparent reason. Shame, shame! Read more from this mom here: http://tinyurl.com/6qpgcya