I have had a long week and it isn't over yet. I worked last week a normal schedule, then I worked all weekend at the ButterflyFest for the Museum, then a regular work week this week plus a special event this Thursday night. Then I am oh so lucky to get to work on Sunday afternoon/evening. I am already completely exhausted and it isn't over yet.
But coming home to my adorable little munchkin and hearing her laughter makes it all better. Well until I have to go back to work and leave her. :-(
As I rocked Elsa to sleep tonight I got a little sad. I looked down at her and thought she will never be this little again. Tomorrow she will be a little bigger, and the next day bigger, and so on. Each day she will learn new things that she never knew before. You fall in love with each stage they go through and have to grieve when they pass through it, and then fall in love all over again with the next stage.
"In courting the always-on livelihood, we're turning our backs on rich moments of full focus and absorption, in favor of darting restlessly back and forth between two or more complex streams of life. The integrity of a moment is lost when we unthinkingly blend different parts of our life."
How this statement impacts my very existence. This came from an article titled "Smartphones Let Work Win Out." And it is so true. The home vs. work distinction has been blurred so much by smartphones. I started using a Blackberry in 2006 and found a way to get my work email on the phone. At that time my philosophy was to fix a problem before it becomes a problem. Rather nip it in the bud then take more time to clean up the mess. I used it so much that when Steve and I went on vacation in 2007 I was forbidden to use my phone for work, but I totally snuck a few email checks. I dropped my BB Pearl in the toilet AT WORK by accident and had to use an old phone and was without email for awhile. And honestly, it was such a relief. In 2009 we got iPhones. Oh glorious iPhone!! At first I was resistant to loading work email again, but eventually it just became necessary. I now have a reason to put the phone down...Elsa Anna. I informed my boss that my email will be turned off on weekends so I can spend quality time with my family. In the last couple of weeks I have realized that I also need to turn it off in the evenings. Working while home and neglecting my precious little girl is not an option.
So this post may not appeal to all of my 6 followers, but it is something that I have been thinking about lately. Today two different people on facebook that I know (but who do not know each other) posted a link to the same "blarticle" (blog + article, not quite a an article but definitely a blog). This blarticle talked about how to talk to children about breastfeeding when they see it in public.
Now I have I have a nursing cover, which Elsa hates. She thrashes when she is underneath it and fights eating. So if I want to feed her in public I sometimes have to just go "commando." Although I have used the nursing cover I really didn't think much about NOT using it. I didn't think to myself "Am I harming some child out there by allowing them to see me feed my baby from my breast?" or "Am I offending some adult out there for feeding my baby from my breast?" It is such a natural thing to do that I forget that people could be offended. But why? Why is it such a big deal to see a mother feed her baby? A friend of mine wrote this very matter of fact blarticle on the topic as well, and I am on board with NIP! Breasts are not "just" sexual organs (and that definition of sexual for breasts is a social construct not a biological one), they are meant to provide the best nourishment possible to our offspring.
So if you are offended by my actions, look the other way!
