mama is my friend

I just happened to look at the TV, and the film Bent is on, starring Clive Owen. He looks like Michael Stipe in one scene, Vinny Jones in another. Huh. Jude Law & Paul Bettany are also in it. Clive Owen must have a new movie coming out. They've been showing King Arthur like crazy (thanks Kiera Knightly), the Bourne Identity, and now this. Not that I mind, at all. Makes me want to watch Sin City again. At least it's a break from an evening of UFC. And now we have cable in the bedroom. How sweet it is!

I can't stop reading Yarn Harlot's blog. She posted ("the power scares me") about one knitter's support to help WIC in California promote breastfeeding by knitting hats made of veggies, fruits, and judging by some readers' comments, boobies. Since the YH is also a lacation specialist--so, so cool--yet she's still respectful of the choices women make. Yay, on so many levels.

Most of the comments were women's bf stories, offering support & experiences. The US just sucks how little maternity leave we get, and lack of a pumping room in many workplaces. At least at my job, there is a room and another one if needed. Support and education for bf moms is spotty, and can we please, please not gang up on each other about the choices we make for our kids? Like moms don't have enough guilt? OK?

Breastfeeding is a loaded parenting topic, not as much as co-sleeping or Ferberizing (whoa, is that one a party pooper!) but it can get pretty heated. I read a great book when I was breastfeeding--I'll go look for it in the library tomorrow, I promise (it was one of those books that I was trolling the aisles and just picked up)--about the sociology of contemporary breastfeeding. I'm not going to go into *my* feelings now, but it's something near & dear to my heart.

For the record? My son was 6 weeks early, I went back to work part-time after my leave (6 weeks plus my vacation time then a month unpaid=12 weeks, the most allowed by my workplace without having to jump through tons of paperwork hoops) and we breastfed until he was 20 months old. Ups and downs, it was great. We had to stop (which was a relief, in a way) when he had a nasty rotavirus and couldn't keep anything down except Pedialyte. That week was awful, but he's really well adjusted now.

Owen's quotes of the day: "That huge elevator is for big people." (He came to my work and was enthralled with the freight elevator.)
"Mama is my friend." (He went to backup day care. I'm sure they called everyone "friends," so this makes sense.)