The Great Breastfeeding Debate

I've breastfeed our son since birth. For his first year he was breastfed exclusively, and since he refused bottles or pacifiers, I was pretty much tied to him. Which is fine, he was a great baby and I could take him almost anywhere. He's now 15 months old and while he drinks regular 2% cows milk from a sippy cup or a straw with his meals, he still latches on to me at night, first thing in the morning and sometimes during the day when he's feeling snugly. This is all fine with me, I had planned on breastfeeding until 2 years old anyway. It's what the WHO (World Health Org.) suggests in other countries, Americans just haven't totally caught on to that train of thought yet. Now when my son wants to nurse, he comes up to me, does his little sign language for more and says "Mo Boo" which means "more boob". I usually whip it out and oblige him, because a) he's so cute and b) it's additional bonding time. His dad thinks that now that he can ask for it it makes it somehow very wrong and that I need to stop immediately. So today our son had his 15 month check up at the pediatrician's office. I asked her what her thought on the matter was after explaining our debate and his father's philosophy that "asking for it" somehow made it wrong. Her answer didn't help me out much. She said "The good news is, there is no definitive evidence that breastfeeding while he is aware of the act and able to ask for it by name has any long term consequences. Although, there also isn't any evidence it doesn't. You really just have to do what you feel is right.". Gee, thanks for being so neutral, Doc. You really helped me out of this pickle. NOT.

Adventures in Pet Sitting

Day 7. Pet sitting the cocker spaniel that belongs to my fiance's parents. She is a spoiled rotten ball of fur. I get to give her back in 7 hours when their plane lands and they can resume ownership of this rotten mutt. Actually, she's not a mutt, she was very expensive with papers and I think that's part of her problem. I actually like mutts and think they make better pets. This week has been an adventure, and more to the point, a lesson in the fact that I am not ready for a pet. I have children, I love and nurture and take care of their needs. It seems easy to me to be a parent of human children. I don't get loving an animal like a person. That gene but have skipped me. I think animals are fine for other people, I'm just not a pet person. I don't see the point of feeding, cleaning up after and buying expensive trinkets for something that I will surely outlive and offers no real benefit to my lifestyle in return. After a week of cleaning every day, my house still stinks. The dog has been up nights while we're sleeping making messes, tearing up things like my only purse and my children's toys and most enjoyable, pooping on the kitchen floor because she gave herself diarrhea one night after eating half of the trash.

Maybe it's just this particular dog. I had dogs growing up, but I lived on a farm and the dogs were mostly outside animals. They would come in at night when it was cold to sleep by the fireplace in the basement for warmth. Our house was flanked by two large fields and so the dogs could take themselves potty anytime they felt like it. On a side note, they were always very good about going out in the field away from the house and never going potty in our actual yard where my sister and I played. They got plenty of exercise on their own because we lived almost a mile off of the main road and they could go to the barn and pasture and chase the cows. They were always available to come running for petting and playing whenever my sister and I were in the mood, but they weren't especially needy and they had jobs to do, so it was nice.

I think maybe I'm just emotionally broken when it comes to animals, but I can't wait until this evening when I'll be Free at last! Free at last! Thank Dog Almighty, I am free at last!