It kind of blows my mind, but absolutely nothing has changed with the rhetoric around breastfeeding in the eight years between the girls. Eight years ago we were discussing how very hard it is to breastfeed, we were shaming moms who rely on formula, and we were arguing about whether or not it's OK to feed a baby in public.
We still have all of those same things. The same words get passed around, like some ridiculous game of Pong that just won't end.
The thing is, we seem to focus on the negative. Always have, always will. I suppose that's in part because there is still stuff like this being said in public places:
(By the way, there's no need to go tell that Pittsburgher to take a chill pill. She already self-diagnosed the real problem.)
But I think all of the rhetoric that never stops ignores one thing: it's not always drama and hardship. For every person who tweets something like that up there, there are 100 people who just plain don't care.
I mean that in the best way possible, by the way. There are a whole lot of people who don't care if you feed your baby in public. They don't say a word. They don't stare. They don't make faces. They just continue on with life, often not acknowledging that a baby is eating.
During Mila's short life, she has dined on a bench at Kennywood.
Nobody cared.
She has grabbed a quick snack at Target.
Nobody cared.
She has enjoyed a leisurely lunch at Starbucks.
Nobody cared.
Mila has worked her way through a multi-course meal in literally dozens of parking lots.
Nobody cared.
She eats 7-8 times per day each and every day, often in public, but not a single person has made a remark, looked uncomfortable, or even acknowledged that she was eating.
It's not always an uphill battle.
