Comments on: Shame And The Written Mom

By: aqua

aqua — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:42:00 +0000

I discovered your blog yesterday, and I can’t stop reading! You’re so witty and such a gorgeous writer.
Breastfeeding your new friend’s baby was a beautiful thing to do, and it shocks me every time I read people’s reactions to this natural act (when will I learn to expect such divisive rhetoric? It always surprises me anew.) I am a new mother and only beginning to think about these issues, and I’m sure many have written about this already (Mary Douglas? Purity and Danger? I don’t remember, but I wasn’t a mother when I read it a long time ago), but it’s fascinating to consider the things we find disgusting through cultural conditioning. Even my self-described feminist mother in law surprised me a few months ago when I suggested that I donate some of my breastmilk — I was overproducing at the time — to a milk bank (as it turned out, Toronto doesn’t have such a bank, though one is apparently in the works). My mother in law had a visceral negative reaction to my suggestion; after she thought about it, she said that she felt milk was such a personal thing, not to be shared with others. I was so perplexed by her reaction.

Sorry for the long, rambling comment. Really, I just wanted to say, thank you for such a thought-provoking and beautifully-written blog.

By: Liz

Liz — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:03:00 +0000

Great post. I think what you and Laura did was fine.

After reading your thoughts, I read the other blogger’s post. It occurred to me that if she really found the act bizarre and shameful, maybe she thought you wouldn’t write about it, and that maybe no one would realize that you were the subject of her post.

By: Lenore Skenazy

Lenore Skenazy — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:55:00 +0000

What’s nuts is how everyone thinks that there is a right and wrong way to parent/feed/blog/live (and especially if you’re trying to do all four at once!). You’re out there, so people will comment (don’t I know it!) but your attitude and common sense will see you through. And most of us are totally on your side! — Lenore “Free-Range Kids” Skenazy (the mom who let her 9-yearold ride the subway alone…)

By: Ohio_Momto3boys

Ohio_Momto3boys — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:59:00 +0000

I found your blog from a link sent to me by former students (who are now moms). My babes are all adopted and I was not able to nurse them (although I got a ton of flack for not ‘trying harder’…whatever). Keep on keepin’ on, my friend. Let people say what they will. We would have been thankful to have a volunteer nurse for the young’un’s!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 07:45:00 +0000

I think this has become tiresome and you take yourself way to seriously.

By: Mandy

Mandy — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:25:00 +0000

Fantastic post!

I am a big fan of yours, and I just have to tell you that I LOVE how honest you are.

A lot of mothers with blogs try to make themselves seem un-humanly PERFECT, and live some sort of fantasy life on the net…

Your blog is so refreshing, and makes myself, and I’m sure a LOT of others, feel great about being not so perfect, and HUMAN.

By: Aimeepalooza

Aimeepalooza — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:44:00 +0000

I am not well known and it upset to me to hear one stupid guy make fun of my child and his hyper-activity in a public place. It’s tough writing about kids and hearing people’s opinions…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:04:00 +0000

You go girl. Don’t let the bastards get you down.

By: Her Bad Mother

Her Bad Mother — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:44:00 +0000

Eva – laughing. I’ll go check it out once I’ve caught up on sleep and e-mail.

By: Eva Robertson

Eva Robertson — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:29:00 +0000

Witnessing this cat fight between Catherine and Cheryl, I just had to put my two cents down on my blog. In my view, you are both so right and so wrong. My post is entitled “Whose Boobs Are Bigger, Catherine’s or Cheryl’s?”

See: http://dogwooddiarist.blogspot.com/2009/03/whose-boobs-are-bigger-catherines-or.html