MerryMommy

All women have rights.   To support them, let's unite. You can help the fight. There is a common misconception that when women talk about desiring others to "support breastfeeding" that it is about a mommy war of breast milk vs. formula. That's not it. We all want babies to be fed, no matter the food.  But please consider this: It's about women's rights. So that my perspective is laid straight: I both breastfed and formula fed my twin babies. I, personally, wanted to exclusively breastfeed my babies but they were born 8 weeks early and without a sucking reflex. So, I began my breastfeeding relationship with a pump, in an isolating hospital room behind a curtain, and with blistered nipples that lasted for weeks. Not the lovely Madonna and Child image many conjure up when thinking of a mother nursing her young. My children got formula at 1 day old and for the next few days until I had enough milk to nourish them through their feeding tubes. Then, they w...

It takes a village to raise kind, generous kids. You are our village. If there is anything I have learned about being a mom in the past 2 years, it is that you can't do it alone. We are tribal people. We were made to rely on one another, to support our weak, to raise up our faltering, and to be the strong blazing the trail when we were able. Yet our modern society has evolved to be one of isolation. Marks of our success include leaving our families, building demanding careers, buying our own homes, and somehow managing to raise our children without anyone ever seeing us struggle.  I have realized recently that my concept of motherhood and my understanding of my role as a "mother" in society have evolved. I used to think that society had it right. That I was supposed to "make it" on my own, and that somehow every woman before me had done the same. And, worse than that, I should only show the world the glorious, shining moments of motherhood. Not the long, d...

Doubt not miracles. Blessed are those who do not see, yet still they believe. A wise woman once said to me: "If anybody ever tells you they don't believe in God, just let them look at a baby." Her words brought tears to my eyes, as I watched her soft smile widen while gazing at my boys. The tears swelled not just because I appreciated the beauty and the joy that my children brought to her, but because it was the first time someone affirmed to me exactly what I had been feeling since becoming pregnant, and then even more strongly since giving birth. I have witnessed miracles. I have had miracles born within me. I have both seen them and believed without seeing. You may be skeptical, wondering how what seems like basic human biology can be considered miraculous. It's true, our bodies are made to reproduce. But ask a mother who has become pregnant and bore her child, ask a mother who has become pregnant and lost her child, ask a yearning mother who has never b...