Pump Pump Pump Pump Pump Pump Pump Pump Your Milk

Pumping breast milk at work isn't perfect under the best of circumstances. But of course, not everyone enjoys the best of circumstances, as discussed in this New York Times article. Law professor Ann Althouse has some interesting thoughts on the subject as well.

As for me, when I return to work following the birth over the summer of Metro Baby #2, my pumping options will be more limited than they were at my prior employer. At Prior Employer, I enjoyed the availability of a dedicated nursing suite with a telephone, fridge, and fairly comfy chairs. New Employer definitely wants to be nursing friendly, but isn't terribly equipped for it. My office manager has promised to install a set of shades to cover the glass door of a conference room so that I'll have a bit of privacy, but it's not optimal. Even so, it's infinitely better than perching atop a toilet in a public restroom.

The Law of Unintended Consequences

So how exactly are we all supposed to explain to our children that Pluto is no longer a planet? "Sorry, sweetie, Pluto was too small to be a real planet." That should go over big. Clearly the community of astronomers neglected to consider the impact of its decision on the toddler and preschool population.

Gender Equality My Ass

I'm a daughter of the 1980s. I believe that girls can be good at math and science, that I can bring home the turkey bacon and fry it up in a pan, and that men can be fantastic stay at home dads. I want my son to grow up knowing that girls are smart and fun to be around and that it's not a threat to his manhood to marry a woman who makes more money than he does. I want him to know that his Daddy is not only not less of a man, but more of one, because he cleans the house better than Mommy ever could or would, and that Mommy worships the ground Daddy walks on for his spectacular, homemade, from scratch, Sweet and Sour Chicken.

So why is the American toy industry conspiring against me?

My kid doesn't yet know that the world thinks that there are boy toys and girl toys, or boy colors and girl colors. But the world knows that if something is pink, it's for a girl. And if it's frilly, it's for a girl. I don't really mind that too much - I don't have a burning need to put him in a frilly pink shirt.

But I DO have a burning need to buy him a doll stroller.

He plays with doll strollers all day at school. When the little girls bring them to synagogue on Saturday all he wants to do is play with them. He puts his teddy bear in them and pushes them around the room. When a doll stroller is unavailable, he'll push around his umbrella stroller, no matter how unwieldy it is. I really, really, want to get him one.

Every last one I can find is pink. Really pink. Majorly, monumentally pink. We have had this problem once before, when we wanted to get him a play kitchen. They were all pink. And frilly and stereotypically girly. (Thank goodness for Step 2.)

Here's a word to the toy industry. My kid is 18 months old. He doesn't know that kitchens and strollers are for girls. I know I should be enlightened enough to get my kid pink toys and not care, but I'd like to get him something that says it's ok to be a snips-and-snails-and-puppy-dog-tails kind of boy and still like to cook and play with dolls. (Have we learned nothing from Free to Be... You and Me?)

Pregnancy Parking

Nightline recently did a short piece on a proposed New Jersey ordinance allowing pregnant women to park in handicapped spots. While I certainly agree that there are issues with labelling pregnant women handicapped, I also agree that waddling all the way across a huge suburban mall parking lot in my 9th month left me too tired to even remember what I'd come to the store for by the time I got inside.

What to do? The story showed a grocery store that had parking for pregnant women or parents with infants or toddlers in tow. I think grocery stores could gain a loyal following of parents that way. And the Babies 'R' Us that's semi-near me has "Stork Parking" for expectant or new mothers, which I was thrilled to take advantage of and kind of miss. So long as daddies with infants in tow get the same treatment, I think these stores have the right idea. But do I think it should be mandated? There I'm not so sure.

Your thoughts?

To TV or Not to TV

So Sesame Street has entered the Baby Einstein age, releasing a series of Sesame Beginnings DVDs aimed at the 6-24 month demographic. Children's health and psychology experts are apoplectic.

In a world where there are zillions of videos aimed at the baby crowd, I really don't have a problem with the Sesame Street gang entering the fray. I will confess, though, to being a bit conflicted on the whole No TV Before Age 2 debate. On the one hand, I find it appalling when people park their children in front of the TV for hours at a time. But I will be lying if I said that I didn't turn on a Baby Einstein video or Sesame Street to permit me to take a shower when Metro Girl (I can't really call her the Metropolitoddler at this point, can I?) was a baby, and she now watches Dora or Blue's Clues or a Disney movie pretty much every morning upon awakening so that Mommy and Daddy can (a) shower or (b) squeak in a bit more sleep. And then there's the odd half hour of Noggin she watches as an activity at some point or another during the day, plus whatever TV is employed by nannies and mommies out of my control when she's out on a playdate . . . . granted, she's above two and therefore outside the scope of the edict, but it wasn't like she never watched any TV before she was two.

So I guess I'm obviously not a big supporter of withholding all TV -- but all things in moderation. All that being said, I still don't have a problem with Sesame Street getting into the act.

Formula Fed and Ivy League Bred

Here's an enjoyable and sensible piece on breastfeeding from the Boston Globe. Apparently it spawned a fair amount of debate -- sadly, however, the Globe's archives are pay-only, so I can neither read nor link to the resulting firestorm.

Already Past Our Prime

It seems that we're already passe. The hip, new thing is podcasting, of course, and parents are podcasting everything from conversations on parenting techniques to live recordings of births. Makes what we do here seem positively tame. There's a full article about it here.

Now it seems that "Mommycast" has a $100K sponsorship from Dixie - making it the first non-technology-oriented podcast with major sponsorship. Hm. Double Hm.