7 Quick Takes Friday: The Breast is Best Edition

Last updated on: January 11, 2015 at 5:34 pm by Calah Alexander

7 Quick Takes Friday: The Breast is Best Edition 2015-01-11T17:34:23-05:00 Calah Alexander

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The last two weeks have been, in the words of my brother’s generation, an EPIC FAIL. Not only am I still flipping sick, but in a seriously misguided and ill-judged attempt to stretch the meager food left in our fridge so I can use this week’s grocery money for next week’s Thanksgiving feast, I made chicken tacos with some chicken meat leftover from making stock. But I forgot to label the meat, and I forgot to mentally do the math and see how old it was, the result of it all that being that the Ogre and I spent the morning throwing up. Luckily the children, of course, refused to eat it.

So not only is the house still a disaster but my grand plans for pre-cooking and freezing parts of our feast went right out the window. I haven’t even had a chance to practice pumpkin pie. Sometimes I just want my mommy. But even though the house is a wreck and instead of cleaning I spent the morning puking and laughing at autocorrect fails, I’m determined not to let quick takes Friday pass me by. For lack of a better subject matter and because I want a platform to show off some funny cartoons I found, this week I’m going to eloquently explain a decision that causes no end of consternation and embarrassment among my family and friends.

Extended Breastfeeding

I think it’s time to come out of the closet about something. I am an extended breastfeeder.

It Was An Accident

It really was. I planned to breastfeed Sienna for a year, but when it came right down to it I discovered that I just couldn’t say no to that face.

Okay, I realize no one believes that. The truth is I’m just lazy, and it was the easiest way to put her to sleep and down for a nap without having to turn off Veronica Mars. Judge me.

In My Defense…

I can’t count the number of times I’ve used this defense

the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding until the age of three. THREE. You read that right. And then as long as both mother and baby want to. We stop at two. Well, we stopped at two with Sienna. Charlotte is a lot more clingy and it’s much more important to her, so who knows how long this will continue.

Seriously

Would you be able to say no to that face? Also, how could I ever find the time to blog if I didn’t have a guaranteed way to get her to stop destroying things for five minutes?

My Sister

thinks that this is pretty gross. In response to my claims that it wards off illness and keeps my kids healthy, she likes to make jokes about how I could be a facet of Obamacare, only more successful; I could give my awesomely protective breastmilk to everyone, and call it Calahcare.

Lots of People

think that extended breastfeeding causes psychological harm to young children. This opinion is only reinforced when they see my kids do things like nurse their baby dolls and try to unbutton my shirt in public. To my critics and detractors, I say this:

I’m Tired

That’s right. I’m bloody tired. I’m too tired to argue, too tired to defend myself, and way too tired to fight with a toddler about weaning. In fact, being tired motivates about 99% of my decisions as a mother, including but not limited to my decision to co-sleep, my decision not to use “green” cloth diapers, my decision to breastfeed in the first place, and my decision not to pick up that sock that’s hanging across the monitor and obscuring 20% of my field of vision. Judge me. Trust me, I’m too tired to care.

For more quick takes, go visit Jen, who is also a little under the weather today. Leave her a note to cheer her up!

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