Archive for the ‘Suckassiness’ Category:
MySpace Says Baby on Boob Must Go (Edited - Now with MORE INSANITY!)
It never fails…. You’re sitting at your computer wondering what you’re going to blog about today and just when you’re about to give up and go eat something junky and yummy instead, you come across yet another absurd story that makes you wonder how the United States ever became such a “superpower” because we’re so goddamned backwards in this country.
Behold the instant blog fodder provided courtesy of MySpace and brought to my attention by Linda Thomas over at the Seattle-Post Intelligencer.
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You’d think a major player like MySpace would have learned from those who came before them (like the Pork Board, Delta Airlines and Fred Meyers stores) that bullying breastfeeders and those who support breastfeeding is just plain bad business. But noooo…
It appears that MySpace’s attitude can be summed up in two lines:
Boobs for fun and profit = VERY, VERY GOOD!!!
Boobs for breastfeeding = PORNOGRAPHIC and OBSCENE!!!
In a nutshell, there is a mom over on MySpace who is a breastfeeding advocate. On her page, she has the above photo of her baby breastfeeding and you’ll note that you can hardly even see her breast but MySpace has already deleted it three times because it “violates MySpace policies against nudity and sexually suggestive images” and has threatened to boot her off MySpace.
WTF? Do the people at MySpace EVER look at their own site??? There is nudity and “sexually suggestive” imagery all over that beyotch. And they want to pick on a breastfeeding photo? It’s so ludicrous that it’s almost funny.
According to Linda Thomas, the mom put the image back up on her MySpace page and is ready to take on this challenge. YGG!
EDITED TO ADD: This other story was just sent to me by a reader/friend about a woman in her hometown being told to leave a mall because she was breastfeeding. That’s not as insane as some of the comments, particularly ones left on the follow-up story here. What kind of lunatic-ridden country are we living in???
ALSO EDITED TO ADD BECAUSE TWO TALES OF MADNESS ARE JUST NOT ENOUGH!!!!: This story is from Jennifer over at The Lactivist — There’s a mom in Central Ohio whose day care center was charging her an extra $10 a day for “handling” breast milk. She eventually pulled her child from the center and she’s now prepared to take this story national. Apparently, the center may be putting a new policy in place to refuse to even accept breastfed children. You can read more about it here.
AND (Yes, there’s MORE!!!): Today I received multiple “Death to IzzyMom” and “Die IzzyMom Die” comments on this post about breastfeeder harassment (all from the same person). I deleted all but one. Unbelievable…
If you’re writing about these stories, let me know so I can link you here:
Rock ON, Sistahs!
A Mom, a Blog and a Life In-Between
This is My Brain on Drugs (Edited)
As recently noted, I started back on antidepressants (Zoloft) six days ago and I was extremely hopeful because in the past I’d always felt improvement in a relatively short amount of time but this time? Not so much. I do have a bad cold and I feel like shit but I also feel so…I don’t know. Like I’m just lost in my head most of the day.
I’m also finding it difficult, today in particular, to get motivated to do anything and I’ve been reluctant to answer the phone or interact with anyone besides my husband or children. I just feel sort of detached from everything, which is eerily similar to the way I felt when I had postpartum depression except without the irritability and crying jags. I guess that’s one bright spot.
Also noteworthy…I haven’t been particularly cranky and I’ve been exceedingly patient with the kids. Not that I’m not usually patient but seriously, I’ve been super chill, like I can’t even spare the mental energy it takes to be annoyed.
Ultimately…I feel like I’m getting worse instead of better and quite frankly, all I really want to do is go to sleep and not think about any of it.
(That said, if I haven’t responded to an email or been by your blog, I hope you’ll cut me some slack. I’m trying but with P and I both sick and me feeling like an antisocial slug, I’ve been pretty useless.)
I wanted to thank everyone who left comments of encouragement on my previous post on this topic. I was hesitant to discuss any of this in such a public forum but after seeing how many of you have been where I am or are on antidepressants and doing well, I’m glad I did and I appreciate your candor more than I can say.
It’s very hard to discuss this with people in real life. You feel like you’re just flogging a dead horse and that nobody really wants to hear about it and really, they don’t. Why would they?
At least here, I can write about it and if someone doesn’t want to read about it they can leave and I won’t even know. There’s also something comforting about confiding in strangers. Not that I think of everyone who comes here as a stranger but you know… It’s different than real life. And I’m babbling. Never mind.
I wanted to ask if anyone has had the experience of getting worse before getting better on AD’s. The thought of having to try different ones scares me and I don’t want to do it. Thank you in advance.
And Happy Valentines Day :)
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After a night of restless semi-sleep, I am feeling better than I did when I wrote this post. Unfortunately, it’s time for my next dose and I’m reluctant to take it now. I guess if I do take it, at least I will know if it’s the AD’s making me feel weird or something else. Crossing my fingers and toes…
Why? (Edited)
I can’t stop crying for this child. I just don’t understand.
Why? Why do things like this happen?
If there is a God, why doesn’t he spare innocent babies?
I’m so angry I want to scream.
My heart hurts.
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Okay, I’ve calmed down. I was actually sitting down to write a blog post when I saw the headline for that awful story on my Google start page and like an idiot, I read it. You may recall that I’ve had myself on a news blackout because I have a very hard time with stuff like this and other depressing news stories. That said, I wish I hadn’t read it. I’m feeling very…down…today and that story just sent me over the edge and into the proverbial abyss.
As it happens, however, I went to the doctor this morning to see about getting back on antidepressants. I’ve made excuses for the mood issues I’ve been experiencing since my son was born and I’ve finally decided that there are worse things than being back on Zoloft. I only hope that it will still work for me.
I’ve experienced recurring episodes of clinical depression since I was 20 years old and antidepressants have always been effective but you hear a lot of terrible stories about people going on AD’s and getting worse and that is a huge fear of mine.
Being mildly depressed sucks but I can usually meet my day to day responsibilities and hold it together enough to not be considered unstable. (Most people don’t even know, though a perceptive few have inquired) Getting worse while trying to get better is just such a cruel irony and I want no part of it.
So…wish me luck.
And the Hits Just Keep Coming…
Boy…this has been a great week for setting women back half a century, hasn’t it? Well, the following will either have you seething or perhaps cheering, depending on where you stand.
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Last weekend, in Tampa, while walking home from the popular pirate-themed Gasparilla Festival parade, a 21 yr old University of South Florida student was grabbed off the sidewalk, dragged behind a building and raped.
When the young woman contacted authorities, officers took her to a rape crisis center where she was given the first of two doses of the morning-after pill. The second dose is supposed to be taken within 24 hours. (to clarify… these are essentially double doses of birth control pills that are used to prevent egg implantation in the uterus, not the controversial RU486 abortion pill)
Later the police asked her to show them where the rape occurred. While driving in the police cruiser, police were notified that the victim had an outstanding warrant involving failure to pay restitution for a crime she committed as a juvenile (the victim’s mother has stated that the warrant was due to a clerical error). Right then and there, the rape investigation was completely stopped and the victim was taken to jail.
As if being raped and then jailed were not bad enough, while in police custody, she was also denied a second necessary dose of emergency contraception by a nurse who allegedly stated it was against her religious beliefs. The police refused to release the victim and she remained jailed until her attorney contacted the media.
After her story was broadcast across the country, the Tampa Police department helped her get before a judge so she could be released on bail. My, how very generous of them. The Tampa Police Dept. is in the process of revising it’s protocol for dealing with crime victims with outstanding warrants. Too little, too late, assholes.
I’m disgusted. This young woman was victimized not once but twice and then to add insult to injury, now she stands a chance of being pregnant by her attacker because someone insisted that their personal religious views should supersede their job description. You know what I have to say to that nurse?
When YOU get raped, YOU don’t have to take the emergency contraception! Keep your personal beliefs off of other people’s bodies and do your job!
Naturally, the police and the nurse are disputing the victim’s claim but she stands by her allegation. Of course they’re disputing it. They’re facing a potential lawsuit. Personally, I’ve heard enough horror stories about the TPD that I believe her. I hope the nurse gets fired and I hope the girl sues the pants off of all of them.
Read the news story here.
PS: If you use Internet Explorer and can’t see my right sidebar, would you please let me know either in the comments or via email? They don’t make any version of IE that will run on my computer so I can’t see it for myself. Thanks in advance.
PPS: If you can see my sidebar then you may have noticed the button for the “Share the Love” blog awards. My blog was nominated in the “Woman Power - Best Representative of Women” category for which I am thrilled. Since I frequently write in support of women and girls, I don’t feel tacky asking you to consider casting a vote for IzzyMom. If you want to. And you think I’m worthy. And if you do, just go here and find that category to cast your vote. Thank you :)
Crying it Out…Family Style
I haven’t said much about this because babies not sleeping? So normal, so common, right? What about toddlers who abandon their formerly stable and predictable sleeping routines? Still not abnormal and certainly attributable to any number of things. And God knows I’m not alone here, right? Hello Catherine!
Unfortunately, we’re not dealing with a little bit of sleeplessness or the occasional night waking. No. P has decided recently that sleeping and napping? It’s for suckas. And I honestly believe that in my quest to be a good mom, I may have created a proverbial monster.
How on earth did I do that? By always answering every cry or whimper. By never letting him cry for longer than it takes to appear cribside with a ready hug or cuddle or…the wrecker of all sleep habits…the “let’s snuggle for a minute on the big bed while you settle back down”. I know that last one is the culprit because now whenever I go to see what’s wrong, P leans his entire body, safety be damned, towards our bed, pointing and speaking in that mysterious language he prefers over English.
I just want to clarify that the waking isn’t just waking. It’s also the flat refusal to sleep in some cases. Either way, he goes from being perfectly fine to basically standing up in crib screaming like he’s being with poked with an electric cattle prod.
The first thirty or so times, the huz or I would go running in, convinced that he was, in fact, dying. But after innumerable diaper checks, itchy checks (he has a touch of eczema on his arm and sometimes it flares up and itches), considering the possibility of teething (and thus administering some pain relief) and countless bottles of milk (Yes, I said bottles. Shut up), we have concluded that there is actually nothing wrong with him other than his newly developed sense of autonomy, which we’ve decided we pretty much hate (and so does his sister because she can hear him through the walls.)
This means we have to do it. The evil three letter acronym…
Is it National “I Hate Breastfeeders Day” Again?
Because I thought it was National De-lurking Week. You know, where you come out of hiding to say hello to the writers whose blogs you lurk upon but never leave comments. I’d love it if people would delurk but hey…no pressure :)
So…you’re probably wondering about I Hate Breastfeeders Day. Well, I only asked because I got three obnoxious comments today on older posts about breastfeeding and two, both from the same person, were extremely antagonistic and bizarre.
This could be a joke but I replied via email and they still haven’t bounced back so the email address used by “Sean” is valid and thus it’s possible this person is serious, as well as ignorant and crazy. Either way it takes a hell of a nerve to post such a diatribe. It’s just too bad the loser doesn’t have a blog he’d like to share with us.
I’ve posted this nutbar’s priceless comments below so you can behold the madness for yourself…
Wackotastic comment # 1 from “Sean” of Hayward, California, copied verbatim:
Hi…i just wanna say that i happen to be 100%against breastfeeding in public, i find this act to be revolting and sexually obscene. Public breastfeeding is a primative behaviour which shows that we are not much different than Animals, we as a society needs to stop abandoning common sense that public breastfeeding is indecent behaviour and quit looking at this whole issue as womens rights political correctness Bull****. The trouble with our society is that its too liberal, we live in a liberal free society that teaches us as a new generation to be rude and impolite and to make it ok to be rude and impolite which is what public breastfeeding is. A liberal society is miseducating a new generation to socially accept this indecent, lowclass, primative behaviour to where we are becoming more like ignorant savages and plus lose a civilized society with no moral values. These liberal womens rights lactivist are doing everything they can to indoctrinate a new generation in the 21th century of the bad ways which we should look at as social mores. Lactivist are a poison to this country and they set a bad example for all breastfeedingstay-at-home-moms, the ideal traditional conservative breastfeeding mother, usually stays at home with her children to breastfeed, or to show some class by breastfeeding her baby in a restaurant bathroom to show some honor and respect for all restaurant customers.
An Open Letter to Parents Shopping with their Kids
Dear Moms & Dads Out Shopping with Your Kids,
I know that sometimes it seems like a good idea to have your three and four year olds out shopping with you after 10pm at night because… Well, I don’t KNOW why this would seem like a good idea to you but judging by the sheer number of families doing it this holiday season, you clearly feel that it is.
It’s not that I minded the incessant whining and crying and hyperactivity of your little ones everywhere I went in my local Target. Kids will be kids. I have two of my own so I totally get it. What I DID mind was having to listen repeatedly to an assortment of parents yelling at their kids and doling out one empty threat after another to them.
Let’s get real here, people. At 10:30pm, your small children should be no place except in bed. If they are whining, it’s because they’re TIRED. If they’re losing their shit over every little thing, it’s because they’re EXHAUSTED. If they’re running around like you just shot ‘em full of meth, it’s because they’re OVERTIRED. You’ve been parents for what looks to be 3-4 years now. How is it that you don’t know this by now and what in holy hell makes you think that yelling your fool heads off at them is going to change anything?
Honestly, you sound like a bunch of assholes hollering at your kids and threatening to “take all their presents away” if they don’t start “acting right.” If anything was going to work, it would be that particular threat but when you’ve already said it ten times to a kid so tired she looks drunk, the odds are not in your favor.
And before you try to tell me that you had to bring them because you don’t have a sitter, I’d like to point out your significant other, who appears to be perfectly capable of staying home with the kids while you go shopping. You could even alternate a few times so you each have a chance to shop.
The bottom line here is that no matter how frustrated you are or how hard a day you’ve had, you can’t take it out on your kids. It isn’t their fault that you kept them out so late and frankly, you’re really crapping all over the holidays for your children, as well as everyone who has had to listen to you.
Give it up and take your kids home already.
Sincerely,
IzzyMom
When is MY Day Off?
I’m finally back to posting after a nice Thanksgiving. The food was good, the company was pleasant and that for which I am so very thankful…the TV remained off the entire time. I have a real pet peeve about TV’s being on at a social gathering. We listened to music all day instead and it was way better.
Since the huz drove us there and I was driving us home, I didn’t drink any alcohol. I was beat anyway. I’d stayed up late the night before and as the day wore on, all standard child-related duties plus the ancillary ones like making sure P didn’t destroy my SIL’s house, seemed to become my responsibility while the huz socialized and partook in the pleasant lubrication of an alcoholic beverage or two. By the time we rolled out of the driveway at 7:30pm, I was so ready to be home.
As soon as we got on the interstate I noticed I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. For an hour and a half I pinched at my arm hairs through my jacket to stay awake. Good times, indeed, and tiny little bruises to boot!
When we were almost home P started to cry and when we got him into the house, we saw that he was COVERED with hives, which terrifies me because my daughter has a deadly food allergy. I gave him some Benadryl and and after he stopped scratching, I reluctantly put him to bed.
The next morning, still a bit testy about the division of labor at my SIL’s house, I wasn’t being very pleasant to the huz who seemed to feel like sleeping in was his destiny and without going into all the specifics, we ended up having a big argument.
It wasn’t about the night before or about any one thing in particular, which is what boggles my mind the most. And yet it’s the same argument we have had about twice a year for nearly all of the 12 years we’ve been married and long before we had children.
I don’t want to misrepresent my husband. It’s not that he’s a bad person, or that he cheats on me or hurts me me in any way. It’s not that he spends all our money on gambling or drugs or stays out all night. He’s a great husband and father and human being in all the ways that really matter and he does help around the house and he does help with the kids. He’s good with all that stuff. But there are issues…
I know going to work every day is a responsibility but it’s OVER at 5pm. My job is 24-7. And EVEN though he takes care of the kitchen, trash, outside stuff and helps with the kids, I still feel like the overall responsibility of making our lives run smoothly is mine and that it counts for just as much as his job.
And it’s not that he disagrees, either, because he knows what I do all day is hard. But it’s something else that goes way beyond whose turn it is to change the next diaper or get up with the baby in the middle of the night. I can and do ask him to do those things with NO problem. I reiterate…doing his part with housework, childcare etc. is not the issue.
The best way I can put it is to say that sometimes I would like him to step up, unsolicited, and just steer the damn ship and be the responsible party and make all the decisions and let me just sit back and be passive and and not have to think or worry about any aspect of our lives for just a little while, now and then. Doesn’t everyone need that sometime? Please tell me this makes sense.
During our argument, I had asked him when MY day off was? When is MY holiday from work? His response was that he is getting paid to not be at work which STILL doesn’t answer my question…when is MY day off? He doesn’t GET that if he had to be “on duty” every second of his life, he’d be resentful, too. In my opinion, he’s the lucky one because he knows that no matter what, I will be in the background making sure everything, as in EVERY DAMN THING, is taken care of. Who wouldn’t want that? Shit! I want a wife, too.
Maybe I’m asking for something he can’t give. Or maybe I’m the one who needs to change. I can’t even tell anymore. But I definitely don’t want to end up as the couple that’s been married for decades and barely speak to each other anymore because they can’t put themselves in the other person’s shoes.
No. I want to be happy. Deliriously, foolishly happy. But I’d settle for just being content. And thus, another argument is swept under the rug while I ponder what to do.
And to tie up my holiday weekend in a nice little bow, I took P to the doctor on Friday and the doctor determined that his recent rash and hives are the onset of a virus (which reared it’s ugly head today with a super high fever) Oh, and TQ developed hives on her stomach when we were AT the pediatrician’s office yesterday so I imagine her own viral illness will kick in sometime tomorrow. This is two weekends in a row of sick kids.
God clearly hates me.
