Hobo Mama's Shared Items

"Not that you’d know about this, but African and indigenous South American women have been wearing..."

Sat, 19 May 2012 23:07:45 -0700

“

Not that you’d know about this, but African and indigenous South American women have been wearing their babies in wraps on their backs, and breastfeeding their kids through early childhood for centuries. And many modern single moms, out of necessity, have been co-sleeping with their children through late childhood years since forever.

However, when a world renowned doctor and parenting expert Dr. Sears assembles those practices along with 6 other steps for growing confident children it is called “Attachment Parenting,” making news and going viral. It also gets a coveted TIME magazine cover.

”

- Hey, Time Magazine: I Am a Black Attachment Parent | Political News and Opinion from a Multicultural Point of View

These are the Fat FAQs | LoveLiveGrow

Sat, 19 May 2012 22:23:33 -0700

These are the Fat FAQs | LoveLiveGrow:

So much good information here. So many linked resources. I can’t even pick out what I like the best. Please read and absorb it all. Thank you.

KellyNaturally.com | What Attachment Parenting Is (and What It's Not)

Sat, 19 May 2012 21:55:56 -0700

KellyNaturally.com | What Attachment Parenting Is (and What It's Not)

Sneaky Gender Roles: A Guest Post From Mama Raw »

Sat, 19 May 2012 21:54:01 -0700

Sneaky Gender Roles: A Guest Post From Mama Raw »:

It’s important to me she recognize I am an individual outside of being a mother. …

I don’t want her to hear these stories and know me as an individual only in the past tense–what I used to do or who I used to be.Beyond a stay-at-home mom, who am I now?

Connected Mom: Open Letter To Mainstream Media

Sat, 19 May 2012 12:52:52 -0700

Connected Mom: Open Letter To Mainstream Media:

I am not being oppressed by my parenting style. Thanks for your concern but you are missing a key piece of the story. You see; I am not solely responsible for building and maintaining my child’s sense of attachment.

Exactly. Attachment parenting wasn’t meant to exist in a vacuum of one isolated mother and her children. It’s a natural child-raising culture, but it reflects the millennia of how parents raised their children only if the village is intact. On the one hand, having been plenty isolated myself, I totally sympathize with parents who find AP hard due to lack of support. On the other hand, refusing to acknowledge the role that other trusted caregivers have in AP (particularly partners, who I think get the shortest shrift in these conversations) just reinforces those silly modern stereotypes that parenting is meant to be done alone.

you shall above all things be glad and young

Sat, 19 May 2012 11:58:41 -0700

you shall above all things be glad and young:

Ah, I love e.e. cummings. What a beautiful birthday tribute, and poetry break.

you shall above all things be glad and young
For if you’re young,whatever life you wear
it will become you;and if you are glad
whatever’s living will yourself become.

Yes, she’s 4, and yes, she’s still breastfeeding. « normal, like breathing

Sun, 13 May 2012 02:41:24 -0700

Yes, she’s 4, and yes, she’s still breastfeeding. « normal, like breathing:

Heartwarming story of giving a child the connection she needed through a difficult surgery and recovery. Another case study to show that breastfeeding past infancy is normal and beneficial.

This is what extended breastfeeding really looks like | Kate Wicker

Sun, 13 May 2012 02:22:55 -0700

This is what extended breastfeeding really looks like | Kate Wicker:

Pictorial response to show the connection of breastfeeding beyond infancy. As Kate points out, connection is what attachment parenting is all about.

WaldenMommy, Part Two:: The AP'd child speaks out

Sun, 13 May 2012 01:53:06 -0700

WaldenMommy, Part Two:: The AP'd child speaks out:

An adult who was raised by attachment parents (who were previously also raised by attachment parents) talks about the effects of having breastfed into toddlerhood, having coslept with her parents, and having been worn in carriers. Hint: She’s not a freak. ;)

"For our family, pursuing the principles of attachment parenting is something we do as a unit, all..."

Sun, 13 May 2012 01:45:48 -0700

“For our family, pursuing the principles of attachment parenting is something we do as a unit, all supporting each other and participating in creating a strong family bond. Even our children participate in modeling the principles in their relationship with each other and with their parents. Attachment parenting isn’t something I do to my child. Attachment parenting is something we practice as a family.”

- Are you MOM ENOUGH? Yes, you probably are. | Care2 Causes, written by Annie of PhD in Parenting

Mayim Bialik on CNN making perfect sense about the fact that...

Sun, 13 May 2012 01:23:58 -0700

Mayim Bialik on CNN making perfect sense about the fact that attachment parenting is not in fact about how long you breastfeed or whether you cosleep, but that it’s about being responsive to our children. I really love her commonsense responses to this kerfuffle. It’s telling that the interviewer keeps insisting, “But how long are you going to breastfeed?” and Dr. Bialik (I like the sound of that) keeps deflecting it with the point she’s trying to make: that it doesn’t matter.

"Women who breastfeed their children for three years are outliers, but they are not spectacles, and..."

Sun, 13 May 2012 00:57:10 -0700

“Women who breastfeed their children for three years are outliers, but they are not spectacles, and we shouldn’t hold them up as either Madonnas or freaks. Women who do not breastfeed are not monsters, and we should not condemn them, or really have any opinion about their decision at all.”

- Lisa Belkin: No. I Am Not Mom Enough.

where is the mommy-war for the motherless child? | Rage Against the Minivan

Sun, 13 May 2012 00:29:51 -0700

where is the mommy-war for the motherless child? | Rage Against the Minivan:

As a huge adoption supporter, I really appreciate this article advocating for children who don’t have parents and need them.

I have to admit, I have reservations with the whole “first world problem” designation used to dismiss anyone who has a concern that’s valid but not as hierarchically earth-shattering as someone else’s concern. So where she says it’s not important how you feed your kids or whether you circumcise your son, I disagree. It is important. Things like that are not a test for whether you’re a good parent — I heartily agree with that. But it’s entirely acceptable to advocate for those issues as well as more far-reaching ones. If someone you knew had thyroid cancer, would you say, “First world problem! At least you didn’t die of dysentery when you were three”? It’s just not helpful to take that stance.

Ok, but back to the point of the article: My heart aches for the children in foster care, group homes, unstable households, and orphanages. I wish more people were willing to adopt, and I wish adoption were easier, less expensive, and more socially supported. I wish families were more socially supported, which would go a long way toward my wish that being an adoptive family were easier.

"[I]f they are grubby from no more than good clean earth and comfortable, that you are enough. You..."

Sat, 12 May 2012 23:33:18 -0700

““[I]f they are grubby from no more than good clean earth and comfortable, that you are enough. You are enough mom for your children. Because you are their mom, and that is enough.””

- True Confessions of a Real Mommy: Just Another Mom, and That is Enough.

We are All Mom Enough | Tales of a Kitchen Witch

Sat, 12 May 2012 22:44:49 -0700

We are All Mom Enough | Tales of a Kitchen Witch:

Cutting through the drama and showing that we are ALL confident moms. Joni Rae invites us to spoof the infamous pose with our own kids, in whatever form you wish (breastfeeding or sippy cupping or no), and share it proudly.

Kroger Pulling Time Magazine From Registers | Code Name: Mama

Sat, 12 May 2012 21:30:11 -0700

Kroger Pulling Time Magazine From Registers | Code Name: Mama:

Apparently breastfeeding’s been normalized enough for me now that I did not see this one coming.

Dionna Ford: TIME Magazine Cover: Extended Breastfeeding Does Not Equal Extreme

Sat, 12 May 2012 20:13:58 -0700

Dionna Ford: TIME Magazine Cover: Extended Breastfeeding Does Not Equal Extreme:

Dionna’s insightful response at HuffPost on the subject of breastfeeding past infancy (and I’m quoted):

Nursing past infancy is part of our healthy, loving relationship. As my friend and co-founder of Natural Parents Network, Lauren of Hobo Mama wrote: “You breastfeed day by day, not a year’s leap at a time. Nursing [my son] today, at 3-years-old, is different from breastfeeding him at 2-years-old by only one day, one moment. He didn’t become a gangly toddler overnight, so I had plenty of gradual time to adjust my vision of what a nursling looks like, each day.”

So you see, nursing past infancy simply does not feel extreme to us. Why does my son still nurse?

He nurses because I am his warm, safe place.

This is what works for us. You may do things differently. Neither of us is more extreme or better than the other.

KellyNaturally.com | Derision and Scorn: How Time Dropped the Ball on Attachment Parenting

Sat, 12 May 2012 18:55:43 -0700

KellyNaturally.com | Derision and Scorn: How Time Dropped the Ball on Attachment Parenting:

Kelly focuses on the fact that TIME got attachment parenting itself all wrong.

We're all mom enough | BlogHer

Sat, 12 May 2012 17:41:36 -0700

We're all mom enough | BlogHer:

Here’s my response at BlogHer:

My general take on The Mommy Wars, the beautiful AP families who modeled for the magazine, the unfortunate slant of the TIME article, and the horrific comments some people have made on various sites is this: We’re all parenting the best we know how. We’re doing what works for us and our families. We don’t need to set up barriers that don’t exist between parents who are all doing what we can to raise healthy, happy children.

Hobo Mama's Shared Items

"Not that you’d know about this, but African and indigenous South American women have been wearing..."

These are the Fat FAQs | LoveLiveGrow

KellyNaturally.com | What Attachment Parenting Is (and What It's Not)

Sneaky Gender Roles: A Guest Post From Mama Raw »

Connected Mom: Open Letter To Mainstream Media

you shall above all things be glad and young

More TIME Magazine links roundup

Yes, she’s 4, and yes, she’s still breastfeeding. « normal, like breathing

This is what extended breastfeeding really looks like | Kate Wicker

WaldenMommy, Part Two:: The AP'd child speaks out

"For our family, pursuing the principles of attachment parenting is something we do as a unit, all..."

Mayim Bialik on CNN making perfect sense about the fact that...

"Women who breastfeed their children for three years are outliers, but they are not spectacles, and..."

where is the mommy-war for the motherless child? | Rage Against the Minivan

"[I]f they are grubby from no more than good clean earth and comfortable, that you are enough. You..."

We are All Mom Enough | Tales of a Kitchen Witch

Kroger Pulling Time Magazine From Registers | Code Name: Mama

Dionna Ford: TIME Magazine Cover: Extended Breastfeeding Does Not Equal Extreme

KellyNaturally.com | Derision and Scorn: How Time Dropped the Ball on Attachment Parenting

We're all mom enough | BlogHer