Saturday, October 11, 2008

c'mon...seriously?!?!?

ok, so i've NEVER been one for confrontation. in fact, i typically avoid a situation or just agree with someone, in order to avoid such confrontation. however, lately i have been put in a few situations where i'm just not quite sure how to respond. my annoyance meter is off the chart and this has my heart racing and my fingers a'typing...i can't type fast enough! ok...here's the situation (side note: how many of you are singing "parent's just don't understand" right now, after that last line???..."my parents went away on a week's vacation...")...
ok....for real though...here's the deal...
those of you who know me, or have come to know me through reading this blog, know that jacob is a breastfed baby. now, i don't consider myself to be one of those crazy, must only have breast milk moms...in fact, J has had formula. however, i do consider it much easier to breastfeed on the go, than to worry about packing bottles and such. side note...there have been instances where i have packed bottles, and not breastfed in public. when i nurse in public, i either cover myself with my awesome hooter hider or i find a place that is more private. i do not just whip it out and start a buffet in front of everyone!!! this is important for you to know, before getting into my story here. so, if i saw someone nursing "under cover", i would not direct my attention or my preschooler's attention that way. well, apparently other women/moms do not agree with me! case in point...i'm at the gym and J is in the child care there. the gym staff comes to get me because "baby won't stop crying." i go into the child care, where indeed, my baby is pretty upset. i scoop him up and try to soothe him, but nothing. he is definitely hungry. so, i go to the very back of the child care room, behind a partition wall, where clearly noone can see me. i'm nursing J, when i hear a mom walk into the child care with her son. the son spots J's car seat and says "where's baby." the child care provider says he's with his mommy. i then hear the mom say, "oh, he must be having mommy's." i'm thinking, "mommy's...what the hell is mommy's?!?!?" the woman and her son then proceed to come to my self made nursing room. that's fine, i think to myself, it's not my space. well, then she starts saying to her 3 year old, "look he's having mommy's. see honey", while directing his attention directly at my boob! he moves closer to me...and i mean close...he could practically be "having mommy's!" she says to me, with a grin, "we call nursing, having mommy's." i smirk back, with no response. i can't even think of something to say in the moment. does this mother not realize that her son is way too close to another woman's breast? is she not aware of this fact at all? i'm beginning to freak out! i say nicely to the boy, "i think the baby might need some space" thinking maybe this will give the hint, at least to mom, if not to her curious preschooler! hint not taken! she walks away and leaves her son there to observe this scientific experiment! now, i'm fuming. i don't want to be mean to the boy...after all, it's his mother who should be doing something. so, i repeat myself, hoping that the mom will hear me and remove her boy from my grill! no such luck. in the end, it was actually the child care provider, (god bless her) who came and got the boy and told him that we needed privacy. this is only one example of this situation...there have been several others! i know that kids, especially boys, are curious creatures. i know this, because i'm a mom too. but c'mon people...

i'm curious to know...am i overreacting? what would've you done?

ps...disclaimer to my friends who are reading this...please do not think i am referring to any situation involving your child! i'm solely speaking of run-ins with complete strangers.

3 comments:

Crazy Fun Mama said...

OMG!! Was that women brain dead or something??? I think you handled the siutation MUCH better than I would have...kudos to you!! And what the hell is "having mommy's" some people are WHACKED!!

jodi said...

Wow. That's about all I can say.

You DEFINITELY didn't overreact! That is seriously messed up.

Anonymous said...

I don't think you overreacted. I think I definitely would have said something to the mom in that situation, nicely of course. "Would you mind asking your son to give my baby a little space? It's distracting to the baby."

I admit to being a "whip it out in public" kind of mom. :-P Though I am discreet about it, I don't always cover up and I don't mind if curious children ask questions. (Or even well-meaning curious adults.) But having anyone invade my personal space- no matter the occasion- is a little too much for me. Ugh.

FWIW, we call nursing "milkie" around here. :-)

 
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