Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Don't be a shut-in 101

William and I went down to the Early Years Centre for the Tuesday "Calling All Parents" program. Today's topic was "Families in Motion", something about keeping fit. The topic matters not, however, because William had his own speech to deliver which he assured me was far more important. He was being a grumpy gus the whole time (you know you're a Mom when you start using phrases like "grumpy gus")

There were at least 30 Moms there, with 30 babies (one Daddy) and at first only William was crying. The good thing about being in a room full of Moms though is that everyone is looking at you with sympathy, instead of giving you the "Can't you make that kid shut up?" scowl. I got several whispers of "He's so cute" during his meltdown.

Now William and I haven't exactly mastered the art of public breastfeeding, so I usually feed him until he's comatose before we leave the house. I guessed he wasn't satisfied, and since about a third of the other Moms already had their boobs out, I decided to go for it. When breastfeeding in public it's customary to put a blanket or something over your exposed booby (and baby's head) so the prudish masses can continue to pretend they've never seen that sort of thing before. Anyway, this is awkward for both me and for him. He had a few token sucks hiding in the darkness before going back to crankiness.

As the talk went on I got him to quiet by bouncing and shushing and I was quite pleased with myself for seeming like the most amazing Mommy in the world. Then of course some of the other babies started a crying chorus and he just had to join. The talk thing was almost over by this point (well, there was about half hour to go) so William and I decided to duck out early. He didn't mind telling me that he was a bit over stimulated. Having that many babies in one room is craziness!

I think I'll go again next week.

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