Thursday, July 31, 2008
California Milk Processor Board Goes After Breastfeeding Advocate
Seriously...did the world learn nothing from my run in with the National Pork Board?
A few minutes ago, my brother in law pings me with a link to a story that
brought back memories.
'Got milk' lawyers huff at Talkeetna artist's parodyA snippet:
Talkeetna batik artist Barbara Holmes heard from the group behind the "got milk?" brand this month.
Holmes made the mistake of advertising T-shirts and "onesies" -- those snappable one-piece underclothes for babies -- hand-lettered with the words "got breastmilk?"
She whipped up 10 of the little things from her downtown Talkeetna home with an outhouse and no running water. She sold six at a holiday fair in the senior center two years ago, then moved on to other projects.
The letter from the board's Sacramento law firm showed up a few weeks ago.My favorite part of the story?
The phrases 'got breastmilk' and 'got milk?' are similar except for the addition of the word 'breast,'" the lawyers wrote. "This difference is not enough to eliminate the likelihood that consumers will be confused about the origin of the products."Oh man.
Oh man, oh man, oh man.
"confused about the origin of the products?"
ROTFL.
I love the mother's response...
"They say I'm going to confuse milk consumers," she said. "How can you get confused between a boob and a bottle of milk from the store? They're two different kind of jugs." Sound familiar? (If not, go back and read the story of
my battle with the National Pork Board a few years ago.)
Looks like it might be time to get to work again ladies.
I've already emailed the news reporter with my information and asked him to pass it along to Barbara.
In the meantime, let's get moving on our own.
Go ahead and get in touch with the California Milk Processor Board.
Jeff Manning is the Executive Director. The board's phone number is (949)481-6620. Their fax number is (949)481-6680.
A recent caller asked about Mr Manning and was told he is no longer executive director. I've been trying to dig up the milk board's officers, but they've been harder to find than the Pork board's was. If anyone gets the new ED's name, please let me know and I'll update. As I'm posting between conference calls today.As with the last time, here's my request. Spread the word. Pass it on. Let's let the California Milk Processor Board know that we're all fully aware of the difference between jugs containing breast milk and jugs containing cow's milk.
Labels: Lactivism
Author: Jennifer Laycock » Comments:
Monday, June 16, 2008
Beta Moms
Hey ladies! There's a word for us now...
It's
Beta Moms.
What's a beta mom?
Beta Moms still want their kids to be successful, but they don't believe that helping their kids reach their goals necessarily involves overachievement or keeping up with what other people define as "norms." In their efforts to adjust to the myriad challenges and stressors in their lives, many moms are beginning to believe that it's more about balance than perfection.
Beta Moms’ hair may not always be perfect or their homes spotless, but they’re okay with that. For many, their lessened anxiety makes it all worthwhile. They’ve liberated themselves from feeling the pressure to do it all, and now they believe that as long as their kids are healthy and happy, they don’t need to.Beta moms...slackers and proud of it. Are you with me?
Labels: Life as a Mom
Author: Jennifer Laycock » Comments:
Emmitt's First Phone Call
So Emmitt absolutely loves the phone. Understandable, of course...I mean it's something you hold in your hand and voices magically come out of it. And unlike the Elmo remote control he has, the words and voices are different each time you use it. What's not to love?
So I shouldn't have been surprised when I was working in the living room this morning and my mother popped up on Instant Messenger.
Vickie: Emmitt is calling me on the phone right now in case you didn't knowWell, no, actually I didn't know.
So I headed out to the porch where sure enough, Emmitt was standing there watching some cartoons with the phone pressed to his face and I could hear my mom talking through the receiver to him.
Of course unlike Nora, who talks your ear off, Emmitt only says "uh-huh" when he's on the phone.
When I asked for the phone, he said "no" ran into the play tent they have. I peeked in there in time to see him press a few buttons and laugh hysterically.
Once I got the phone, mom told me the story.
Apparently her phone rang and she picked it up assuming I was calling to chat about the conference, since we'd been working on sponsor pitches this morning. Instead, she got the sound of Jack's Big Music show. Now safe guess would have been Elnora, since she loves to call the grandmas and talk. But when Nora didn't answer, mom figured it out.
Mom: Is that you Emmitt?
Emmitt: Uh-huh
Mom: Are you watching cartoons?
Emmitt: Uh-huh
Mom: Did you have breakfast today?
Emmitt: Uh-huh
Mom: What did you have for breakfast?
Emmitt: Uh-huh (which is better than the real response of juice, honey nut cheerios and rice krispie treats)That's about the time she sent me the message on Gtalk. ;)
Overall, I guess if he was going to steal the phone and make a call, he did good. Better than having the pizza man or the police show up at the front door, right?
Labels: All About the Kids
Author: Jennifer Laycock » Comments:
Friday, June 06, 2008
That Older Sibling Thing...
One of the things that has really amazed me about watching the kids in the last six months is the sibling relationship that forms. Yes, I know that often means tears and fights, but it also means some of the most heartwarming (and hysterical) things you'll ever see.
Elnora's three and a half right now and Emmitt is twenty months. While they do their share of fighting, they mostly get along really well. In fact, I've seen a few really awesome things this past week.
1.) We learned Emmitt can count to ten! This is impressive since Elnora only learned to do it a few weeks ago. Apparently Emmitt picked up on all her practice. Very cool how the little ones learn from the older ones.
2.) Elnora wants nothing more than to "play with Emmitt." When he naps, she sits around asking when he's going to wake up. The second she hears him, she races into his room, climbs into his crib and they "jump" together.
3.) Emmitt wants nothing more than to make Nora happy. He's always trying to share things with her or do things that will make her smile. Yesterday, she lost her stuffed elephant (her favorite) and was running all over the house trying to find it. In a matter of moments Emmitt came trucking into the room, holding Elephant and sporting a huge grin. He ran up to Nora and handed elephant over. Nora responded with a "thank you!!!" and a big hug. Too cute.
Now we get our share of tears too. Just this morning he went out on the porch to play with her and she yelled at him to go away. He came in to see me bawling, so I called her. We had a little chat about how everyone was allowed to play on the porch, so she asked Emmitt if he wanted to come with her and then they held hands as they walked back out there. Too cute x2. ;)
Of course all of this is made funnier by the fact that Nora has three post-it notes with scribbles pasted to her door. She tells us on a regular basis they say "Emmitt, you no go in here!" She tells Emmitt this on a regular basis too...
Either way, I guess it's like everything else with kids. They're either making your heart melt, or your head asplode.
Labels: All About the Kids
Author: Jennifer Laycock » Comments:
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Another Day, Another Set of Bentos
These were the kid's bento lunches for school on Tuesday.
The top one is Elnora's. It's a single tier box with some divided compartments. By far my favorite box and the one you'll pretty much always see me packing for her.
The very top part has a string cheese nestled under some Keebler Honey Wheat cracker sticks and a tiny little fork. The left side has some chicken nuggets lined up. The center holds a small bottle of ketchup and two marshmallows. the right side is stuffed with baby red grapes.
The two tiers on the bottom are part of the same box. They stack up and there's a band that goes around them. While it looks huge, it actually doesn't hold much moe volume wise than Nora's box does.
The top tier holds a string cheese, grapes, cracker sticks and a container of ketchup. The bottom tier holds some chicken nuggets, some more grapes and one teeny, tiny, baby cupcake from a Hostess 100 calorie pack.
Author: Jennifer Laycock » Comments:
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Is My Brain Full...or is it Empty?
I always thought the biggest challenge of being a mom was going to be time management.
How in the world would I get everything done? How would I put in my hours at work, do the grocery shopping, pitch in with the laundry and cleaning, cook the meals, pack the lunches, maintain some relationships AND care for children full time?
And there's some truth to that. While having a baby was exhausting and having a baby AND a toddler was even more exhausting...it was nothing compared to having a toddler and a preschooler. I find myself constantly behind on everything. There's always a stack of laundry, always dishes to be washed, always floors to be swept and rooms to clean. Always books to be read, boo-boos to kiss, kids to put to bed, kids to hug, kids to blow bubbles with.
I mean I didn't exactly have a lot of free time BEFORE I had kids. How in the world would I expect to have any with two of them running around?
That's not to say I don't love them dearly or thank God 'round the clock for blessing us with them.
But lately, I've noticed it's not the time management "thing" that gets to me. It's my brain.
I work a creative job. I'm a writer, an educator. It's my job to come up with something new and interesting to say each and every day. To develop new ways to introduce old concepts in the hopes that someone who never "got it" before will "get it" now.
This means my brain is supposed to be going constantly. And it does. My, how it does.
What I'm finding though is that instead of traveling down a path...it seems to go more in circles these days.
For example: I have a stack of 9 marketing books sitting on top of my television. They've been stacked there for...five, maybe six weeks. Each and everyone of them contains things that interest me, that will make me think, that will work my brain. Yet I can't bring myself to pick any of them up.
I hop online sometimes after hours and I find I spend more time refreshing Twitter and looking at who is on GTalk so I can chat for a bit. Often, I'll head off to read through some blogs or look up some topic, but I find myself getting bored and my mind wandering off before I get very far.
So all this leads me to wonder...is my brain "full" or is it now "empty."
Have I shoved it with so much information and spent so much time thinking and contemplating that it's begging for me for a rest? Or, have I spent so much time doing the same things over and over and getting used to 140 character sound bites that I can no longer absorb complex thoughts? In other words, is my brain is sadly empty.
I remember back before I had kids...reading about the women who didn't want to have kids and stay home because "I need mental stimulation..." or some load like that. I sometimes find myself wondering how I can get LESS mental stimulation.
Nonetheless, it all leaves me wondering... what's going on with my head? Am I giving my brain too much stimulation and need to chill out a bit? Cut out what little TV I watch? Turn the radio off in the car? STOP trying to read books? Just chill?
Or, is my brain running in circles because it's desperate for a DIFFERENT kind of stimulation? Meaning I should be pulling out some of those old "make you think" books I used to love? I read Stephen Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage" about a month ago and that seemed to give my brain a brief respite. I don't know if it's because it was a different topic, or because it really was steeped with a lot of "make you think" type content.
I know I'm not the only one of us who has run into this. So please, dear readers...share with me your insight. When your brain gets into this "running in circles" mode and you find yourself being decidedly unproductive...what works best to get the gears turning again?
Labels: Life as a Mom
Author: Jennifer Laycock » Comments:
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
A Warning about Nipple Cream
Many thanks to my friend Amber Tardiff-Watson for letting me know about an
FDA warning about "Mommy's Bliss Nipple Cream." Apparently use of the cream can cause some health problems in nursing infants.
Here's a snippet from the warning:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to use or purchase Mommy’s Bliss Nipple Cream, marketed by MOM Enterprises, Inc., because the product contains potentially harmful ingredients that may cause respiratory distress or vomiting and diarrhea in infants. The product is promoted to nursing mothers to help soothe and heal dry or cracked nipples. Product labeling specifically states that there is no need for mothers to remove the cream prior to nursing. However, the ingredients contained in the product may be harmful to nursing infants.
Potentially harmful ingredients in Mommy’s Bliss Nipple Cream are chlorphenesin and phenoxyethanol. Chlorphenesin relaxes skeletal muscle and can depress the central nervous system and cause respiratory depression (slow or shallow breathing) in infants. Phenoxyethanol is a preservative that is primarily used in cosmetics and medications. It also can depress the central nervous system and may cause vomiting and diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration in infants.
Mothers and caregivers should watch for a decrease in an infant’s appetite. More serious signs would be difficulty in awakening the child, limpness of extremities or a decrease in an infant’s strength of grip and a change in skin color. Please seek immediate medical attention if your child is showing these signs and symptoms.
Amber points out on her blog that if you HAVE used this product and you DO notice any problems, you should contact the FDA and let them know.
Consumers are strongly encouraged to report adverse events related to this product or any FDA approved product to MedWatch, the agency’s voluntary reporting program, by e-mail at www.fda.gov/medwatch/report.htm, or by phone at 800-332-1088, or by fax to 800-332-0178. Consumers may also mail reports of adverse events to MedWatch, Food and Drug Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD, 20852-9787.
Labels: Breastfeeding Advice
Author: Jennifer Laycock » Comments:
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Toddler bento lunches
Another round of bento lunches for preschool days.
The bento on the left is Emmitt's. Top tier has strawberries, mandarin oranges and sakura cut pineapple. The middle tier has macaroni and cheese, string cheese and some black olives. The bottom tier has two organic mint oreos and some Annie's natural cheddar bunnies.
The box over on the right is Elnora's. The top tier has some broccoli, black olives and bunny crackers. The bottom tier has fresh pineapple, strawberries, string cheese, animal crackers and some Nutella in the blue container.
Author: Jennifer Laycock » Comments:
The Love of a Mother (Even if it's someone else's mother)
Lactivist reader "juliefabmom" left this comment on another post and after reading it and taking a bit to compose myself, I realized it needs to be placed as a post in and of itself instead of being left to flounder in the comments.
Pull out your tissues folks and take in the love of a mother.
from
The Electric New Paper, Singapore
Here's the story. it made me cry for 1/2 an hour this morning (I'm still breastfeeding my 12 month old so it hit me pretty hard) it was so moving.
The earthquake in China unleashed one of the most powerful forces on earth - love.
Whether it is a mother saving her child, a female cop breastfeeding lost infants or celebrities moved to act, it was there like a comforting blanket amid the pain, grief and heartbreak.
Perhaps one of the most powerful examples of these acts of love is the last desperate act of a dying mother, trapped in the rubble, trying to save her 3-month-old baby.
Knowing the end was near, she nestled her baby to her breast, so that the baby could survive after she was gone.
Dr Gong Pu, a 30-year-old gynaecologist told nddaily.com that rescuers were searching through rubble along a river in Chengdu when they came across a young woman cradling a baby in her bosom.
The mother had lifted up her shirt to breastfeed the baby. By the time they were found, the mother had already stopped breathing.
PROTECTING HER BABY
Said Dr Gong: 'We carried the baby carefully from the mum's arms. The baby started crying after its mouth left the mum's breast.
'It left tears in our eyes.
'From the way she was carrying the baby, we could see that the mum was doing all she can to protect her child.
A mother's instinct to protect even extended to strangers.
In Jiangyou county, policeman Jiang Xiaojuan, 29, was seen breastfeeding a rescued infant.
Mrs Jiang is still lactating as she gave birth six months ago.
However, when she heard about the quake, she left her baby in the care of her parents.
And when she saw hungry infants crying at the rescue centre, her motherly instincts took over.
She is nursing the children of three women who were left homeless by the quake and were too traumatised to give milk, as well as five orphans.
The orphans had been placed in an orphanage which does not have powdered milk.
Mrs Jiang's selfless act prompted netizens to sing praises of her on various online forums.
Some even posted MTV-style videos of her, using just that breastfeeding picture on youku.com, the Chinese equivalent of YouTube.
Nine-day-old baby He Jiahui receiving first aid in Dujiangyan. She and her mother were found trapped under a collapsed house. Said one netizen, called The Mollusc in Dayun River: 'To the most respected policewoman, I offer you the greatest salute.'
Another named Dearest Mum said: 'You have taught us what is the meaning of a mother's love.'
That's the power of compassion and it has spread.
--- isnt that heartwrenching? I love that mother for what she did for her baby. Absolutely heart breaking folks. But a story that needed to be passed along.
Labels: In the News
Author: Jennifer Laycock » Comments:
