Dinner club was this past weekend. (Although I had an incredible brain cramp an neglected to the Clemson game on Saturday. Feeling as poorly as I do this morning, it might have actually been a good thing, but I still missed a chance to see Jasper and family.) We had some visitors to the party, a couple of coworkers of the host (husband). One of the visitors was in the ed dept of UNCC, so I chatted with her for a good portion of the evening. I don't think I made her husband/boyfriend uncomfortable (hard to tell, she had on two rings but he didn't have a wedding band on), but he sure didn't leave her side.
But I'm not talking about that. No, one of the other visitors had a six month old and was still breast feeding. (You know where this is heading, don't you!) Sure enough, she whips out the boob and starts feeding the kid. If she had a defense, she was in the corner and not actively involved in conversation. Still, you were in the room and didn't take the feeding to a private room.
The thing is, how do you not notice it? It's not every day that someone reaches into her shirt an pops a boob out. Just the simple act of moving in someone peripheral vision will cause them to look.
All I could do was reengage others in conversation. One of the other regulars (a dad) noticed as well and we shared a WTF moment and shrugged it off as best we could.
What I want to know is, ladies, what goes though your head to make it okay to take out your breast and start feeding a child at a party? If you're going to play the, "It's natural" card, well, so it taking a wiz. So is sex. You don't do that out in the open at parties. (Well, it depends on the party with the latter. Not that I have been to any of those kind of parties.)
Go ahead....
37 seconds ago
3 comments:
Can... open... worms... everywhere...
Comparing breastfeeding to urinating? This isn't going to end well.
First of all, is it a family style dinner or an adult party? If it's an adult party, she was totally in the wrong for having a 6 month old there at all. If it was a family dinner, you may be SOL trying to find a nice way to convince her to be "private". Perhaps suggesting she cover up with a blanket or throw rather than banishment? Otherwise you risk looking douchey saying a BF mom can't feed her baby at the party. It's a razor thin line, my friend. Be careful!
I'm a woman and it makes me very uncomfortable when another woman whips it out to breastfeed. And I breastfed all my kids for a good part of the first year, so I'm not anti-breastfeeding.
It's one thing to do it at a woman's book club or playgroup, but just not cool in front of men you are not related to.
Post a Comment