Hello Dear Readers!
Check me out, having a guest blogger like some fancy Real Blog with ads and stuff. (I'm not trying to make a living off this and I don't want to let Google monetize this blog because I'm sure Similac will get all over it.)
Mama Kathleen shared a profile of a Boobjuice Hero of hers, which is great and I'm really excited to share it. Mama Kathleen is in academia, which is, as far as I can tell, weirdly segmented in how mama friendly and breastfeeding friendly it is. I know another mama in an almost entirely female department (I think there's one man in there or something) who felt like there's a lot of hostility around her needs as a mama, like pumping. And it probably varies by region, discipline, who's in your department... So this profile is inspiring and useful!
Happy reading!
Much love,
Suzi
TL, whose baby A is two months older than mine. I met her here in Central NY state, where she is an academic. When she had baby A she was finishing a few one year positions, so she was on the job market. She went to an academic conference where she had job interviews with tiny baby A in a sling. “Hi, I’m professor TL, this is my daughter A. Let me tell you about my research.” I don’t think even in my entirely pro-nursing world I would ever have considered interviewing with an infant actually attached to me as an option, but mama / professor TL makes it seem totally normal. She lucked out and got baby A into a day care across the street from home before she was 18 months old. TL had a pretty flexible schedule, but was working at least two days a week 130 miles away. I’ve never heard her complain or even consider feeding her baby any other way than nursing and food.
Then she got pregnant with baby G (her girls are 20 months apart), and she got a permanent academic position 130 miles away. Her husband was then unexpectedly not reappointed for his position, and they moved at the end of the school year. Baby A nursed all through her pregnancy, mama TL seemingly never gave it a second thought (“Does it hurt?” I asked “A little, but not like the beginning,” she replied), baby G was born and mama TL went back to work when she was ready with baby G in the sling and (toddler) baby A in day care. Both still nursing. Just like that. This year baby G got to go to the conferences.
Mama TL is lucky to have support, she’s got easy babies, and she knows it, but the really amazing thing about her is that she just doesn’t let anyone else’s way of imagining the way moms go to work get into her head: she’s nursing her babies, she’s supporting her family and that’s that. Her quiet confidence in her own version of professional motherhood, one I personally see no where else, is inspiring.
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