March Love Links

I’ve enjoyed a real mixed bag of posts this month as I think you will agree.

Along the same lines as the posts on the terms extended breastfeeding vs. full term breastfeeding by myself and Hobo Mama, Maman A Droit wrote a piece called Do we need a new word for co-sleeping? In it she discusses the semantics and dangers of the blanket term “co-sleeping.” I think it would best benefit society to have multiple terms. What do you think?

CaroLyn at Breeder Brain wrote a post called Some Partially Formed Thoughts on the Word Breast where she talks about destigmatizing the word “breast.”

Here’s an excerpt:

I want to say that we need to stop calling it breastmilk and breastfeeding, because that helps to linguistically maintain the sense that feeding our babies naturally is unnatural, and that it needs qualification; that we need to distinguish it from bottle and/or formula feeding. However, with corporate advertising normalizing bottle feeding of babies, if we lactivists just start talking about feeding our babies, we might disappear linguistically.

So what to do?

Heather at It’s All About the Hat answered a question I asked her about checking her own dilation during labour and whether or not she’ll do it or ignore the “Rule of 10.” Go read her post Inquisition Monday: Dilation for the answer, because if you ever wanted to know how to check your own dilation, she can tell you.

Annie at PhD In Parenting wrote a piece called A step backwards for reproductive rights. She tells us

“Abortion is legal in the United States, but the current legislation may make it unaffordable and inaccessible to most women.”

We Canadians who have free and legal access to abortions have a government who is questioning not including provisions for contraception or abortion when it comes to financially aiding maternal and newborn health initiatives in developing nations.

This is an eye opening and important post, but one that is not without heated opinion on both sides. If abortion is a topic that you feel passionate about, I invite you inform yourself further on the US and Canadian positions and have your say where you feel your voice will best be heard.

Lastly, the posts I’ve probably enjoyed and been inspired by the very most this month are all on Pink and Green Mama’s blog. She had two parties for both of her daughters and inspired me greatly with her creative ideas. My youngest will be three in April so I’m stealing a couple of the activities from her daughter’s Mermaid and Pirate themed birthday party. If you want to see how to throw a fantastic homemade Rainbow themed party go here. And then look around some more because she’s got about four posts for each party sharing all the fun things they did.

Oh yeah, and did I mention I’m co-hosting a Body Image Carnival in April with Maman A Droit? You need to get your submissions in to both of us by April 9th and post on your blog by April 12th.  It’s going to be a week long of fun and there are tons of themes to write about, so swing by and check out the announcement post either at my blog or Maman A Droit’s. We hope you’ll play along!

Related posts:

1. My First Award and Love Links