April 21, 2005

Breastfeeding anecdote

Reading Bitch's post about breastfeeding in church made me remember this incident:

When my youngest son was a newborn, my daughter's friend, SqueakyVoice, came over to play. SqueakyVoice was delighted with the new baby and kept saying things like: "Can I feed him? Can I give him a bottle?"

"He doesn't get a bottle," I explained. "He's breastfed."

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"I'll show you next time he's hungry."

So a few minutes later, when the baby woke up, I called SqueakyVoice over so that she could watch me nurse. She stared, fascinated.

"So he gets milk out of your boobs?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes," I said.

"Like a kitten does with a momma cat?"

"Exactly."

She stared some more, and then looked into my face seriously.

"Are you part cat?"

12 comments:

Ianqui said...

Well I hope you answered yes!

Moreena said...

On Anni's first day of preschool, which I attended, the teacher was encouraging them to play with the toys. There were several dolls with bottles and other baby stuff. The teacher asked Anni if the baby was hungry. Annika nodded solemnly and stuffed the doll up her shirt.

Psycho Kitty said...

Hee!

Phantom Scribbler said...

Meow, meow.

What a great story, jo(e).

Anonymous said...

Wonderful!

Unknown said...

Part cat. That is good stuff.

Yankee, Transferred said...

I am HOWLING.

comebacknikki said...

OMG - that is freakin' hilarious! :)

Rob Helpy-Chalk said...

What ianqui said. In fact, I hope you answered "We all are part cat"

I often think that if we were to feel loyalty to biological taxa, our highest loyalty should be to class mammalia, rather than the species Homo sapien

Hail Mammalia!

Tiny Caroline nurses her dolls all the time. Unlike Dr. B, she goes up from the bottom of the shirt.

Jan said...

Ashley, a sweet and curious toddler used to watch me nurse my daughter. One day she while in the car with her mom she lifted up her shirt and held her doll close. Her mom asked her what she was doing. She replied, "I'm feeding my baby. This side is milk. The other side is juice!"

jo(e) said...

That's a great story, preacher mom.


I think my answer to the question was, "I wish I were."

poitevin said...

It reminds me of a wonderful anecdote that I'm afraid I'll make a mess of by translating it into English. M's little nephew lives with his lovely grandparents, and when his school teacher asked one day "What animal gives [us] milk?" he rushed to answer: "My grandpa, every morning!"