mother's milk

Being a new dad, I can't avoid breastfeeding. I've learned more about the topic than I ever thought I would - a proper latch, clogged ducts, foremilk, hindmilk, you name it. Breastfeeding is a regular part of Suzy and the baby's daily schedules - and a part of all three of our nightly schedules - and Suzy has nursed our baby just about everywhere. She's tried to avoid having to breastfeed in Target (it seems they don't take to kindly to it)...

...but she has never nursed on the cover of TIME magazine.

Jamie Lynn Grumet and her 3-year-old son
May 21, 2012, vol. 179, no. 20

There's been quite a hubbub about this cover and the related story on attachment parenting. Pundits, bloggers, and comedians have jumped all over it, including SNL's Weekend Update. You can read about the sketch and watch the video clip here.

But no matter who is doing the talking, people are voicing their opinions. And they're not pulling any punches. 

The Christian Science Monitor asked, Did TIME sexualize breastfeeding with its cover?

This morning, an older gentleman asked Suzy if she had seen the cover, commenting that "it's inappropriate" and that TIME shouldn't have put something like that on the cover because "it's a choice" (to breastfeed? to watch someone breastfeed? i don't know...).

I realize (a) I'm a man, (b) I've never breastfed, and (c) I have nothing to gain from jumping into this discussion...

...but I will anyway, because ignorance and apathy have never stopped me before.

International symbol for breastfeeding

To me, it seems like most of these commentators are just (...wait for it...) "milking it." They are jumping all over this magazine cover because they know that it will increase their readership/viewership, the same way TIME knew that putting a model-esque 26-year-old blond breastfeeding her 3-year-old would sell magazines. 

TIME magazine cover
Third full moon, 2012 B.C., vol. 1, no. 1

And while I definitely have an opinion on breastfeeding, I would never tell someone else whether or not to breastfeed their child, and definitely not how/where/when to do it. If I've learned nothing else in my very short time as a parent, I am convinced that each mother has to do what is best for her baby and herself. If that means nursing the kid until he's 4, fine. If that means not breastfeeding at all, fine. But I know that breastfeeding is what is best for our family, and for that - like Jamie Lynn Grumet - I will not apologize.

So here's my reflection that has come out of all of this:

In a way, breastfeeding is our first communion. We are nurtured in a relationship with One who loves us through nourishment. By consuming life-giving food, we commune with the One who first gave us life. 

"A mother can give her child milk to suck, but our precious mother, Jesus, can feed us with himself. He does so most courteously and most tenderly, with the Blessed Sacrament, which is the precious food of true life. With all the sweet sacraments he sustains us most mercifully and graciously." - Julian of Norwich

Thanks to all the moms who offer the sacrament of mother's milk, the precious food of true life; all the mothers who, breastfeeding or not, care for their children mercifully and graciously...especially our Heavenly Father, who loves us like a mother.

Happy Mother's Day!