Comments on: Carving Projects: Manholes and Tablewares

By: ze

ze — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 20:59:37 +0000

great work man!!

By: HJP

HJP — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 08:41:43 +0000

I agrre with the comment above stating that each individual thing – no diaper, BF, etc. seem ok on there own but feel odd when combined together.
My kids self weaned early though, my daughter at 10 months and my son at 8 months. I wish they would have gone longer, it would have been nice to save a bit in grocery cost and have a nip available at moments notice.

Oh, the cell phone electricutingeveryone in the pool?! Priceless!!! That made my day!

By: Indigo

Indigo — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 03:30:24 +0000

Oh yeah, I did mean to ask: Have you ever thought about selling any of your crafts on here or through Etsy? Some of your designs are seriously cool and well done!

By: Indigo

Indigo — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 03:28:30 +0000

My son is still in diapers at age 6 (severe autism, think I mentioned that in your comment area before, sorry for repetition but need to clarify for others!), so I tend to assume developmental delays when I see things like that. Caitlin, I’m in agreement; I cringe when I have to put diapers on him in this heat, so my kid does tend to be one of the ones running around in just a Pull-Up or swim diaper, no shorts, when possible. No real point here, just commiserating.

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 02:02:37 +0000

If I wasn’t toilet trained and it was a blazing hot summer day I’d also be ripping off my diaper for some fresh air on my butt. Think about how hot and sweaty it must be in a disposable (or non disposable, really) diaper, ugh.

By: Twwly

Twwly — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:11:57 +0000

I always figure they can’t possibly think any less of me, Andrea. Ha.

By: Kristy

Kristy — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:02:30 +0000

I’m not visibly modified in street clothes, but being short and in my mid-20s I have the feeling I often get mistaken for younger, so I totally get how you feel as needing to come across as “perfect” as possible.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 22:43:38 +0000

Don’t get me wrong, i’m not modest. I’m happy to pull out a boob when in the comfort of my own home if people are around. I’m not sure why i’m so afraid of offending out in public, maybe i’m hyper sensitive because of the “hideously tattooed woman” thing. Sometimes I feel like I have to be better behaved than a “normal” looking mommy to not live up to stereotypes….how dumb of me.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 22:37:42 +0000

Yes, we do make ourselves easy targets, don’t we :)

By: Twwly

Twwly — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 22:32:34 +0000

Age is so hard to guess. Mags is not much smaller when she lays across me in a BF-ing position, she’s just turned 2. I was just marveling yesterday at size differences between kids: one little friends son who came over is Meeps age but as tall as Bob (who is about to be 4). Another friends son is the same age as Meeps and almost a whole head shorter.

I breastfed openly and my kids have been naked in public places like the beach. I am sure if someone was so inclined they probably could have taken a similar picture of me.

The caption on the internet would probably have read “hideously tattooed woman scars public while exposing her child and breast.”

By: Kristy

Kristy — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:57:05 +0000

Andrea – You’ll get used to nursing without a cover. Layers are your friend! Practice in front of a mirror if you’re worried, but by lifting up one layer and pulling down another I’m able to latch my daughter on without even an inch of skin showing. If she pops off I quickly pull down the top layer and I’m covered while getting her situated, and then I readjust as needed. If people have a problem with being in proximity of a breastfeeding mother it is *their* issue, not the mom’s, not the child’s. This is the normal way to feed your kid, even if it’s hard to remember that with society’s skewed standards. Thankfully I’ve never run into any negativity in the past year and a half, and I hope the same for you!

By: Shannon

Shannon — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:44:40 +0000

Just to be clear, I didn’t think it was bad, I thought it was weird.

Kristy, the diaper also suggests developmental disabilities to me, assuming I judged the age right. Because as someone else mentioned above, it’s been my observation that those who breastfeed late also tend to toilet train early… so the combination of the two moved it further into unusual territory.

By: Allison

Allison — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:59:33 +0000

That kid looks giant to me. I am not always the best judge of ages, but he certainly looks too old for diapers, too old to be naked in a park, and too old to be breastfeeding.

By: Kristy

Kristy — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:33:23 +0000

I’m TOTALLY on board with child-led weaning (I don’t bat an eye at my friend’s 4 year old needing some “momma milk” every now and again–and my 1.5 year old is showing absolutely no sign of stopping any time soon and still relies on it for a great part of her nutrition), but I can’t help but agree that the whole scene you witnessed is a bit odd. Needing a diaper at that age? No big deal. The nudity at that age by itself? No big deal. The breastfeeding at that age by itself? No big deal. But combined? Yeah, a bit odd. Though with the combination I do wonder if there are some developmental delays or unseen medical issues.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:56:53 +0000

I had an interesting exchange about breast feeding the other day.
I was in my husbands shop with our son waiting for him to finish up a tattoo so we could grab some lunch and our son decided it was time to nurse. I sat in a common area where the artists could see me but not the patrons coming into a shop and I covered up with a light blanket. The owner of the shop sat down to talk with me and I immediately felt the need to interject some sort of defense of my nursing and explained I wasn’t sure if I was comfortable nursing in public without a blanket(or even with one).I live in Austin TX a pretty progressive city by TX standards and many women openly breast feed uncovered. I feel bad covering my little man up but I really don’t want to be offensive to those around me. He mentioned he has always felt weird around breast feeding women because there are either nice breasts you want to look at or terrible ones you don’t but can’t help it. Sounds terrible but I bet a lot of people feel that way. Not to mention people who are offended by lack of modesty. That said my baby is less than 3 months so I assume I will become more comfortable with it because extended nursing is important to me.
I’d also love to have him be able to run around naked once he is mobile I think it’s natural and there is nothing shameful or sexual related to his nudity. You can’t dictate others feelings and I would NEVER allow him to hang out naked in a public park, even under my constant supervision. There are a lot of really messed up people out there who might have different ideas of what a naked little boy means.
It sucks to live your life according to others standards of decency but you can’t discount that they will often have an affect on you and yours so i’m trying to tread lightly and find that middle ground.

By: Heather

Heather — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:24:55 +0000

Strange… from the photo, the kid looks under 40 inches. He looks like a 2.5 year old baby to me… Look at those little legs and feet!

Regardless, nursing is not infantalizing, and one has nothing to do with the other. In fact, most mothers I know who have practiced extended breastfeeding have also practiced elimination communication (myself included,) which would potty train the baby way earlier than most.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:44:41 +0000

Re: The kid’s age — they were nearly as tall as Nefarious, who is seven… thus my guess of four or five. Diaper would be weird at that age, but if you’re willing to infantalize in one arena, why not another?

By: christy

christy — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:35:41 +0000

I nursed my daughter until she was 3.5 years, but not in public, or naked.

By: bonnie

bonnie — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:07:13 +0000

Perhaps the real concern about cell phone use at the pool would be the number of parents who will be distracted and not watching their children? That would be MY concern!

By: Ella

Ella — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:33:18 +0000

the word you are looking for is ‘trivet’. That’s what you call the thing you put under a pot to stop it from burning the table.