Nothing to see here lady...

Yesterday we went to the mall. I had gotten a call that my new glasses were ready (after a month wait!!), so we were there to pick them up. Yay!! Unfortunately, when we got there we realized that they forgot to polish the lenses, so they have to be sent back out. Boo!!

But since we were at the mall anyways, we decided to go to the Lindt store and get Finn a free ‘coco ball’. He lives for these things lately.

Me: ‘What do you want for breakfast, eggs or smoothie?’

Finn: ‘NO! Coco ball!’

Me: ‘Which puzzle should we do??’

Finn: ‘Coco ball!’

Me: ‘What’s our kitty’s name??’

Finn: ‘Coco ball!!’ (The cat’s name is Dr. Pepper...nice try kid)

Me: 'Can you come here so we can change your diaper?'

Finn: 'Coco ball??' (And the negotiation begins :))

Anyways you get the idea. He is obsessed with coco balls. Which makes so much sense since he loves chocolate AND balls are his absolute favourite toy. So it’s really the best of all worlds, rolled into one tidy little red wrapper!

So we queue up outside the store (thank you covid). Stephan is negotiating with Finn to stay in the stroller, being bribed with the promise of the cure-all coco ball. And I have Charlotte in the carrier at this point because she had been fussing and needed to eat, so I was feeding her.

Here’s the thing about breastfeeding: you can do it however you want. In fact, that statement holds true for raising your kids in general (as long as they are safe and happy). But for me, for breastfeeding, it means this: cover up or don’t cover up. Do it on the couch upright, in bed laying down, while making dinner, or at the mall in line at the Lindt store. Or do it in the mall's nursing room. Or sitting on a bench. Or in the car. Do it wherever you damn well please and however it works for you and your kid.

For me, covering up isn’t something I do for a few reasons. I find it hot and uncomfortable and inconvenient. The blanket always slips off (or, with an 8 month old, is ripped off). It makes me sweaty, and I also can’t make eye contact with Charlotte, which bothers me and also makes her fidget. Also, it’s a kid eating. There’s really nothing to see. I feel like the more we cover up and hide away, the further we get from the normalization of breastfeeding in our society. Maybe a pregnant woman sees me and realizes that if she breastfeeds, it doesn’t mean she can’t just continue life as normal, while doing so. I think a lot of women feel like it will affect their ability to socialize, or be on the go, since you need to ‘hide’ somewhere to feed your baby. Go ahead, if you want! That’s fine. But you don’t have to. I also know lots of people who just threw a blanket over and were super comfortable that way too! You do you!! It’s all good :)

But apparently it’s not all good for everyone. So back to the mall, we are minding our own business, waiting there, when a lady makes eye contact with me from about 20 paces away and starts slowly shaking her head, with her brow all furrowed. You would think this has happened to me before, but it hasn’t, so it surprised me! I guess my stare back at her was enough to make her realize that if she said anything she would come out of that interaction worse than me lol. Kinda hard to look super bitchy with the mask on but I tried and she seemed to get it! She walked past and I heard her TSK! loudly to the man she was with. And I took a deep breath and shook it off. Because it’s not my job to teach you how to not be a jerk. But maybe if she sees more women feeding their babies, she (and others like her), will change their perspectives. So I will keep happily and openly feeding Charlie!

By the way, no free coco balls these days...I guess because of covid. So we ‘had’ to buy a bag of 100 balls (like we weren’t gonna do that anyways lol). Well...97, since Finn devoured 3 of them while we were in there. I wonder what the judgy lady would have thought about that!

P.S. Here's me feeding Charlotte on a hike this summer...I love using the carrier to feed her, it's super convenient! She was smaller here and less easily distracted...at the mall this weekend she kept popping on and off to check out what was going on. Maybe the scandalized lady saw my *gasp!* nipple, and it freaked her out. Oh well.