I replied in the comments section, but I don't think my response was thorough enough. It's been bugging me since first thing this morning.
Firstly, Jessica seems like a fantastic mom and she obviously does a great job of taking care of her kids. (Check out her blog - Yesterday's post about kids going to the bathroom by themselves made me smile. =)
Secondly, kudos for breastfeeding at all. In my experience, breastfeeding is hard. I think breastfeeding to 17 months is exceptional in our culture, and I can't even imagine trying to nurse a child with a broken collarbone. I don't know that I would have lasted as long as 5 months! There are, however, a couple of points that were made that I would like to address.
Number one: Yes, the nice people at Paul Frank already apologized. But that doesn't change the fact that some members of their staff are uncomfortable with breastfeeding, and they do not have adequate training programs that address this issue. Back in the day, when I was training front-line staff, we specifically addressed breastfeeding because many of the younger people who work in these jobs just haven't been exposed to nursing. This lack of exposure makes it important to remind this store, and (by proxy) other businesses that staff training about breastfeeding policies is essential. So, this may just seem like an exercise in flogging a dead horse, but it's not. It's getting the message out that business must inform their staff about breastfeeding protection laws, as well as how to tactfully deal with other customers who find breastfeeding offensive.
Number two: In my original post, I said that "anyone who perpetuates the prejudices against breastfeeding past infancy and children in general pisses me off." I'm afraid that saying "the more they move, the less appropriate it can be to bring them along." seems prejudiced. Don't get me wrong - I think it's rude to bring a screaming/tired/misbehaving child most places, but I don't think it's at all inappropriate to bring a happy, well-behaved child just about anywhere. (I am very aware that restaurants place my family at the furthest, loneliest corner tables that are available, and it makes me sad.) I'm perfectly ok if a business doesn't make special concessions for children (heck - I'm always amazed and impressed when restaurants have high chairs available!), but I don't like that some people are spreading the word that it might not be appropriate for children to be in public places. (If I misinterpreted your comments, I'm sorry. I just struggle with the idea that well-behaved kids shouldn't be welcome everywhere.)
Number three: Although it's not my personal cup of tea, I would also like to defend the "women nursing older children (and by older I mean kids that should be potty trained already) and they do so while glowering at anyone who has the misfortune of making eye contact." These poor women are probably glowering because they have to endure the scorn of other mothers every day. Culturally, we believe that only infants should be breastfed and it has to be tough taking care of your children in a society that looks down on you for doing whatever you think is best for your kids. Personally, I doubt that I'll make it to the WHO-recommended two years, but I'm certainly not going to judge others who are trying to do the best they can for their children.
K... I'm done now.
(I feel like I'm a loser mommyblogger in a really bad version of mommageddon. I'm going to go make some cupcakes now. *deep sigh*)
