<< .......baby noises at conferences.  Each year I find these sweet noises
 more distracting............what mechanism is at work here??>>

 Could it be.......a natural kind of........birth control?

 Deb >>

LOL.  I've wondered about this myself.  I believe conferences should be baby
friendly with as many amenities as we can possibly arrange.  Pump rooms for
privacy or rest, space at the back of the room for play or naps or pumping,
video cameras to show on a monitor in the hall, etc.  All of these things have
worked well for us at LLL and WIC conferences in Texas.

But I find that as I get older, the baby noises are more distracting.  Part of
it is, I think, that I can interpret a baby's sounds better now.  If a baby is
very clearly telling mommy, "I'm bored silly.  I need a nap.  I want your full
attention.  I want down to play now,"  I'm distracted until mommy meets baby's
needs.  Sometimes conferences are cruel to babies.  They are incredibly boring
*and* overstimulating to young ones.

I love baby-friendly conferences.  I prefer LLL conferences to many others for
that reason.  But I'm more and more irritated when a baby's needs aren't being
met.  It's just not fair to the baby.

We have seasons in our lives.  I raised my baby, missed sessions, put many
things on hold.  Now I'm done with that season.  I can "have it all", but not
all at once.  It's difficult for mothers of young children to realize that
there comes a time when it's over.  Her time for uninterrupted conferences
will come before she knows it.  We may regret the time we miss at conferences,
but we'll never regret being a mother.

And maybe these reflections ARE good birth control :-D
Jeanne Byler Mitchell
Austin, TX