Hello all,

Kathy Dettwyler writes:

>And next?  Hopefully the generation who realized you could work outside the
>home and be married and have kids, and breastfeed them and not have to mess
>with pumps because you either (a) had good maternity leave or (b) could have
>your baby with you at work.

I would add: or (c) had flexible work options such as part time work.
After my daughter was born, I took a semester off from teaching high school,
then went back after 7 months to teach 2 classes. The timing meant I never
needed to pump. (My husband, also a teacher at the same school, cared for
our daughter while I taught, then went to school and taught the other 3
classes in what totalled one full-time contract.) A good number of students
(mostly male) found this arrangement bizarre. They would have better
understood full time day care or my staying home full time. Teaching about
attachment parenting & breastfeeding to kids who have grown up in families
where bottlefeeding & day care are the norm is a tough job. BTW, we were
incredibly lucky to be given that flexible job arrangement, but were also
clearly told we had no guarantees of full employment if either or both of us
wanted to return to full-time. (We haven't wanted to.)

Kate Pennington, shoveling out in Newcastle, Maine