Naomi, thank you for your post on pain.  You have touched on something that
is central to much of our work.  It is: pain, learning something that
doesn't come easy, inconvenience, sacrifice,--that these are "something to
be avoided at all costs and that life should be pain [or stress] free." We
are so afraid that if we tell the truth about life with a breastfeeding
baby/child no one will feed her baby. Part of our problem is that we
strangers are having to "tell" them instead of their growing up
seeing/knowing it. If they saw babies carried everywhere, no one would have
to tell them that babies belong with their mothers and in their arms. If
they saw older babies eating what everyone eats, no one would have to tell
them that eating is a family affair.  And if they saw others suffering
whatever life has to offer while just going on, finding joy in little
things, they wouldn't expect pain-free living.

When I was a child I fell off my bicycle a couple of times and got hurt.  I
never grew comfortable with bike riding.  However, I have friends who bike
all over the state--hundreds of miles.  Their children fell, got hurt,
cried, got back on, and now as young adults they ride hundreds of miles
too.  Falling, hurting, crying, and getting back on were seen as part of
the ride.

It IS a part of "The Ride", isn't it?

Patricia Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee



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