Hi All,
  I sent a private post to Jessica, because it was a bit long to send
here. In essence I said I stay out of family issues, unless asked. Since
almost no one in my family nor my husband's has breastfed, I don't have
much asking.
  It was Kim's post that brought me here. I have vented only twice
concerning some of the things my relatives and in laws have done.  I
blew at a sil (via my mil, as I was really, really mad) because this
woman let her children (at the time 2 & 1) eat walking around. I am not
talking just a snack, meals were handled that way too. As a mom who went
through a choking experience, I lost it. And both my dh & I blew up
later in the same visit when this mom was going to put her 2 yo in our
van w/o a car seat. (I thanked my husband, as I did not think he had the
same passion about car seats that I did).
   It's hard to deal with, when to speak up and when to remain silent. I
would like to speak up a lot more than I do. But I have a lousy
relationship with my own family and figure I won't be the one to destroy
my dh's with his family. I tend to sit and listen to friends until I get
a feel of where they are, then I will open up. But in the end, most of
the time, I keep quiet. The only humorous note in this, is that it was
my dh, who went off on a family friend who is very negative about
breastfeeding. She tried very half-heartedly to nurse her twins and has
nothing nice to say about it (although she is a good enough friend not
to be rude to me). I was surprized and pleased to know that my dh had
such strong feelings about breastfeeding.

Leslie Ward
Vine Grove, KY