By Badass Roni
My photo of me proudly tandem nursing my babies was shared a couple times yesterday. But only this account [an account on Instagram not named here] got me receiving rude comments. At first I was hot with anger (“who the f*ck are they to write anything about my kid’s age?”) and why do people have to say anything negative in general? I’ve literally never left a rude, off comment on anyone’s page ever. I keep it moving when I see something I don’t agree with.
Anyway, my anger thankfully went away fast. Which I was surprised and because I don’t have lots of experience with people coming at me like this so I always thought if it ever happened I’d cry or get major anxiety about what to say or if I should say anything at all. But I thought of your words that I’ve seen in a few of your posts, about nursing in public and even about extended breastfeeding, and about how all of our choices as mothers -when they’re made with nothing but love- is only for our children and not for anyone else to like or understand. So thank you.
I held onto your words tonight as I did my best to reply with tact to some of these a**holes, and not go all mama bear on them. ☺️❤️ I actually asked a couple sites to remove it because I just didn’t even want to encounter anymore potential negativity. But I also am not one to let people push me around when I am standing strong in my convictions, especially one so near and dear to my heart as how important and lovely nursing has been to me as a mother.
My story is that I never thought I could have kids. After three miscarriages, losing a Fallopian tube, and going five years without getting another positive pregnancy on a pee stick, you can imagine how grateful I am for the answered prayer of motherhood in my life. It’s been all I ever wanted—my biggest dream come true.
My daughter was a huge surprise, and so was my son. Pregnant with my daughter, I promised that if I even could breastfeed (my mom had no such luck with any of us three kids), I would do it as long as my baby wanted. She’s 2½ and though she doesn’t nurse as much as she used to, she still wants the boobs before nap and bedtime. Now that her baby brother is here, she will nurse with him at least once a day and hold his hand or stroke his face.
I can’t believe how this compelled anyone to call the photo gross. Certainly when they don’t know how long I waited to have all this in my life, in my arms. Plus, some were ignorant enough to think my daughter was still solely living off breast milk. 🙄 Umm, her favorite food is a toss up between pizza and salmon but yeah, boobs are still on the menu as a sweet treat. 💁🏻♀️
And you know, some people, unfortunately other women (which is a damn shame), are still gonna have something to say despite seeing my photo but their cruel hearts aren’t mine to worry about. That’s why I wanted to share my story so hopefully with my own words, some people might consider the story behind the photo before even thinking about being so shitty.
