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I wanted to draw your attention to this new story, straight from the frontlines from the feeding wars :o)

(thanks Queenmommy, Christy, and Melissa B!)

Posted by: “Brooke”
Tue Aug 28, 2007 6:57 am (PST)
On June 14th (my anniversary) a few of my children (I have took
me to Applebee’s for lunch. For my own privacy I asked for the
corner booth. I sat facing into the corner not facing the room. My
then 7 month old baby boy needed to nurse so we did. A server
(Jessica Balswick) came to me and stated that the manager asked her
to come speak to me because she was a female. She said the manager
said if we wanted to breastfeed we had to cover the baby’s head with
a blanket. I told her since it was hot out that I didn’t have a
blanket. She reiterated so I stopped nursing and asked to speak
with the manager. As we waited the baby cried so I passed him
across the table to my oldest son (almost 18 yrs old) so he could
help comfort his as I was a bit shook up. The baby was inconsolable
so I told my son to take him to the van and I would come to nurse
him as soon as I spoke with the manager. When the manager (Justin
Arnolds) came I handed him a copy of the KRS 211.755 law that I keep
in my diaper bag. I said “I would like you to educate yourself and
your employees of this law that protects breastfeeding mothers.” He
handed it back to me after glancing over it and said “I know but
somebody complained it was indecent exposure so you have to cover
the baby with a blanket if you want to breastfeed here”. I again
held out the paper saying “look at part 3 of the law, it says no
person shall interfere with a woman breastfeeding her child”. He
said the same exact thing as before “I know but somebody complained
it was indecent exposure so you have to cover the baby with a
blanket if you need to breastfeed here.” At that exact moment our
server came back with our meal and I said “We can not eat this
because I have to go breastfeed my baby.” As I exited the hostess
asked what was wrong and I told her very briefly and said “I don’t
see anyone else eating under a blanket in here.”
I went to the van, nursed my baby, cried, and called my local LLL
leader Karen. She told me to get the manager and servers name. She
gave me names and addresses of people I needed to let know about
this incident.
Our lawyer wrote a letter on June 27, 2007 to Applebee’s restaurant
(4009 Nicholasville Rd., Applebee’s Corporate Headquarters 249 E
Main St. (Mike Scanlon) The Lexington-Fayette County Health Dept.
(Doraine Bailey), The KY Breastfeeding Promotion Coordinator (Becky
Derifield) and the LLL Karen Brown.
The letter was ignored.
Our lawyer wrote another letter on July 25, 2007.
On August 3, 2007 Thomas & King, Inc. Legal Department finally
responded. Mr Jonathan R. Weatherby, Jr. Associate General Counsel
wrote “we regret that Ms. Ryan left without being served and would
like the opportunity to personally invite her to return” …. “we
are also considering keeping blankets in the restaurants for use by
breast-feeding mothers that may not have them readily available as a
result of this incident.”
My husband gasped when he read this response. They just don’t get
it. It is like saying “Rosa Parks still has to sit at the back of
the bus but we will give her a pillow so she is comfortable back
there.”
My midwife suggested I speak with the Senator that spearheaded
getting the KRS211.755 law. I left a message for Senator Tom Buford
and the next day he called me back. I asked him what recourse I
had. He said “If you take them to small claims court you could get
up to $1,500.00″ …. “if you take them to a higher court you may
not even get enough to cover your legal fees.” I told the Senator
I was not interested in money. I want things to change. I want
public attention on this cause. I have daughters that will someday
breastfeed. I want action not money. I told Senator Buford about
my nurse in/out idea and he thought it sounded great. In fact he
said “let me know the date and I will come by and support you” ….
he also said “hold a sign up saying -small children are not allowed
to eat in this restaurant.” I said “can I quote you on that” and he
said “yes!” Senator Buford said “next time any one does this tell
them to call the police and get a police report written up on it.”
Since August is “World Breastfeeding Awareness Month” I am having
one nurse-out at the Fayette Mall just to raise awareness. This is
not in any way to attack the mall …. it is just a place to hang
out at. I am late arranging this so it will not actually be in
August but then again what is one day. It will be September 1st.
The second event is actually to draw attention to Applebee’s
restaurant. Friends and supporters will decorate posters and
display them for all to see.
I will paste a copy of the flyer for each of the two events here for
all to copy and share.

NURSE-IN
Fayette Mall Lexington KY
Childrens Play Area
Saturday, September 1, 2007
1 pm until 3 pm
Celebrate World Breastfeeding Awareness Month
Please join us for a local “awareness raising” event.
Look for this universal Breastfeeding symbol.

NURSE-OUT
SPEAK-OUT
Applebee’s violated KRS 211.755
Educate Lexington that KY law protects public
breastfeeding and mothers should never be
asked to move, hide, cover up, or leave.
Decorate posters and display them
at a peaceful Nurse-Out.
THEME: Breastfeeding in public is Legal
DATE: Saturday, September 8, 2007
TIME: 12 pm to 2 pm
(in case of rain date 9/22/07)
LOCATION: 4009 Nicholasville Road
Lexington KY
On the public sidewalk
in front of Applebee’s
Exercise caution and do not block the right of way.
News crews will be reporting.
Do not park in Applebee’s parking lot!

I hope everyone can pass this on to as many as possible.
Every “quotation” is in the exact wording.
I am also willing to share copies of the actual correspondence
between our lawyer and Applebee’s.
Even if you do not live in KY please share this with everyone
because Applebee’s is nation wide.
Thank you for your support,
Brooke Ryan

Mom pushes Applebee’s on breast-feeding
By Linda B. Blackford (thanks devoted fan!)

In June, Brooke Ryan walked into a Nicholasville Road Applebee’s restaurant to celebrate an anniversary lunch with her children.
She walked out humiliated, in tears and without the lunch.

But the incident over breast-feeding her 7-month-old son at Applebee’s has spurred the soft-spoken 34-year-old to start a public awareness campaign on the rights of breast-feeding women in Kentucky.

and this one Applebee’s, woman in dispute over breast-feeding (thanks Virginia M.!)

When contacted yesterday, Mike Scanlon, president of Thomas and King, said he didn’t know about the incident. However, he called the Herald-Leader back to say that Applebee’s had no policy against breast-feeding.

“It is perfectly legal to breast-feed in public and we support that,” Scanlon said. “I’m not sure the manager said cover the baby’s head, I think he said cover yourself modestly. This was by no means intended as interference, but a request to do it modestly, which I believe is an appropriate response.”

Ryan says that as an experienced breast-feeder, she is extremely modest, and, in that instance, made sure that she was facing into the corner.

“Some women think it’s fine to cover up with a blanket, but a woman shouldn’t be forced to,” said her husband, Michael Ryan.

Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, who sponsored the breast-feeding protection bill, agrees.

“She was not treated right under the new law,” he said. “There should have been no comment made to her at all; the restaurant overstepped its boundaries. There’s no way they can explain their way out of this.”

Have fun!
Love,
Heather

Order this Cartoon as a 8.5 x 11 print on glossy photo paper and signed for only $10!

Dear Mama,

I haven’t read the book yet, just a bit about it in the author’s own words (an article sent to me from mamiecaisse, thanks!). And it’s given me a LOT of food for thought. Provocative. As she intended it to be. My friend Mara’s philosopy whenever she comes across this sort of child-bashing stuff is always, “YAY! Another jerk not raising children!” Yet, this jerk IS raising children. And Mara is out of town, so I’ve been trying to think what kind of silver-lining she could find…I’m just not very good at silver-lining. Not about this… this… this kind of insidious ‘ism’.

A recent commenter (Suzanne) on this blog wrote a while back:

“One last thing: I think the current “Mommy wars” are symptomatic of a very anti-child culture that segregates generations in ways that are really unhealthy.”

and it had the element of truth to it, and really got me to thinking about age-segregation and age-ism. Because that’s what this is, one big giant ‘ism’. I think, because age-ism is so often targeted at older humans, we should begin to call this ‘child-ism’ the hating of children. And wow, isn’t child-ism becoming so prevalent?

It seems that everywhere I turn someone is spewing anti-child thoughts, every comedian has to have a joke about the baby on the airplane. Everyone laughs and laughs, because “it’s so true! Don’t you hate it when a baby comes down the aisle on a plane?!” And most adults have a story about a child that ruined a perfectly good meal at a restaurant, or their peace of mind at a concert, or even had the audacity to be born and ruined their friendships-because who wants to hang out with people who can only talk about their kids?

And for that matter why should any grown adult have to put up with this child nonsense? They throw temper tantrums, they’re messy, loud, obnoxious, often stinky, and more often than not, they could use a good spanking. Why do they have to even be around? And with that being said, aren’t there places for kids? Away from here, away from adults, away from decent, quiet, grown-up society where they can go, and leave us in peace?

Listen, really listen to the discussions, the jokes, the media reports, and you’ll begin to notice that these thoughts are the underlying current, “why should I-a grown-up, civilized, responsible only to myself- be bothered by the young of this world?”

And here it is again, this book No Kids: 40 reasons not to have them by Corrine Maier which continues and perpetuates these arguments and this time the author is a MOTHER. yep. Because here we come to the most insidious part of ‘child-ism’, the grown-ups who choose to spend their time with children are vilified as well. Especially if you do it for no pay. ‘Child-ism’ is rampant, and if you don’t want to be the butt end of the joke, “get ye to a career, QUICK!” Nevermind staying with your kids and fighting for their rights (and your own) to be seen and heard, drop them off with the babysitter and go have a nice night out. You deserve it, you’re a grown-up, right?

Most of Ms. Maiers reasons to not have kids, all come from ‘child-ism’, Disneyland and Child-friendly restaurants are all symptoms of a culture that thinks kids have to be pandered to, and kept separate from the world of intellegent, civilized adults. It’s segregation, pure and simple, and the world doesn’t HAVE to be that way.

There are places in this world believe it or not, where children are welcomed, tantrums and all, into the welcoming arms of the culture. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. So it’s become apparent that we need to fight back against the spread of this ‘ism’. Stop laughing at the jokes, stop making excuses for our lives and the lives of our children. They’re kids, and they have a right to be here, plain and simple. You and I are their mothers, we should stop distancing ourselves from them and start demanding their entrance to the world. I plan on pointing out ‘child-ism’ whenever it’s spoken, or written- and I hope you will join me in calling it out and stopping its spread.

Love,
Heather

I interrupt this mommy blog to bring a bit of politics, not necessarily mommy inspired-unless you count MY mommy, who is terrified (as a direct result of how much FOX news she listen to) by what she’s hearing about Iran. Take a deep breath mama, watch this:

Feel better? Helps to put it all in perspective doesn’t it? Oh, Now I see, the media is just trying to get us to start an UNNECESSARY war, probably to fatten the wallets of their politico and corporo bosses. THAT makes me feel a LOT better. and while we’re putting it all in perspective: Saudi Arabia Funds Insurgentstoo! We don’t need to go to war in Iran to be safer! War is never the safest option, and preemptive? forget about it.

Love,
Heather