I “met” Jamie Lynne sometime last year and in spite of a wee tad bit of jealousy of her super model looks and her location in one of my favorite states ( ) I found I identified with her a lot.

I definitely appreciated the online support that I had when Mr. D and I were getting our parenting feet wet. we chose to do quite a few things differently than our “real life” circles.

one of those things was my breastfeeding of our children for 23 months and 17 months (because our son was just “done” earlier) instead of the 12 or less that was common among my friends. initially I didn’t really want to talk about it because I felt they would think I was weird and different in yet one more way. I had no question about what I was doing, just didn’t feel the need to discuss or justify it to anyone.

Jamie has a series on her blog called “Clever Cleavage” where she lets others share their breastfeeding stories, and back in January she posted my experience there. (you can’t currently access the site because the huge amount of traffic crashed it for a bit, but her button is there on my sidebar) while some of my views differ a bit in practice from Jamie’s, I really appreciate and VERY much agree with her way of looking at things.

There seems to be a war going on between conventional parenting and attachment parenting, and that’s what I want to avoid. I want everyone to be encouraging. We’re not on opposing teams. We all need to be encouraging to each other, and I don’t think we’re doing a very good job at that.

this quote is from her recent interview for Time magazine [read more]

Jamie’s mother breastfed her until she self-weaned at 6, so it is no surprise that Jamie herself is still nursing her 3 year old. I don’t feel like I would personally aim to breastfeed that long, but like I said in my interview on her blog,

I also thought it would be weird to have a child walking around, talking, and also breastfeeding. What I discovered was that since babies don’t start running or spouting full sentences overnight, it is a gradual thing that doesn’t add any weirdness to breastfeeding. I can’t speak for beyond two years, but I would imagine if you keep going it’s the same concept.

I really don’t think I could be part of a controversial Time cover like Jamie and her son Aram were this week, but it was a choice on Time’s part to create a buzz, and buzz there is! I actually addressed my views on this type of thing in my interview as well.

I just think a boob is a boob, regardless of it’s current function, and that means you don’t really get to decide how others will view it. Last I checked we weren’t living in the Garden of Eden anymore, so everyone can tell when you’re naked

I do think, though, that the mothers who go about the act of breastfeeding with the obviously abrasive attitude that they have something to prove to the world by letting their boob hang out for unsuspecting passersby to see, are merely doing a disservice to their fellow breastfeeding mothers, particularly those who choose to be more modest. These abrasive kinds of mothers are those who would hold the glance of a passerby as if to say “yeah, my boob’s hanging out, it’s natural – see, I have a baby to prove it, whatcha gonna do about it, huh?!”

but Jamie had no such look about her, she stayed true to her real life self – humbly passionate about something she believes in. and humility is something I can always applaud.

I don’t know what will have the greatest impact on the US’ view of breastfeeding, but I answered the question “What is your view of breastfeeding in public?” with this:

Here is a thought, maybe trying to force public breastfeeding on the over-sexed culture that is the United States is attacking the problem from the wrong side… I believe many women are sending mixed messages by allowing themselves to be objectified through what they wear and participating in ads, movies, and pornography. We tell men “look at my boobs!” with certain cuts of shirt one minute and the next, “you pervert!” for being uncomfortable with breastfeeding. What if we started standing against all of that with the realization that it would help to return some of the respect that is due to our bodies and our breasts. I would like to see us attack the real underlying problem and not just one of the symptoms of that problem.

whatever the case may be, I want to stand in support of Jamie for challenging the less than supportive view of breastfeeding that much of the US has developed over the years. and even more importantly, thanks for maintaining an attitude of grace for all mothers as we each do what we believe is best for our kids based on what we have learned and who we are at the moment, Jamie!