It's kind of a nice achievement if you think about it.

Just open your conspiracy theory dictionary to "Jews" in case any of this seems new to you.

It sounds like you've given the career of Beyonce a great deal more thought than I have! I should have said — I wouldn't be surprised at that kind of calculation, I just thought it unlikely. But she's also a (mostly) very practiced performer, so it might be a deliberate move. You have convinced me!

Sorry — I see it looked like I was criticising you, when I was (mostly) going off on a tangent. I actually think there are many ways of rearing children that are just fine. I simply find it ridiculous how often random tribes, or imaginary past ancestors, are used as models for how we should give birth or rear our…

For some reason, if a tribe in a godforsaken place does something in childrearing, it's assumed to be good — at least in the parenting literature. You never see these writers say, "there's a highly advanced nation that does it *this* way," with the expectation that everyone will think it's good.

Ha ha! I'm the same way. Nursing is the *only* time I can get that kid to cuddle, ever. He's so active otherwise, has been as long as I can remember.

Aaaaah.... we got him used to the bottle (with formula) for that. Knocks him almost right out, we carry him almost asleep to bed, and that's the end of story. It's also a bit of a sleep prop, but it's one my husband can use too!

Thanks. Ask me some day about my "unplanned conspiracy" theories about that cultural script. (Well, you didn't ask, but I think it's all about pushing women out of the workplace.) Sounds kooky, but De Boers has been funding celebrity engagements for the better part of a century, so it's not that wild...

Hmmm... I dunno. I guess I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt because she has, for the most part, worked to maintain her privacy. Her wedding wasn't aired, she didn't get a billion dollars for nicely-posed photos for US Magazine. It's kind of hard for me to imagine that she would go to such extents to keep…

PS. I was totally not dead set on nursing or anything. I thought I would just try it and see if it was for me. My husband was a formula baby from day one, has the constitution of an ox, is smart, talented, and loving. There are so many factors to rearing a happy child...

Haaaaa! You know what? I have very few mom friends, and none where I live, and I don't go to any mom groups for a reason. In fact, I recently insulted another mother at a party, because someone asked me if I take my kid to "dancing with your baby" classes, and I said I didn't because I didn't want to hang out with…

Thank you for this link! I'm printing them all out now.

Ha. That sounds like how I got pregnant. They cancelled the generic of my pill, the brand one was super expensive, so I just went off it. Way to make life decisions based on momentary convenience!

Man, if I've acquired any wisdom at all in my ten months of being a parent — and I'm honestly not sure if I have — it's that a new mom needs to do what she can to make things easy on herself. There are so many things about dealing with a new baby and recovering from childbirth that are hard enough, you don't need…

You can do cow's milk at 11 mos? I mean, don't know why I'm asking, obviously the rules for these things are not hard and fast... but it would be handier than making formula, that's for sure.

"Wily tit-fiend!" I love it! We're pretty comfortable with being au naturel in our household, especially since the baby's still pretty small, but if he spies a boob he clomps onto it with great force. Then looks up and smiles.

Oh man. I don't know your pain, but I have friends who do (also multiple miscarriages), and so I can appreciate a bit from afar how hard it is. Totally agree that it's important to talk about it.

Have you tried just not doing it? My kid is at this stage where he will happily nurse if given the opportunity, any opportunity, and if he sees boob will go for it with great enthusiasm, but he doesn't seem to miss it when it's not offered. (He's 10 mos.) I think I could stop nursing now if I wanted and he probably…

I wish more people would talk about the hard aspects of reproduction in general, whether it's miscarriage, dealing with infertility, or the difficulties of actually having a baby. I had/have been having some kind of postnatal depression or PTSD thing for at least the first 9 months after my baby was born, and mostly…

I can't help it, I feel for B. I'm usually all "what do I care about the sorrows of celebrities?", but that has to suck — probably even more so when every talk show host asks you when you're going to have a family, and you have to keep your showbiz face on for the whole thing.