I assume that the "I'm sorry" came after a hearty "Congratulations on the birth of your child."

I don't necessarily read it as condescending, particularly as the author says that she wasn't planning on a section until one was the only option for safely birthing her breech child. I mean, something unexpected happened…

I think we all agree that healthy mama and healthy baby are the ultimate goal for any birth. Neither should be sacrificed in pursuit of some other goal, whether that other goal is the perception that "natural birth" is better or the convenience factor for the OB.

With that said, I do think that the process matters…

I think the whole "lording over" phenomenon is largely a product of perception. If someone feels badly because they had a c-section (not that they should, but if they do), they might perceive any stories about vaginal birth to be akin to bragging.

I had two "natural" births and I did want to talk about them…

For white parents to adopt a baby with Native ancestry, it's actually a heck of a lot harder, so I'm guessing your birth mom didn't add it randomly. Looking at kids available for adoption, I've actually seen more than one healthy kid who appears to still be in foster care simply because they are not eligible for…

"If I was on any kind of assistance there are plenty who would want me labeled a drug addict and have it taken away. Which is abelist"

Nah. The defining issue here is race/class, not ability. If one person is called an addict because they get their pills in unorthodox ways, whereas another person would not be called…

The driving. I just left Michigan and what drove me away was that I literally couldn't even get a 6-pack or a gallon of milk without getting into my car, or risking my life biking in a place with no bike lanes and where drivers are not used to looking for bikers.

I trust the Levada Center's numbers, honestly. You have to look at the polling firm, and these guys have a good reputation for independence.

Yes, but we're talking about two different things here. One is United Russia using the power of the state to discourage political competition and to rig the elections. The other is what folks will say to a polling person inside their own homes.

Putin and United Russia obviously rig the elections to get a higher…

I think on some level, they felt like "safe" crushes. It is the same reason that preteen heart-throbs are rarely particularly masculine (see Bieber, Justin). Girls are drawn to guys who seem safe, whether it is boys who seem like they might not be that into girls, or guys who look younger and more feminine than they…

Indeed, but they did a heck of a lot more than answer in the negative to Putin's approval rating. I'm in no way defending the quasi-authoritarian regime in Russia, but there are degrees of severity here. It's bad, but not North Korea.

Eh, it's not Stalin's USSR. I mean, you can criticize Putin in your own home, or to a neighbor, without worrying about being hauled off to a prison camp somewhere in the Far East. Russians are also pretty savvy, and understand statistical analysis.

So...yeah, I'd guess the approval ratings are probably about right. …

They all think their kids are super special "Indigo children" with unique needs. It doesn't occur to them that they created those unique needs by never allowing their kids to separate at the developmentally appropriate time.

The thing about attachment parenting (and I count myself as an AP parent, although a half-assed one that believes in discipline) is that it's all about parenting in a way that meets your child's needs. My kids both liked being worn, slept better with me, and were easy nursers. Someone else's kids might need…

Not Splitalltheatoms but I run with a lot of AP parents and my experience is that the "half assed" ones are the ones whose kids are independent, intelligent, self-confident, etc. The hard-core ones are the ones posting on our (now defunct) birth board spin-off groups about how they are paralyzed with anxiety about…

For what it's worth, the AAP recommends that a baby receive breast milk until at least 1 and the WHO recommends that a baby get mother's milk until at least 2. Kids who nurse past infancy still eat chicken nuggets and yogurt, and everything else that kids who don't nurse past infancy eat. They just ALSO nurse a…

Yeah. I nurse my kids way past infancy but 10...that's way outside my comfort zone. It's also well into "that child really should have detached by now" territory. Oh, and the potty training thing - that doesn't have to be as weird as it is when your cousin does it. I know lots of folks who have their babies out of…

The good news is that you can find boy's shirts that are fairly plain or with inoffensive graphics. The bad news is that you'll pay a lot more for them. Boden Boys, Tea, and Hanna Andersson all sell sturdy boys stuff without explosions or sports themes, but they are maybe twice as much as buying a t-shirt at Old…

I have no idea. Well, I have one idea, but it's predicated on the idea that folks are very quick to tell a certain kind of parent (young WoC) how they should be parenting better.

Yeah, when I was a kid, t-shirts were t-shirts but the advent of "baby doll" shirts and retailers realizing they could sell many more shirts if they pushed the idea of "girl tees" and "boy tees" means that now many girls (including mine) really want "girl shirts."

Now, I could argue with her, or just buy the "unisex"…

FYI - A Mighty Girl has a wide selection of awesome clothes for girls, many of them science focused. http://www.amightygirl.com/clothing