smockmomma: August 2009 Archives

"Are 'bumpaholics' addicted to pregnancy?"

this article passes for journalism? first of all, the term "baby bump" itself is highly insulting. it isn't a bump. you can ride over bumps in the road, squease icky out of a bump on your face, and you can do "the bump" on the dance floor, but a baby isn't a protuberance for heaven's sake, it's a human being. as for claiming that multiple pregnancies makes a woman a "bump"-aholic, or any sort of addict speaks volumes about our society and its own sick and twisted ideas -- both towards pregnancy and towards responsible or irresponsible actions.

to limit the co-creation of a human soul to a "feel good" high is not only insulting, it's shortsighted and ludicrous. are there women out there who conceive for selfish or irresponsible reasons? surely. but to assume that every woman who chooses to have a large family is a brainless, selfish thrill-seeker is absurd. of course, the sad fact is that some truly messed-up women have children for all the wrong reasons. i've met some of them. and "wanting something to love" tops the list of really rotten and self-indulgent ideas -- and it isn't just immature and misguided teens who are saying this -- but educated, professional, single women facing mid-life all alone. thank you, betty friedan.

make no mistake, this brockenbrough woman, who wrote the article for women's health ragazine magazine, covers her bases by suggesting that not all women of multiple children are serving some self involved pathology, but she adds it in tiny little doses sprinkled throughout and closer to the end of the article. the gist of her claim is all about *hormonal highs* and the selfish desire to be the *center of the universe* and the thrill of being *larger than life* in the eyes of everyone around you.

oh, the wonderful experiences of stretch marks, hemorrhoids, raging hormonal swings, morning sickness, physical exhaustion, and funky black hairs creeping into places no hair should ever sprout may be thrilling for some; but, difficulty breathing, night sweats, nightmares, an aching back, swollen feet, nausea, skin tags and the general feeling of "OMG i swallowed a watermelon whole" do not a pleasure high make.

yes, it is an amazing miracle to know that you carry life within your womb and to feel this life growing within you, but the only true reward from pregnancy is the immortal soul that God has allowed you to bring into this world, and by His grace, to usher toward His Divine Presence in the next.

contrary to popular belief, breastfeeding does not cause a woman's breasts to sag. pregnancy does. okay, i'm over-simplifying a tad because actually gravity, smoking, bmi, and aging also contribute to breast ptosis (the technical term for sagging). and here's an interesting tidbit, resesarch has shown that high-impact activities like jogging and running may actually cause more stress to the ligaments of breasts than pregnancy. and, silicone breasts, because of their weight, cause the most stress (during high-impact activity) with the result that the breasts sag in a shorter time than natural breasts of the same size. so, maybe there's something to be said for the au natural sedentary lifestyle. if so, i'm all set.

but back to the subject at hand, the fact remains that if a woman is pregnant the stretching is already done. so, hopefully she will not shy away from breastfeeding because breast truly is best for baby.

if a woman knows that she or her spouse are going to be particularly conscious about perkiness, it may be a good idea for that couple to consider adoption. because adoptive breastfeeding is possible, and it won't alter breast appearance either.

live science article here.
adoptive breastfeeding article here.

who doesn't have a favorite john hughes movie? i have several -- in fact, i would be hard pressed to try to think of just one that would be my all time favorite. my teen years were filled with his movies -- and quotes from his movies! -- and his untimely passing has hit me harder than i could have ever expected. i don't think it's a stretch to say that he was, if not the voice of my generation, then a remarkably important one. and, he and his brilliantly comedic and touching take on teenage (and adult) angst will be missed.

of the following (yes my personal faves), what's your favorite john hughes movie?
mr. mom
vacation
sixteen candles
breakfast club
pretty in pink
ferris bueller's day off
planes, trains & automobiles
uncle buck

of the following (again, personal faves), is your favorite quote?

"Not that I condone fascism, or any -ism for that matter. -Ism's in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an -ism, he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon, "I don't believe in Beatles, I just believe in me." Good point there. After all, he was the walrus. I could be the walrus. I'd still have to bum rides off people."

"This is my ninth sick day this semester. It's pretty tough coming up with new illnesses. If I go for ten, I'm probably going to have to barf up a lung, so I better make this one count." ~ ferris bueller's day off

"I don't think I want to know a six-year-old who isn't a dreamer, or a sillyheart. And I sure don't want to know one who takes their student career seriously. I don't have a college degree. I don't even have a job. But I know a good kid when I see one. Because they're ALL good kids, until dried-out, brain-dead skags like you drag them down and convince them they're no good. You so much as scowl at my niece, or any other kid in this school, and I hear about it, and I'm coming looking for you! take this quarter, go downtown, and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face! Good day to you, madam." ~ uncle buck

"We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all."

"Well, if you say you haven't, you're a prude. If you say you have you're a slut. It's a trap. You want to but you can't, and when you do you wish you didn't, right? " ~ breakfast club

"Yes, you're a total fag."

"That's why they call them crushes. If they were easy, they'd call them something else." ~sixteen candles

"Because I wasn't unhappy! Look, maybe I was a little confused, maybe I was a little frustrated, but I knew what I was doing was important, because it means something to raise human beings." ~ mr. mom

" I like me. My wife likes me. My customers like me. 'Cause I'm the real article. What you see is what you get."

"Oh, they're drunk. How do they know where we're going?"

"Six bucks and my right nut says we're not landing in Chicago." ~ planes, trains and automobiles

his entire filmography (writer, director, producer, and actor) can be seen at imdb.com.
filmaking legacy article from moviefone.com here.

Oklahoma City, look out! A nude, breastfeeding Angelina Jolie is coming to town ... in statue form, of course. The latest handiwork of celeb sculptor Daniel Edwards features Jolie in the buff with two babies -- likely meant to be twins Knox and Vivienne -- feeding off of her breasts. It should probably go without saying that this work is from Edwards' imagination, and nothing that Jolie posed for or authorized.

find the story here.