But Not the Hippopotamous

"A hog and a frog cavort in a bog."

I love this one.

haven't you -- pretty firmly established right here in this thread that science reporting is crap these days?

No, I've not ever done such a thing. I'm mainly skeptical about the ones that tout the everyday as bright and new and all scientifically complex. There's a lot of science reporting that doesn't bother me at all.

There might be a hivemind agreement on that fact, but it's not one I share.

I know by heart:

• Hippos Go Beserk
• But Not The Hippopotamus
• Barnyard Dance
• Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
• Hand Hand Fingers Thumb
• Where the Wild Things Are
• In a People House
• That's Not My Puppy
• Goodnight Moon
• The Runaway Bunny

No, I've not ever done such a thing.

My own mental editing then. Carry on.

I wonder if Barbara is uncomfortable sitting next to women in low-cut shirts, because even without much of a cover once nipple is in baby mouth you're not seeing much more than with a v-neck -- just differernt breast positions.

I probably would be a little uncomfortable as well, Strega, but I don't think I would say so as a (formerly?) reputable journalist on a national broadcast. My comfort level just isn't that important in the big picture.

This is the thing for me, too. I know it can be uncomfortable (for reasonable people). I know there are times it has made me uncomfortable, but when I've felt the discomfort, I've also felt the conviction that my discomfort is out of place—not the mother feeding her baby.

I guess I wish someone of BW's stature would think about why it makes her uncomfortable, and then decide not natter about it on TV, because to me, that feeds the beast. My guess is that it is uncomfortable because the breast has been so sexualized in our culture, to the point where it's seemingly more comfortable to look at them in an unnatural state (pumped full of silicone) than to look at them serving a natural purpose. This is not to say I think sexual appreciation of breasts is wrong/bad/odd/unnatural. I think that feeling that odd feeling when they're being used for non-sexual purposes is wrong/bad/odd/unnatural.

I think it's a little weird (although I acknowledge that it's largely true, and even sometimes true for me) that it feels more comfortable to see a baby be fed from a bottle full of formula, than from the mother's breast.

I feel the need to add here, I did not nurse any of my children that long. I had difficulties every time, and the allure of the bottle and sharing the middle of the night feeding was stronger than my seldom-strong will. In other words, I'm not a La Leche League devotee, or a person otherwise committed to breast-only feeding of infants. I just feel badly that we've ended up socialized such that something so normal makes us uncomfortable.

slumbernut

Childless her, so most of those titles go right by me. However, years ago I spotted "The Runaway Bunny" in a store and mentioned it to a friend, who bought it for her nephew (age maybe two). Well, she read it to him. And he carried it to another adult and asked that they read it to him. Seemingly he spent the next couple of days having people read it to him over and over and over ....

even without kids everyone needs to read Dont Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.

When I worked at the library, I fell in love with the books "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs," "Tuesdays," and "Tacky the Penguin." Tacky is especially fun!