Why some arguements will never go away...

There are a lot of arguments out there that I'm getting tired of. Not to the point of not involving myself in them, but just make me feel like all I'm doing is hitting repeat on my internal player.
To name a few: to circumcise or not, any breastfeeding arguments, cloth diapering, crying it out, etc.
Apart from myself, I've heard a lot of people who just wish that they would just go AWAY. They are tired of hearing about them, tired of putting in their 2cents or tired of hearing about it in the news.
The trouble is that everyday there is a new parent, somewhere, who is either having a baby or finding themselves to be pregnant. This person, whose world has just been TV, movies, job, dating, eating out, shopping, etc, is suddenly finding themselves in a mindset that they never planned on being in. They are now in charge of choosing things for their child. The overwhelming amount of information out there is now pummeling their brain. Things that they may of once thought right, now have an argument as to why they are wrong or they are being attacked for making a decision of any kind. It's no longer as easy as picking out an outfit. Moms are attacking moms for just about everything.
If the mom looks put together : the child is being abandoned in someway.
If she is bottle feeding : she is attacked for not breastfeeding.
Or vice versa.
This is the simple reason why these arguments will never go away. There are new parents who now have a view of something or think that they have hit onto something big, that has already been argued about long before they came along. It's a hard thought. It doesn't mean that the fight should be over. It just means we need to back out if we are tired of the fight and rest from it. Being on the war front all the time is exhausting and burns us out to the point that we forget why we were fighting in the first place.

Standing up for anything today takes guts and lots of energy. Especially with social media being as it is. People now feel that they can attack and say what ever they wish without feeling a real backlash from it. It's all words and going back to the old rhyme "Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Which, as much as we all wish it wasn't true, it is. There are chatting forums, websites, blogs that are loaded with all sorts of hate filled spite towards someone of opposing views. When did we shed our ability to be civil and why is it so accepted? Why do we think it is OK to bash another parent for their parenting? It is one thing if they are asking for an opinion, but when they are simply stating what they think to be true, who are we to verbally beat them down?

A History of Breastfeeding in pictures...

I've been in love with pictures of breastfeeding from days gone by. Whether they are paintings or not. I just love the fact that it was so common place for so long. So I've decided to share what I've found.
Enjoy!!

Hazel wood

I know you are thinking of a tree right now. This is a hazel wood tree. 

But this necklace is why I'm talking about hazel wood.  I've known about the benefits of amber for a while. Both of my children have amber teething necklaces which have been shown to alleviate the symptoms of not only teething, but of osteoarthritis joint pain and sore muscles. I had purchased one for myself to help with my Lupus symptoms and was enjoying the results until my daughter broke the clasp when she was pulling on it in a raging fit. I need to get around to fixing it.
When I was online this past winter looking for amber bracelets for my mother in law for Christmas, I stumbled upon an amber/hazel wood necklace. Curious, I googled hazel wood and discovered that it helped out with eczema, cavities, GERD, and acid reflux. The reason being that it helps absorb acids from your body. You need to replace it every 3-6 months to maintain effectiveness. This made my heart jump. My son has horrible eczema on his arms, legs and starting on his face. We use the most sensitive soaps for detergents, body wash, and lotions. Things are almost always scent free. I've tried goats milk products, hydrocortizone creams, calendula lotions, etc. Nothing really seemed to touch it anymore. I had been eyeing a new line we got in at work that was designed to help with eczema. I was worried because nothing in the line was under $10. I want my son to be comfortable, but I wanted to buy him some birthday presents this month more.
So, I was happy to see that hazel wood necklaces with amber beads in them, started at around $14.  They also aren't coming from as far away as the amber I have purchased in the past. I love the idea of buying Lithuanian amber, but I have no patience for international shipping.  These necklaces are mostly being made in the Quebec province of Canada. I am only 5 hours away from the Canadian border to Quebec.  So, I quickly purchased one this past week with lemon amber stones in it. My son has been wearing it since. He was sad to take off his other one and wanted to wear them both at the same time, but he didn't like them all tangled. I told him I would put his amber one on his dresser and if he wanted to wear it to let me know. The nice thing is that it looks more masculine than the amber one did. I've always been slightly offended when people made comments as to why my son was wearing a necklace. I'm hoping to see the effects of it soon. It's hard to not feel bad when your child has bumpy rough skin on their once so soft cheeks.

Tripping downstairs and Arnica gel

This past Tuesday evening, I had the fun and memorable experience of missing the last step on our back porch. I made my ankle do an L and found myself lying in the driveway crying. After a few minutes, I was able to get up and finish bringing in the bags of groceries into the house. After I put them away, I hobbled into the bathroom to observe the damage. My ankle was swelling up to the size of a naval orange. I immediately reached for the Arnica gel, slathered it on and wrapped it in an ace bandage.
The Arnica is the reason I'm writing this. Arnica cream or gel has been a mainstay in my life since I was a child. I can remember my mother pulling out a tube of Arnica and rubbing it daily on any play injuries I had. I have since done the same with my son. There was one day he was playing a game of flopping onto his toddler bed, when he missed the pillow and hit the headboard. His eyebrow was huge and black, yet with the daily treatments of my good ole Arnica, the bruise was gone within a week. I took it orally after I had my daughter and am now in need of a new tube. It's one of those things that I use that people give me looks when I tell them about it. Almost as though I was talking about eating ground up moon rocks. If ground up moon rocks helped heal bruises, I would try it.
The funny bit about Arnica is that if it is ingested in large amounts, it is toxic. There have been studies on the effects of Arnica on osteoarthritis and on bruising. They have resulted with it being favorable enough to continue use.
I personally will never give it up.