In this country of billboards covered with tits, I think we should try to get used to this

Hollie McNish wrote this incredible poem about breastfeeding in public in a public restroom after her baby fell asleep. She concludes that "In a country of billboards covered in tits, I think we should try to get used to this."

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Minimalist and Zero Footprint Parenting -- Need Some Ideas?

More and more people of our generation grew up learning about protecting the environment and living a green lifestyle. For many people, it is a departure from the way that they were raised and, to some extent, a return to the way that their grandparents and great grandparents raised children. But there are also new and different challenges to eco-concious parenting. Today I want to share two books / blogs with you that are aimed specifically at parents who are planning for the arrival of their first baby and want to take an environmentally friendly minimalist approach to parenting.

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Is poverty inevitable for Canada's Indigenous children?

Canada ranks 25th among the 30 countries in the OECD with regard to child poverty. Among immigrant, racialized and Indigenous communities the child poverty rate even higher than the Canadian average. In particular, 50% (HALF!) of status First Nations children live in poverty. This is unacceptable.

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"Father of the family must be master in his own house" -- Who agrees with this?

I was shocked recently when I read some tweets, and then an article, by Doug Saunders of the Globe and Mail talking about Environics research on shifts in Canadian and American values and how they've changed over the years. Some of it was as you expect, but one of the questions in the research, surprised me. It was the question used to measure how patriarchal a society is, namely the extent to which people agree with the statement: "The father of the family must be the master in his own house." 

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Breastfeeding, Sleep Deprivation, and Postpartum Depression: How To Manage?

There is research that indicates that mothers with PPD who do not get enough sleep are at greater risk for more severe depression. There is also research that demonstrates a link between weaning and depression, although it is unclear whether weaning causes depression or depression causes weaning. To complicate matters even more, there is also research that shows that mothers who are not exclusively breastfeeding have poorer sleep quality. So what do you do if you have PPD, aren't getting enough sleep, and breastfeeding is the only thing that is going right for you?

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