Ooh this is fun!

That looks enticing!

Yes, I can reach it…

Uh Oh!

That looks even more fun!

I am kind of amazed I ever get anything done around here. The last post I made I said about how babies don’t keep and about finding a balance. 90% of my days feels like the photos above sometimes, but then there is lots of colour too.

The photos below are teasers really, they don’t tell very much.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER: Beth Sutherland

I believe that creativity is just one thought or action away and that handmade can mean well made, functional, beautiful and inspiring.
I believe that beautiful outcomes are made especially with an individual in mind, while colour and creative outcomes can inspire and comfort others. Everyone can make time and space to add colour to their lives.

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I read the TIME magazine article that had the extended breastfeeding cover on the US edition. My Dad sent it to me after confusion over which issue it was because the EU version has a different cover. He’s been subscribed to TIME magazine as long as I can remember. The EU has a much less attractive (as of today) French president on the cover. The article is a profile of Dr Bill Sears (who is about the same age as my Dad) and of attachment parenting. It just misses the whole point. I know that most of my customers and that a lot of my friends, attachment parent to one degree or another. I could have said to varying extremes, but I refuse to be tripped up into considering any form of parenting or feeding as extremist!

The TIME article was a bit odd and disappointing. Interesting to read about the Sears. Not particularly journalistically objective. The whole thing seemed written to create friction rather than create understanding of how a popular and gentle way of parenting is actually beneficial (and practiced to whatever level). Sensationalist exploitation by the magazine. Seemed to judge differences and background context, rather than understanding commonality and appreciating viewpoints regardless of their religious context. It just missed out so much. That’s without even considering the “Are you Mom enough?” strapline and extended breastfeeding US cover version.

I guess the USA context makes things different, in terms of privatised & for profit healthcare, it is easier to be cynical. They missed the point of attachment parenting though and why Mums stay home with their kids. The person that wrote the profile doesn’t understand modern day feminism in that women fought for the vote and they fought to work, so that now they have the choice to stay with their children in their very early years and many of them are choosing to stay with their kids (or not) or choosing to work flexibly. We are lucky in the UK that it’s easier to do so. I don’t have to work, but I can if I want to, on my own terms. The journalist also has a lot of facts wrong (especially about the dangers of co-sleeping as that actually reduces risk under correct conditions!) and he should have included the work and research of James McKenna.

There is no danger or harm in feeding a child extended, it is better for their brain and immune development than any substitute and it’s also about security. The same as there is no danger is offering pure, unadulterated love and security. I really don’t think you can hug or hold your kid too much. They grow up so very fast, that they are soon off your lap and engaging with you in other ways and at their own pace. Why on earth would I ignore my baby’s cries and override my natural instinct to pick her up, or feed her or play with them both? They’ve missed the mark there too as babies don’t keep. When your kids are leaving home you’re not going to wish you’d hugged, or held, or fed, or loved them less or not have let them slept on you while they were still small enough to do so. The whole basis of attachment parenting is that it actually strengthens their independence, with positive discipline.

And the sub article that describes attachment parenting as detachment fathering! I don’t even know where to start. Tell that to my husband who gets up in the middle of the night with Niamh when she decides she’d rather be awake practicing walking, so that I can sleep and so I’ll be good with the kids the next day. If he takes both girls out to the park together to let me work or catch up, he chooses to carry Niamh in the buckle carrier on his front because it is more convenient than the buggy. It is a shame that that is how attachment parenting has been represented in press, but unsurprising really.

My baby has been sleeping on me on and off today. She is going to be one next month and is dropping her naps and feeds all over the place. Our older girl is blossoming and growing so fast. She has a vivacious personality. Reading that article made me reflect on why I do what I do and how much the way I parent gently and the materials I use matters to me. It matters enough that I want to share and let other people enjoy these materials too, but mainly I want to be with my girls and part of that, even when working from home, means working around them and having a balance.

So yep, there are new services and products coming in the Summer, but right at this moment I’m listening to a blogcast and enjoying the peace and joy that is my littlest one sleeping on me. As attached as I am, I have to stop myself from working sometimes or pause from battling to work around the kids. I have to catch my breath, get down to their level and just be their Mum. Purely, simply and unadulterated in sharing and bonding, with everything else taking a back seat for a time, because my babies won’t keep.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER: Beth Sutherland

I believe that creativity is just one thought or action away and that handmade can mean well made, functional, beautiful and inspiring.
I believe that beautiful outcomes are made especially with an individual in mind, while colour and creative outcomes can inspire and comfort others. Everyone can make time and space to add colour to their lives.

Receive Luscious Little Messages

The funny thing about this though is I alway over measure fabric. If I dye it and sell it by the metre, I have to allow for shrinkage, so generally it’s kind of like when you get a baker’s dozen a Luscious Little Metre usually meant about 105-108cm long. I kind of feel obliged to trim down to 100cm now!

ABOUT THE DESIGNER: Beth Sutherland

I believe that creativity is just one thought or action away and that handmade can mean well made, functional, beautiful and inspiring.
I believe that beautiful outcomes are made especially with an individual in mind, while colour and creative outcomes can inspire and comfort others. Everyone can make time and space to add colour to their lives.

Receive Luscious Little Messages