“… A proper ringing toast soothes the savage beast,” Karen Krizanovich writes. “Taste has a sound and it’s the thing with the ding that is the ding an sich of the memorable toast.” We teach our little ones civility and celebration and merriment at a young age; the clunk of a sippy cup meets a mug of coffee, toasting the adventures of a toddler. One mother shares that her 15 month old decided to start “cheers-ing” her breasts together before she nurses.
Closing out National Humor Month, this endearing anecdote is the inspiration for this week’s post.
Parenting is serious business, and those who support parents through their responsibilities undertake weighty duties too, but amidst the seriousness, there is hilarity and light.
In 2019, we published Cheap medicine: laughter, where you’ll find research on laughter as it relates to infants, development, breastfeeding, and prosocial behavior.
This week, we’ve compiled a collection of breastfeeding-related material to make you laugh. Interestingly, in our search for funnies, we found that many of these pieces are reactions to the absurdity of infant feeding culture in the U.S. For instance, there is a comic depicting a breastfeeding dyad in front of an ad of a buxom woman. Two men approach, shaming the dyad, “Nursing?! This is a shopping mall! We can’t allow women to brazenly display their breasts!” It makes you chuckle, but of course the undertone is depressing. Nikki Lee wrote commentary on the real-life manifestation of this absurdity. Find it here.
In another case, humor is used as a coping and healing mechanism as well as commentary on the Pinkwashing of the breast cancer epidemic. Poet and performer Christine Rathbun Ernst’s delivery will make you laugh and ask you to consider some really raw, hard topics. Find her work here.
And, without further ado…
Hungry Toddler Tries To Feed On Bras
Todd Wolynn’s engaging presentation about human milk
Breast Side Stories: 100 unusual breastfeeding stories
Lactation consult on livestock
Seven alternatives to evidence based medicine
We’d love to hear your funny stories, as a professional or parent. You can email us at info@ourmilkyway.org, or share your story in the comments below.