Friday, April 8

Broken words

I hate it when people broke their promises to me. Well, basically I hate it when people do things that provokes me, and this one is definitely it. And to be honestly honest, I get hot on a lot of things.

But particularly this one, it's something that's really embedded in me. Don't make any promise you cannot keep. Please. If you don't think you can keep it, don't make any. Don't say: I promise... Just be humble and say: I'll try.... That's more like it. In trying you at least show some effort. In making promises, there's a totalness in it. You've got to give all to keep it. No excuse. Well, almost no excuse. If you're dead without keeping it, what can I say? Or you bumped your head and got amnesia, may God bless you. Or perhaps you simply have memory relapse. There's nothing but to forgive those who are forgetful.

BTW, I am forgetful. So just in case I forget to keep my promise, remind me, okay. Don't just sit there and resent me. Please... pretty please?

Comment

I found in my inbox that there's a comment dropped by someone for my blog. It's alway nice to have comment. It means that there are people out there who actually read my writings, and go the length of actually writing a comment is real nice.

Thanks a lot, dear readers!

Thursday, April 7

Bottle feeding

This is a new revelation: baby bottle is not supposed to be advertised to the general public. And labeling on the packaging should follow certain rules.
I found this here: http://www.ibfan.org/english/codewatch/btr98/btr98bib.html

It is similar with new-born baby formula. Strict wording and no advertising. The reason is this: natural breast feeding is superior to all kind of substitute. It is backed by UNICEF, at least. But business is business, and no advertising means little business.

I am personnaly irked by the fact that the hospital where my daughters were born (and my soon to be out there baby would be delivered) are bottle-feeding the babies. It is unethical, to say the least. Babies should be given to their mothers within one hour of delivery. One hour - that's the golden window of a baby learning naturally on how to suck her mother's breasts. Close that window, and there bound to be problems regarding breast feeding. Mothers are naturally equiped with breast, ladden with milk, to do just that: breas feed their babies. It's God given, it's natural, and it's how things are supposed to be. Unless for a really small number of unfortunate women with certain defect, or severely malnurished women, every woman can have ample production of breast milk. There's some tricks to keep the production running, though. We'll talk about that later. Back to bottle. And formula.

The hospital even give 'sent away' give that includes sample of formula, the remaining of the formula given to the baby, and two bottles. I wanted to scream at them and throw the things away, trully. Okay, I was having caesarian delivery, which put me in the disadvantage of not being able to use that golden window (1 hour after operation, believe me... your brain is still nowhere inside your head). But that doesn't mean that all opportunity is lost. I read somewhere that baby can be left un-fed for almost 24 hours. Or was it 10 hours? Now.. that's ample time to give that baby to me and for me to stick her to my breast. Just don't give that goddamned formula in the bottle. Her bottle is here on my chest. Her formula is here in my breasts.

And as for the bottle when you are away from your baby (working mother, this is for you....), bottle should not be used. So said the advocate of breast feeding movement. Use spoon to feed the baby, or even cup (make sure you do it slowly and ever carefully as not to flood the baby with milk). Bottle and man-made nipples can make 'nipple confusion' which will make natural breast feeding a problem.

But then again, for us poor working mom with only 3 months of maternity leave, it's seems too much a burden to have our baby's caretaker do that, doesn't it? The amount of patience and time spent to apply those techniques would surely look discouraging compared to feeding with bottle.

Anyway, in short: go breastfeed your babies. It's the best start a baby can have in her life. And you know what? It's actually practical: no hoarding bottles, formula, warmer, sterilizer and so on and so on when you are travelling with your baby. Because all those are contained in those two things attached there by mother nature to your chest: your breast.

Love you all, mothers of babies on earth (and far beyond that, should there be life in other planets).

How do you react?

How do you react to the environment around you, especially that which gets to your nerves?

I have some friends who maintain a perpetual smile. It's astonishing.... One never even raised her voice. How does she maintain that external calmness and acceptance is a mistery for me. As for the internal feeling, I don't know. She has a rather high blood pressure, though. But perhaps it has more to do with her weight than her hidden emotion.
Such person would get approvals from most people. A smile is much much more better that a frown and definitely a far throw from a downright eruption of anger. Don't you think so?

Other simply clam up and be sour. This kind would be better left alone in their sourness or you are subject to acid spray. They won't throw anger at you, but gone are the sweet smile and warmth. If attitude can cut, theirs are like swiss-made stainless-steel knife: light, strong, and make clean cut. So clean you are hardly aware that you are bleeding. And the pain creeps to you slowly. Well, sometimes not so. Sometimes they become so sour you can taste it from afar. Just let them be is a very good and practical advise.

Then there's the silent type. No smile, no sourness, no nothing. Just an eerie silent that leaves you perplexed. Everything on the surface seems so still and smooth, but somehow you can just feel a hot lava inside. What to do with this kind? Act normally, but do not provoke. You don't know how or when that lava could erupt.

And there's my favorite type: the throw-at-your-face, full-blown anger. That's what I call 'honesty' is. You angry? Show it. Keep people off at a distance, 'less they want to get the impact of your wrath. I am like that.. hahahahaaa. Short-fused, big-bang, destructive, and total madness for several minutes. Deny me that, and that anger would burn like amber, slowly, for a long long time..... and it will burn big at the end. Sadly, this type receives the lowest approval in the social scale.

Anyway, different people, different mechanism. You choose what's best for you, and be ready for the consequences. You may want to be everybody's favorite and suffer inwardly (oh, bless those who truly are warm-hearted and never get angry...), or you may make everybody else suffer for the benefit of your mental health.

Adios!

A Cherry (part-2)

A cherry
fallen from your sundae
down to the floor below

no one taken notice
no body would look for it

a cherry
forgotten for today

Wednesday, April 6

A cherry

I am a cherry on top of your sundae
There to ornate
And add a notch of beauty
To an otherwise perfect treat

Take me out
What do you have?

Your ice cream
As enjoyable as ever
Perhaps missing a little something
Of red brightness