"I Want to Nuuurse!" by Kari, who makes special breastfeeding bracelets to help moms remember which side she last nursed from.I count nursing all seven of my babies a vast privilege...not only did it form a loving bond between me and my babies, I also loved the fact that nursing consumed immense quantities of calories, which meant I could quickly get back into my regular sized clothing...yippee! Episodes in the lives of our seven children sort of meld together, but a few remain clear in my mommy-memory. Anyone with more than three children knows what I'm talking about. Funny isn't it, how the first baby gets two fat baby books filled in with minor details and the third baby on down don't even have a ghost of a book? Even with a basket full of kids, a few unforgettable instances in each of their young lives stand out in my mind. Take Ethan, my second baby. He arrived on his due date and came quickly. I woke up at 7AM, got out of bed at 8AM, and Ethan was born at 9AM! It's a good thing we were only a few blocks away from the hospital. (Although my last four births were at home...but that's another story) Ohhhh that all births were as predictable and easy as my second baby. Ethan proved to be a white headed precocious toddler and an early talker. I was still nursing him when he was very loud verbal two year old. One Sunday morning as we sat together in church listening to his father preaching, Ethan became restless and irritated. So...he thought of something he could do to make the time go faster and demanded very loudly, "I WANT TO NUUURSE!" In his cute little two-year-old accent. I was horrified. He was so loud! He kept loudly repeating it as I fumbled around trying to gather him up and whisked him away to the nursery to avoid further embarrassment. Yes, I probably let him nurse. Teaching my children discipline and self-denial was not my forte. After church, a well-meaning middle-aged lady asked me, "Why does he want a nurse? Is he sick or something?" This made me feel like a neglectful mother who wasn't providing proper health care to my children, causing them to scream out requests for nurses during church. I sheepishly explained that he was asking "to" nurse not "for" a nurse. I didn't let this embarrassment deter me from nursing all 5 of the rest of my children and this never happened again...as I never took my children to church ever again! No...Just kidding...with a pastor father, they practically lived in the place. My last little baby, a petite Sarah, enjoyed the pleasure of nursing into her 3rd year. I hoped it would curb her compulsion to suck her two middle fingers. It didn't. Nothing worked. But one day when she was 4 she came to me and said. "Mommy, I decided to obey you." And she never once sucked her fingers again. Keep it up my friends...nursing your little cupids is THE WAY TO GO! | 
