peace

How many times have I done this before? Been in the midst of work or play to find a naked toddler running up to me - messily crumbling and melting into the bits that only come before nap time?

But there's lunch on the stove - needing stirring; books on my lap - needing reading; little ones at my side - needing loving; and toys at my feet - needing serious picking up.

With a one-arm scoop and a kiss, she's in my arms. The lunch gets stirred, the books get read, the little ones get loved, and the toys wait.

My breathing has slowed and changed to a calmer rhythym. Then I look down in my arms to find her asleep - drifted off to the sounds of our everyday. She's our baby - she may not always get a quiet room of solitude and rocking to sleep. But she does get this. This is her special lullaby.

:: :: :: ::

One in three women are victims of violence. They are our neighbors, our friends, our mothers and our sisters, they are us. It doesn't have to be our daughters. This is it, Mamas. We can change it.

UN International Women's Day - information for children
Faces of Survivors: Voices Reclaimed - photo project
Stop Violence Against Women (Safe Schools for Girls) - Amnesty International
Women Thrive Worldwide - ask your (US) senator to support the I-VAWA (International Violence Against Women Act)
Family Violence Prevention Fund - coaching boys into men

In honor of the women I love and International Women's Day.

Comments

[Juli]

I love love LOVE your outlook :) I'm NAKing a lovebug most of the time I'm blog-surfing. Everything else can wait. :) I've read it before and love it that "trying to clean the house with toddlers is like nailing Jello to a tree" :)

[madelinetosh]

what a blissful child!

[Sarah]

Smile.

[Laura]

I love to see pictures of nursing babies/toddlers. Nursing really did help me through the terrible twos (and threes!).

[jen]

i miss those special moments with my little one... at least she still runs around naked!

[elliebelle]

Beautiful post.

[Anna]

Thank you.

[the papa]

I LOVE YOU.

[bandittsdaisy]

BEAUTIFUL POST!!! Oh how I miss my little ones cuddling up and nursing!

[Blanche]

beautiful picture, post and sentiment! woman can TRULY change this world! can't wait for my breasts to be so useful! :)

[QALBALLAH]

I love that coaching boys to be men. That's where change is: in prevention and education. And maybe one where we teach our men how to be knights in shining armour?? I think that would be especially nice...

[Laura]

Oh how I miss those times. My baby turns 7 years old in 9 short days. I am now teary eyed remembering. Thank you.

Laura

[julia]

beautiful. thank you amanda.

[Yarrow]

Absolutely beautiful picture. The photos of my children nursing are some of my favorites of all. Blessings to you and your little one. Enjoy, it passes by so quickly. Thanks for sharing.

[Stefani]

sweet sweet sweet

[Adina]

Oh, my. That picture. Thank you.

[Heather, whatchabuildin]

Amanda,
First, another beautiful photo. Colin will be 3 in a couple weeks and we still nurse. I love hearing him take a deep sign and feel his body relax while nursing.

Secondly, thank you for recognizing the women victims (and survivors) of voilence. I would like to mention that (from experience) MANY women are victims of Verbal Abuse. It goes undetected and unnoticed more often that not because there are no visual scars from verbal abuse, BUT many emotional scars. Without going into details, I WAS a victim of verbal abuse for many years and now a SURVIVOR. An excellent book I'd like to share is "Verbal Abuse Survivors Speak Out - On Relationship and Recovery" by Patricia Evans. Available at most local bookstores and Amazon.

Lastly, There is another book out there called "Raising Cain, Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys" by Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson. This was a PBS special a while back. Very intense and somewhat depressing, but very informative.

Thanks so much again for your inspiring blog.

Happy day!

[Ali]

Such a wonderful photo.

[Wendy]

Beautiful post.

I do miss that. (It's been 8 years.)

[Grace]

So glad you shared that sweet nursing photo. So sweet. I'm struck by how much hair she suddenly has! I hope my little baldy follows along with that. ;)

Also so glad you mentioned International Women's Day. I wanted to mention it today, too, but haven't gotten to posting yet.

[Heather]

Lovely picture and important message. As the mother of a son I really enjoyed the coaching boys to men link. I have two brothers who would never consider violence towards women and don't tolerate in other men. I credit my mother. Mothers are childrens first teachers, we have alot of power.

[amy]

I love this photo. And the sentiment is fantastic too - thanks for celebrating.

[Rachel]

really really lovely post, Amanda. Thank you for such a beautiful outlook.

[inga]

Happy 8th of March to you, Amanda and your little girl! In Russia it is a huge holiday with lots and lots of flowers!))

[Kim]

As the Momma of 3 boys I do all I can to teach them to act like gentlemen and to treat ladies like ladies... (there Papa is a great example of this!) even when they don't want to. Thanks for links and the reminder to keep to the work.
Lovely photo...how I miss those days :0)

[Alicia]

Lovely photo and thanks for the good links.

[heather]

amen.

[Julia]

Of all the ways you could have introduced such an intense topic (violence against women) this was most unique, most magical, and most potent. This was recognizing our symbiotic relationship, all of us, to on another and the generation to come, and then you called us to action and awareness! Thank you so much! Thank you, thank you!

[MamaBird]

ahhhh, such a great post (on both fronts). tx.

[Deirdre]

So beautiful. I'm givin birth in just a few days (for the 3rd time) and that image just brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing.

[kat nicholas]

oh, you got me all choked up. of course, part of that is my current state of pregnancy and hormones running rampant, creating sadness since i am no longer nursing my charlie and joy of knowing that i'll be nursing another son soon . . .

i worked in the combined fields of crisis intervention and violence against women for about five years. my experiences have had a profound impact on my thoughts of how to raise my boys.

it really is up to all of us to listen to the women in our lives, the girls in our laps or even the sad teenagers we see at the mall. the first and most important step - openly, actively, without judgment - listen.

thank you for a beautiful and affecting post, amanda.

[Julia]

Of all the ways you could have introduced such an intense topic (violence against women) this was most unique, most magical, and most potent. This was recognizing our symbiotic relationship, all of us, to on another and the generation to come, and then you called us to action and awareness! Thank you so much! Thank you, thank you!

[melissa s.]

Your posts always make me hold my little ones a little closer.

[Laura]

Beautiful photo
Sad thinking so many women all over the world can't find a moment of peace

[Jen S]

What a beautiful picture of you and your babe. Such an incredible moment in time.

Thank you for the wonderful links!

Jen S

[Amanda]

After just nursing my toddler down for his nap, this got me all choked up.
What a sweet photo.

[Erin]

Beautiful photo. My (now) toddler refused to nurse (they sometimes do in the real world), so I sadly missed out on that, but I have certainly enjoyed the cuddle time when she asks me to sing her song after song. They are so sweet and innocent.

[Emilie]

Thank you...for the photo, for the links, for putting it out there.

[kate]

after a really rough couple of weeks of nursing my 17-month old daughter (biting and drawing blood several times) things have become more peaceful (and less painful) at my house, too. thanks for sharing the photo, it brought tears to my eyes. and happy nap time to ya!

[Heather]

What a beautiful post~Thanks~

[Maria]

Beautiful picture!

[kort]

nursing really is such a gift! my little one's favorite place to nurse these days is on the city bus...after a morning of adventures, on our way home, snuggled in and asleep within a few stops. peace indeed!

[Diana]

My heart almost stopped two weeks ago when my 11-old month suddenly decided to wean himself. Good news, it was temporary!
This has been my very favorite video during the last days:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=942FRjAJhxU
I hope you like it, it's a breastfeeding campaign in Puerto Rico. Dar teta es dar vida means giving breast is giving life.

[kristena]

Oh, that sweet intimacy we can only have with our babies... Sigh.

[asti]

Beautiful and thought provoking...thankyou..

[sarah]

thank you for sharing.
have you read julia ward howe's 'mother's day proclamation' written in 1872?

Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

you are rigth. it is 'us' all of us working together. we can make a difference.

[eesh]

Beautiful. Thanks for posting this =)

[vickie]

oh i miss those moments, what a sweet picture

[jean]

xo to all our loved ones.

[gonzomama]

beautiful, just beautiful.