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Mama Journal Parenting

Boogers taste like McDonalds

Or so insists a friend of our family, and she means it in a very complimentary way. It’s how she attempted to sell her friend on partaking in the nose candy of the 5-year-old crowd. (not that nose candy, dufus!)

Anyway, Fast Food Nation and beef flavored french fries aside, McD’s has another storm a’brewin. The entire thread is located here, and I’d recommend checking in there before acting on your outrage. I feel positive that once someone with brains and PR smarts (there’s got to be someone like that there, right? Didn’t they invent the hamburgler and that big purple thing?) finds out about the debacle, the spirit of the Texas law protecting breastfeeding babies will be honored, and the good work of Ronald McDonald House Charities will go on.

In the meantime, here are some highlights, edited to fit into a blog, of the thread linked above:

My sister and I are staying in the Ronald McDonald House in Houston because one of her 17 month old twins had to have brain surgery to remove a tumor last week. The RMH has been great and we have felt so blessed to find such a safe and homey place to take care of her other two children and my daughter while we are here for Tobin’s recovery.

However yesterday my sister, who is nursing the twins, was asked to stop nursing in the communal area of the Ronald McDonald House and to take it up to her room. She was shocked! After his surgery her son will basically only drink breastmilk and it is the only thing that eases the constant pain and anxiety he feels. She told them that it was illegal, according the Texas state law, to ask a breastfeeding mother to stop nursing in any public or private place. She also tried to explain to them how inconvenient it would be for her to take all her children up 3 floors to their room every time her sick child needs to nurse.

Today I find out they may be kicking us out of the RMH because we refused to comply with what they call their “interpretation of the law”.

If you would like to send a letter we would appreciate it. Arlene Whatley is The Executive director of The Holcombe location of the RMH where we are staying and one of the people who Jessica spoke to about this. It is Arlene that seems to be making the decision here. Her email is awhatley@rmhhouston.org and her phone is (713) 795-3570.

I have just spoken to Arlene. She basically told me she was not kicking us out for breastfeeding, but that they could easily find another way to do so, and that if we kept breastfeeding in communal areas she would do what she needed to do.

She also told me that I should not have written the directors and administrators. That I was bringing in people who shouldn’t be involved. Apparently I am supposed to let her bully us in private.

By Amy Makice

Amy Makice is a social worker actively working on two other family-centered projects, Creative Family Resources and Parenting for Humanity. Amy has a weekly online show on BlogTalkRadio.