A day unlike any other....

The person who wrote the blog post is a man that used to be a woman. This means that while he looks outwardly like a man, he still has some female plumbing and was able to get pregnant and give birth. More than once. Okay, that’s great. Really. He wasn’t the first and he won’t be the last. When searching for prenatal care, he decided that midwifery care was what he wanted so that’s what he had. This is also great. Really. He read some of Ina May’s books and kind of fell in love with her and her philosophies. I can relate. I think I have three of Ina May’s books and I feel that I’ve learned a lot from the perspectives and philosophies in them. It is partially because of what I read and my belief that all women deserve to have choice when it comes to with whom and where they birth that I want to be a midwife.

Slipping some old pictures in here to ease the tension. This is the kitchen all clean. I'm sorry to report that it isn't as clean any longer.

Then one day he saw a letter that had been written in protestation of including “trans, genderqueer and intersex people in midwifery care.” He was hurt because Ina May’s name was on the letter. A lot of midwives signed their names on the letter. You know what? That’s their right. They have a right to their own opinion. However, knowing that people have an opinion differing from their own isn’t enough. A rebuttal letter was written and it was signed by a lot of midwives and doulas and people in general. Guess what? That is their right. But it seems to me that they want everyone to be forced into having the same opinion they have. Not on a cold day in hell, people.

But check this out! I thought I'd clean a couple of tiles since I accidentally got some of the spray on the ceiling when cleaning the cupboards. What a difference!

If people want to live another lifestyle than I do, that’s great. They can go for it. But don’t force your opinions on me or I might shove right back.

What is my take on all this? Well, you ought to be able to tell by now. For another thing, I am a woman. I am not a pregnant person. (No, I’m not pregnant currently—eight really is enough—but if I were, this would be my argument.) You want to call some people pregnant people, go ahead. My daughters either are, have been or will be pregnant women. Why must we have some generic term to cover all people who may be pregnant? Beats me.

Consider this:

I like to sew, knit, walk, hike, Nordic ski, read, and a few other things. I’m not really into running, you know, it’s just not my thing. It’s okay if you like to run; go ahead, it’s okay. You can even call yourself a runner. I’m not a runner. I’m a walker. Sometimes I’m a hiker. I’m not a runner. But some think we should have one generic name to cover everyone who walks/runs/hikes/etc.? Maybe we should be ambulators some say.

Yeah. No.

I am a walker, sometimes a hiker. I am not an ambulator. Why must we be all-inclusive? Your being a runner does not change my being a walker. Your being a transgender man giving birth does not change my being a woman giving birth. If everyone was the same, it would be a really boring world and our putting the same label on so many.

Some would even go so far as to change the word midwife. What on earth would you call someone acting in the capacity of a midwife? Doctors are doctors. Nurses are nurses. They come in both male and female and probably mixed up, too. I mean, really, a midwife is a person trained to assist with birth. Do we really have to come up with another term indicating how politically correct our society has become? Do cultures more accepting of sexual orientations other than the typical male/female that ours does have a different, all-encompassing word for midwife? I don’t know, I’d be curious to find out. I’d be willing to guess that they do not because I remember reading about a culture in Africa where younger women are sometimes married to older women and the older woman is referred to as a husband.

Anyway. Good stinking grief. I think our culture is the one that’s messed up. We’re so over concerned with appearances and not offending anyone that we’re about to fall off the cliff. On the other hand, maybe that’s not such a bad idea.  

The interesting thing is that many people choose to homeschool their children because public school education really is a one-size-fits-all. I’ve always explained it as the public school systems expect students to fit through round holes when in reality, most children come in square, oval, triangular, or other shapes rather than circles. Homeschoolers like to think outside the box, as it were. Many people who homeschool also think outside the box when it comes to midwifery care. Rather than fitting through the round hole at the hospital, they opt for care that allows them to be the square, oval, triangle, etc., that they are. So why now are they trying to get midwifery care to conform to the new way of all-inclusive thinking?

The log book, box, and stamp for Christmas Every Day.

In other news, Amena missed the bus again today. She missed it Wednesday as well. Today I told her I wouldn’t take her to school because Cedric wants to go to the dance this evening and that means two trips to Barre already unless she gave me $15. I guess she really wanted to go because she handed it over. I figure $5 for fuel and wear and tear on the car and $10 for the hour I didn’t get to sew. In reality, that’s a really good deal because if I were charging to make these dresses, I’d be getting $15 to $20 per hour. Cedric hasn’t missed the bus yet.

The stamp and what it looks like stamped.

Yesterday Seth, Joseph and I planted our second letterbox. This one is in honor of Amena (that’s funny, really, considering school has been going for less than a month and she’s already missed the bus twice) and is called Christmas Every Day. I want to do one for Laura or Joanna next. If we do Laura’s, I want to do Alisha’s too because I want to do them both at Coggshall Park. Joanna’s over Barre Falls Dam direction. I know where I want to plant one for Papa, too. That will just leave Cedric, Seth, Joseph and my dad, and I think I know where I want to do Cedric’s.

All in a bag.

And that’s it for now. There is less than half an hour until school starts for the boys at home and I have much to do.

All ready to go! I really like the smaller size for the log book--it fits right in.

Have a wonderful day and don’t forget that love is what makes the world go round.