We’re gonna need a bigger boat…

Not according to Claire Verity.

Verity believes in four hourly feeds, no cuddling during those feeds, and leaving the baby outside in the pram for three hours at a stretch, in the middle of winter, crying as much as it likes. By using her method, Verity reckons you can be throwing a party within twenty four hours of giving birth, as your life will have "returned to normal. I guarantee it." Verity is obsessed with the idea of parents drinking wine from 7pm onwards, whilst their 24-hour-old baby wails itself to sleep upstairs.

So, show your baby little, or no, affection, leave them outside to catch bronchitis, let them scream for hours? If I did that I’d have social services on my doorstep.  Verity advocates no eye contact while feeding and bottles are in, breast is not. Hold baby at arms length, don’t pick them up and cuddle if they cry. What kind of emotional damage does that do? All her advice goes against the current guidelines from FSID and against all my instincts and the instincts of every mother I know.

Women all over the UK are up in arms and getting very very vocal about this. You can join them here, here, or here, and I’m sure there are more.  There’s a petition here, please do go and sign it.

Although a more direct and probably more productive route would be to complain direct to OfCOM, or to Channel 4 who broadcast the programme "Bringing up Baby" that sparked the whole furore.

‘From the OFCOM website:

“The involvement of people under eighteen in programmes

1.26 Due care must be taken over the physical and emotional welfare and the dignity of people under eighteen who take part or are otherwise involved in programmes. This is irrespective of any consent given by the participant or by a parent, guardian or other person over the age of eighteen in loco parentis.

1.27 People under eighteen must not be caused unnecessary distress or anxiety by their involvement in programmes or by the broadcast of those programmes.”

So there is definitely a case. To complain, go to:

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/complain/

Start by selecting ‘Programmes on TV/Radio’ in the righthand column. Then follow the steps as prompted by the website. It’s very easy and takes about 10 minutes. The programme is Bringing Up Baby, Channel 4, Tuesday the 25th September at 9 pm.

You may also wish to contact Channel 4 or Silver River (the producers of the show) using the following contact details:

Channel 4 Enquiries
PO Box 1058
Belfast
BT1 9DU

Silver River
Brook House
2-16 Torrington Place
London
WC1E 7HN

This is what I wrote under ‘Description’ of my complaint, I pinched it from here and I know it was borrowed from somewhere before that:

“Baby ‘expert’ Claire Verity instructed parents to neglect, abuse, and place newborn infants at risk of short and long-term physical and emotional harm. Her instructions to leave babies unattended for long periods, despite being in clear distress, goes against current scientific knowledge of child development, and against the current recommendations of the Foundation for
the Study of Infant Death (cot death). The children taking part in the programme were therefore harmed during its filming. This clearly goes against OFCOM guidelines 1.26 and 1.27 for the protection of people under 18 in programmes.”

It’s not great but you’re welcome to use it.’

Spread it around, blog it, mail it, spam it - this woman is downright dangerous and needs to be stopped before her *clients* get pulled up for child neglect or abuse.

How did Ethics Trading get on here? It’s great, but I don’t remember asking to be listed. Not complaining mind you.

Also managed page one on Google but right at the bottom. Still, lots better then before.  Onwards and upwards….

Manilow refuses to be interviewed!

Manilow said, "I strongly disagree with her views. I think she’s dangerous and offensive. I will not be on the same stage as her… I cannot compromise my beliefs."

Elisabeth Hasselbeck is the problem for him.  

On an episode which aired on August 2, 2006, Hasselbeck got into a heated debate in which she strongly opposed the Food and Drug Administration’s plan to sell the "morning after pill" as an over-the-counter drug. Hasselbeck stated, "I believe that life begins at the moment of conception…" She said the pill should be banned in cases of rape and incest, because "that life still has value."

For me it’s a choice thing. Women need to have control over their own bodies and fertility. I don’t have the right to make that choice for anyone but myself but I strongly believe that the choice should be easily available to any woman that wants to make it. Anyone that needs to make that choice should have our support, not be villified and made to feel even worse about what she is doing.  

Nice one Barry, I can’t stand your music but I applaud your stand on this.  

Speeding.

No, not me, stop laughing! 

Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman has pleaded guilty to committing a speeding offence in Suffolk.

It is the second time the former Solicitor-General has been caught speeding, following an incident in February 2003 when she was caught doing 99mph in a 70mph zone on the M4 in Wiltshire.

Life in the fast lane huh?

Dear Mr Spammer.

(Yes, I know, not exactly politically correct as I’m sure there are some female spammers out there but I don’t care - this feels like little boys knocking on my virtual door and then running away giggling like immature idiots.) 

No thank you, I don’t want a loan. Yes, I know you don’t care about my credit rating. I still don’t want one. No, I won’t want one in 5 or 10 minutes either. Or tomorrow, or at 1am. 

You know what? You got something right, my penis is very small. Actually, being female it’s so small it doesn’t exist. A bit like your brain. As a direct result of this quirk of my anatomy, I won’t be needing any viagra, cialis or any related or mis-spelled version thereof. And no, I don’t care that yours is the cheapest, available without prescription, from Canada or whatever. I’m feeling ill at the images in your emails too.

I’m not obese either. So I won’t be wanting any hoodia or any other slimming pill.

I don’t give a (insert expletive of choice here) if someone is hacking into an account at the Bank of Scotland, Bank of America, Bank of bloody outer Mongolia. I don’t have an account with you. Oh and while we’re on the subject, I know exactly what a paypal or ebay email looks like, I know they spell things correctly and they will never, ever ask for my log in details.

How stupid do you think people are? 

From the Times Online.

 Bascially yummymummyhood is a great idea at 30 when you and the kids look oh so cute in your matching beribboned outfits from Boden, but a bloody disaster at 40 when you look less yummy and more wrinkly, are deathly dull because all you’ve done for 10 years is clean up baby sick, do the school run and visit the John Lewis flooring department and your husband goes, "oh, what happened to that smart, independent career girl I married? She’s a boring old bag with no conversation, maybe I’ll trade her in for a younger model."

Shame you don’t know how to use a spell check dear….

I work from home, I run a business from here. (Ethics Trading for anyone who didn’t know or might be interested.) I chose to take the financial hit for a variety of reasons. Part of that is a shifting of my own priorities from the mass consumption of plastic down to a more simple way of life. It’s even got a name - it’s called Downsizing or Downshifting and it suits us perfectly.

I know of people who send their kids off to club before school starts, dropping them off within moments of eating breakfast, then the kids do a full day at school while the parent(s) do a full day at work, kids then go to after school club, often not getting home until 6pm. Everyone is tired and grumpy. That’s not a choice I could make for me and my kids. So they’re home educated and we love it most days, but I know it’s not for everyone.

As an adult I have found my way out of the box that institutional schooling shut me in and I don’t want my kids to even get in the box. I don’t like so much that I see pushed at us as *normal* This is my way of rebelling and choosing another path.

It’s very much a choice thing for me. It’s a choice I am able to make and it suits us as a family. It’s not right for everyone and I’m very much an "each to their own path" kind of person on this one. Whatever works for you.

This is why I do still self-identify as feminist and why my views are getting more and more extreme (on eco issues too, although I’ve always been fairly deep on those) For me, my personal feminism is all about individual women having personal choice in their lives. If that means going out and being a career woman then that’s fine. But the flipside has to be valid too. The woman who chooses to devote her energy to her family, children and home has to have our respect too.
The real issue for me is when the *choice* is no choice at all because of societal pressure or whatever. There is no support really for a woman wanting to stay home for her kids, the benefit system here isn’t really set up for that as a valid choice unless you make part of that choice the decision to live on very little. It’s a hard one.

To truly accept that someone can choose to stay at home for whatever reason, then we, as a society, have to value a *homemaker* properly. As someone who places high personal value on downsizing our lives and on family as a more basic and fundamental structure, it comes easily for me. I feel that my kids having me here is way more important than a computer upgrade, a new mobile phone, new car etc.

If personal value is placed more on ephemera, stuff, nintendo, better house, location, neighbours, car etc, then it’s harder to understand and give value to the choice to do without those things - hence you need to go out, get a proper job in order to have those things - why would you want to stay at home all day with your kids?

The Ethics Trading site has been quiet over the summer, it always is. Now September is here I decided it was time for a change. So the site has been redone in terms of content and layout but not overall design.

There are also some fantastic new products for you to discover in plenty of time for Christmas. It’s only 104 days away you know….. 

Aromadough is lovely stuff - all natural playdough scented with essential oils. I’ve heard it said that it was originally developed to help kids in therapy so they could keep a level of calm while talking about things. Whatever the original purpose, it’s wonderfully squidgy stuff and leaves your hands feeling lovely and soft while releasing the most amazing scents. Go on, take a look, you know you need some…… 

 Dumped - Ch4 (UK) 9.00-10.00pm.

Eleven contestants struggle to survive three weeks living on a rubbish dump in south London. With the shelters made, the participants must face a new challenge: the removal of their flushing toilet. Modern toilets waste lots of potential drinking water and so they must construct a composting toilet instead. A dumper truck also arrives and the contestants are told they can sell any salvagable scrap in exchange for some items to improve the quality of their stay.

I missed this last night, didn’t know it was on but I’ll be watching closely tonight and the remaining 2 parts. I quite fancy a composting loo but have no idea if it’d be practical in my garden….