Democracy In Action

Stella and I were a part of the power of democracy this morning. We went to the Capitol and went around to the legislator's offices asking them to support HB 703 and HB 1154 (or was it 45?). Anna roped me into doing this and we went with her and Daniel, but honestly I'm very glad we did it (thanks Anna!). HB 703 will certify and regulate lactation consultants, so mean old ladies like that bitch Anna had can't make new moms feel hopeless and helpless (she also made our friend Rachel feel the same way with her daughter). In fact, that chick was there today, but Anna did her best to avoid her and would not let me, despite repeated attempts, kick the lady's ass. Oh, well. Anyway, the second house bill supports a woman's right to breastfeed in public, and imposes penalties for business-owners who do not allow women to breastfeed in their establishment. I tried to turn that around to say that it clearly defined the law for business owners, since we all know Texans hate to tell a business owner what to do. But I hope what we said was helpful. We gave the assistants a folder of information and a little mug with candy. Stella slept for about half an hour or so in her gorgeous mai tai, made by Ashley. I couldn't believe it, as she hasn't fallen asleep in a sling since she was about 5 months old! I will definitely have to use that trick in the future. Daniel was perfectly behaved as well until the very end when he needed some Mama's milk to help him sleep. In fact, I went to the last two reps' offices by myself so Anna could nurse, and at one of them, the assistant in charge of healthcare had us step outside to talk and lo and behold, there were Anna and Daniel as the poster Mother/child for breastfeeding. It was pretty humorous. Everyone was very nice, with the exception of the first guy who was like, "I don't have a baby". He had an Aggie ring on, I happened to notice, so that probably explains it;)

Unfortunately, I think it was pretty poorly publicized, since there weren't very many moms there. Too bad, since it is such an important topic. But I hope we represented well. We were filmed and had pictures taken, so perhaps you'll see us on the 6 o'clock news!
UPDATE: Erin called to say we were on the KVUE 5pm news. At least, she saw me and Stella. Unfortunately, they do not have the video on their website and we weren't on the 6pm news. I'll keep my fingers crossed that they'll add the video online and/or we'll be on the 10pm news. My big television debut and I miss it!