clearing the air

Something has been bothering me for a few weeks now, and as not to outright offend anyone I won't mention any names.

I am getting used to people saying how big my daughter is, she is about 3 1/2 months old and weighs like 15 lbs. I don't even mind when people ask me what is in the bottle that I am feeding her. Now mind you I pump as much as I can to try and make our lives easier, both out in public and so that I don't have to be the only person to get up in the middle of the night to tend to her.

What I am not alright with is having to respond to a question as to the appearance of my breast milk. I have come to terms with the fact that I cannot always speak my mind as I was used to doing, heck I think speaking my mind is part of my nature (keeping it in makes me feel like a bomb about to explode), but in an attempt to keep the peace in my house I do my best not to purposefully make people feel as stupid and ignorant as they are behaving. Now don't get me wrong, it's not that I feel these people are actually ignorant, it's just that they are a part of a very large portion of the population that I have lovingly come to know as "socially retarded".

Who in their right mind actually thinks it's permissible to question (to the person's face) the appearance and/or consistency of the breast milk of a relatively new mother? I am pretty sure I question myself enough... is she eating enough, is she eating too much, have I taken enough pictures of her, do I play with her enough, do I play with her too much, should she sleep on her back, should she sleep on her stomach, should I vaccinate, should I not vaccinate, should I be thinner by now, should I go back to work, should I stay home??????? I could go on... What I don't need is to have family, friends, or whomever question me regarding something I really don't have any control over.

How am I supposed to respond to such a question? I don't know why it's thick/thin, light/dark, white/blue, does it really matter? Last time I checked I am not a physician or a scientist who has studied such things... if you are really that curious shut your mouth, go to your computer, and google it! I already feel like a cow on display when I pump and there are people around - Don't even get me started on breastfeeding in public... if you don't like it then don't look! And for crying out loud.... stop staring!!!

In regards to this question I tried my best not to show how shocked I was and muster up some sort of response as to not make the offender feel bad, wouldn't want to make THEM feel bad.... I think it worked because I don't think the person had a clue as to what just happened. And in keeping with the can't we all just get along attitude I am trying so hard to maintain.... I'm off to TRY and be a mom now, because regardless of the color or consistency of my breast milk.... Hayden needs it and is thriving.... So I guess I'm doing something right after all.

So in the future don't be surprised if you get a not so nice answer to a not so nice question.