I have breastfed all of my children for a period of time not because I am overly dedicated to it, but because I’m too cheap to buy formula and too lazy to make bottles in the middle of the night. 

Because of this extended period of time being a human milk machine, there has been an evolution of my nursing process. 

When my daughter was born, breastfeeding was an intensely private, drawn out production involving shields, blankets, boppys and footstools. 

The ritual has lessened with each child and, within the last four weeks, I have found myself nursing in the following previously unfathomable situations:

 

• While dragging a tantruming sibling up to bed.
   
• While pushing kids on swings at the park.
   
• While holding a sibling down to administer medicine.
   
• While cooking dinner with one hand.
   
• While treating a headwound.
   
• While being climbed on by two mammoth toddlers.
   
• While wiping someone’s booty.
   
• While peeing (in the middle of the night I will do ANYTHING to keep a baby from crying and waking the whole house up!)
   
• While doing laundry.
   
• While giving baths.

Overall I find this list rather funny, especially when I think back to my early days as a Mommy, but it also gives me quite a bit of confidence.  It helps me to realize how much I have adapted to motherhood and how I am capable of handling the chaos that is my life!  Sometimes it helps to think about and congratulate myself on the small things when life seems overwhelming.  It also helps to think about how there are many people who wouldn't be able to do what I do on a daily basis.

In a way I feel bad for poor Max for being dragged around in these situations rather than us having quiet bonding time during his feedings, but he really doesn’t seem to mind.  I figure that he’s happy as long as his needs are getting met, regardless of the surroundings after all, milk is milk no matter where it is! 

Hopefully this chaos will help him (in his own baby way) cherish the quiet time that we do have together at night when everyone else is asleep as much as I do.