And out with #2

This one hung on for a while, and believe it or not, *I* was the extracating parental faction on this one. He asked for a paper towel to get a better grip, and then said it was too slippery. So I took the paper towel and used it to get a really good grip on the tooth. I was just about to tell Will to grab on when he jerked backwards and it popped out.

The funniest part? He didn't jerk backwards to get the tooth out. He had gone without talking for like a full 30, 45 seconds. He couldn't take it anymore and had something to say, so he yanked back, impatient. He didn't even realize it was out until I was like, flipping out and waving it in his face. He then started leaping around like a fish out of water and called everyone, starting with Poppy, who he is convinced has a direct line to the Tooth Fairy. I'm not kidding. Poppy is a dentist, and Will says this gives him the hook up. I don't know if he envisions a secret dentist database with regional tooth fairy email and phone number info or what, but he is flat convinced.

Regardless, there it is, the Mack-truck-sized hole, and he is happy. (Even if he doesn't look it in the photo -- he just doesn't like the flash!)

Home's cool.

We've made a big decision. Will is going to be homeschooled next year.

This is in NO way a reflection on his school, which we still love and support. Rather, it's about Will. We didn't come to this decision lightly -- it was the product of a lot of talking, thinking, research, and introspection on our parts. But ultimately, we decided this is the best thing for him -- and for us -- right now.

Tentatively on the schedule for "first grade" is architecture (learning about styles and letting him do some basic design), computer programming (HTML mostly), lots of science, probably some photography, and of course math and handwriting. You might be noticing the abscence of reading, which seems pretty elemental for a first grader, but of course, Will gets reading all the time every day. He is a voracious reader, and while he's going to be reading books for fun, he'll also be reading to learn.

We're really excited, and he is too. We plan on keeping in touch with his friends from school as well as meeting new homeschooling friends. Adelaide will continue to go to her preschool program, and basically, things will be pretty much normal.

We're so at peace with this decision, which is a big contrast to the "tied in knots" feelings we were dealing with thinking about it all. Once we decided, it was like, "whew!" We could just relax again. We plan on using the money we'd set aside for tuition for things like more family vacations and supplies for school, among other things.

I fully intend to keep writing as much, if not more, than I am now, and while I realize this will be a major life change, I feel comfortable we can work it out. I think I may start getting up with Ben and working some before the kids wake up!

We're so excited to share this news with everyone. Thanks for your support.

Tooth-o-rama

Well, not the greatest photo, but you can definitely see the newly formed hole in Will's mouth. He was so excited to sign "the big tooth" at school finally. And the one next to it is super loose, as well, so soon enough, he may have a cavernous hole in the bottom of his mouth. And next month he'll be six...*sigh*...tempus fugit, right?

Man (or woman) overboard! What's their big secret?

Man (or woman) overboard - Cruise Vacations - MSNBC.com

Okay, so this article is about how hard it is to fall off a cruise ship. But these two people who fell off last week have piqued my curiosity -- they're seeking a lot of privacy about the circumstances of their little dive. My question: What do you think they were doing that they don't want others to find out about. My bet? A little Titanic "King of the World" action and a couple of hard drinks. What do you think?

Indoor Kids (and mommy musings)

Okay, so I realized I hadn't been taking many photos lately. It's interesting -- when I wasn't writing, my camera was always at hand. It kept me sane in some ways, I guess -- I HAD to be creative somehow, and the camera was a stop-gap until I realized there was no reason to quit writing just because you have kids to take care of -- quite the contrary, actually.

Anyway, I've been pretty busy lately, and that is good. I was nervous for a while after I left the editing job at the local parenting publication because I didn't really feel like I knew what I was doing. But I have made some amazing friends who have helped me along the way (Sharon Anne Waldrop and Gina Roberts-Gray, whose bylines you might recognize, have been amazing!) and I'm seeing some very real progress. I don't want to post about the assignments I have right now because they can always get bumped, but I will definitely post when they do run.

But of course, this is titled "Indoor Kids," to match with my previous "Outdoor Kids" post. The kids love being outside, but my creative kids can definitely wreak havoc...I mean, PLAY... inside, as well, especially during March Madness and deadline time! Will loves the new Sumo Lounge we got -- I am going to review it soon for my column that runs in Baton Rouge Parents Magazine, but I'll give you a preview right now -- it's AWESOME! For one thing, both kids can comfortably be on it at once, which is an absolute Godsend for my family since when Adelaide sees Will do something, she MUST do it, as well, which leads to him often reluctantly surrendering his seating preference to avoid shrill-induced hearing loss. But with the huge Sumo Lounge, they completely don't have to -- they just plop down on it together. Anyway, the photo of him at the top is on the big Sumo Lounger, as he is often found.

Adelaide is, of course, into EVERYTHING. You can see the train table behind her -- she loves it, which has induced a bit of a train-lovin' renaissance in Will. (See, the "you have it, I want it" goes both ways here.) Anyway, they both play on it, but his is more construction while hers is, shall we say, deconstruction. For a girl who would wear frilly dresses and patent leather mary janes every day of the week if I'd let her, Adelaide certainly does love crashing cars and trains into each other. Then again, she's surely been watching brother. You can also see her "Pata-pata," as she calls him -- the darn thing plays patty cake every time you touch it's foot. We knew when Will was 1 that he was showing architect/engineer tendencies. Adelaide, if we are again correct, will be a vet. She loves animals, live and pretend, and treats them like baby dolls. Anyway, she's always finding something to do, and I'm hopeful that as she gets older, it will involve more fun playing like this and less hunting for leftover Adelaide snacks on she's left herself, Hansel and Gretel-Style, on floors in nearly every room of the house.

Anyway, that's my musings today on my indoor kids. I had a bit of writer's block before I started this, and now I'm feeling better, so I'm off to do some paying work with my renewed flow of wordiness. :)

Outdoor kids

The kids love being outdoors, which is great in the spring and a killer in the summer...and fall...and late spring, too, really...down here in the deeeeeeeeeeeep south. But Will is apparently a prodigious batter (now to work on his catching skills -- he ducks when he doesn't have the bat in his hands) and Adelaide...well, she's just a little wild at heart, I think. She tries to sneak outside whenever a door is open, so we have to keep a close eye on her. And thank God for the alarm system that beeps whenever a door opens, because we've realized she can reach the door handles no problem now. (Everything stays locked now -- even when Ben's barbecueing, he has to knock to get it or else she will escape!)

From Ben's Gaming Blog: "Thrown Out of Wal-Mart"

This is reposted from Ben's gaming blog. I just couldn't get over it. Wow. One more reason to avoid Wal-Mart like the plague...anyway, hear it from Ben:

Things have been busy lately. My daughter got tubes in her ears on Monday, and fortunately, my Mom was able to come down and help out during that time. So I had to have her at the airport at 5 this morning for her flight out. I really don't need to be at work until 6:30 or 7, so I go to Wal-Mart to pick up some frozen meals for lunch and wander over to grab some donuts for the office.

I walk up to the only check out open in the store and the guy in front of me in line says "Do you work here?"

Me: "No."

WM Jerk: "Well, we don't open for another 20 minutes. How did you get in here?"

Me: "Through the door."

WM Jerk: "So you forced the doors open to get in here?"

Me: "No, I came in through the regular door closer to the side of the building."

WM Jerk, into radio: "We need someone on the Food Center doors right away. We have an intruder."

Me: "What? OK, whatever, I'm leaving."

WM Jerk: "You can't just leave that stuff there, it's frozen."

At that point I just walked out. After I was outside, I went over to the front doors and they didn't open, but there were no store hours posted and the regular (not-automatic) doors on the side where they keep all the vending machines were unlocked and propped open. I walked past at least 6 Wal-Mart employees while I was shopping and not a single one stopped me or asked why I was in the store. I should really never go to Wal-Mart. Bad things happen when I do.

Adelaide in her surgical duds

Well, Adelaide got tubes in her ears today. This is a shot of her before they took her in. Not so great quality -- I took it with my cell phone -- but she was really good while we waited. Afterwards, she was very fussy for a while, but all seems to be well now. Next week we go back for our follow-up and we're going to get her some custom-fitted ear molds for when she takes a bath or swims.

The doctor said she did have some fluid that drained, but that was normal and she didn't have an acute ear infection today. (That's good.) So here's hoping all is well in the ear department from now on!

Hilarity ensues...

Well, Ben was off work today, and I have been wanting to get a new headshot for my column that runs in the local parenting pub here. So we though, what the heck, let's go ahead and try and get this done. So we pin up my "backdrop" and I sit down, ready to try and get some shots...when Ham-aliscious (Hamalaide?) baby girl says, "Oh...a camera? They must want ME!" So she comes over and decides to diaper primadonna her way into the photos. This is only one of them, but it is one of the funniest to me. I think she'd be giving me bunny ears if she knew how. (It would, after all, be retribution.)

Or, as I'm sure my parents would say, it would be just desserts for the former childhood ham-it-up queen...yours truly.

Old timey shot

Yeah, it's prett stylized, but I think it's still a neat effect.

And soon enough, it will be school dances, with fights outside the girls' bathroom

When I picked Will up from school yesterday, I asked him, like I do every day, how his day went.
"Great!" He exclaimed happily. Then he paused. "Well, except recess."
"What happened at recess, baby?"
"I had to have a serious conversation," he says grimly.
I go into slight mommy panic mode. "Were you in trouble?" I ask nonchalantly.
"No."
"Then what happened?"
(HUGE sigh from backseat.)
"It was Madison and Jala."
Madison and Jala, incidentally, are two girls in his class who seem to fancy Will...sometimes quite possessively so. We've had some trouble before with Madison telling Will she didn't want him playing with other girls, and Jala has been sending home affectionate notes since school started. It would appear we are in the midst of a Kindergarten love triangle.
"What happened?" I ask him.
Another big sigh.
"Well, Madison didn't want me to be friends with Jala anymore, and Jala didn't want me to be friends with Madison. They were trying to make me choose!"
Drama.
"Well, honey, did you tell them you wanted to be both their friends?"
"YES!" he says, exasperated. "But they wouldn't say okay."
"Well, why didn't you just go play somewhere else?"
"Mommy, they were crying about it."
"Crying?"
"Yes. And they wouldn't let me go play until I chose."
Wow.
"So what did you do?"
"I wouldn't choose! And I didn't get to play at ALL at recess. They made me stay there with them and they cried about me not choosing."
Have I said WOW yet?
So we talked about what he could do about it, and I have to tell you, this was one very sincerely frustrated 5 1/2 year old boy. He didn't want either of them to be sad, but he REALLY wanted to just go play at recess. Eventually recess ended, and after his daddy got home last night, it seems they had a man-to-man talk about the situation. Will told me daddy gave him some ideas about how to handle it, and really, I think that's good. Because I'm a girl. And let's be honest -- all girls have had those moments where you keep a boy suspended in mid-air, waiting to find out what his fate will be, knowing that even though you're the one crying, you're also the one in control. But who knew advanced male manipulation was an elective in Kindergarten? Nah...he probably just gravitates toward the drama engenues. After all, the boy does love his mama.

Monkey see, monkey do...

 

just beautiful.

 

Will's Get Well card for my mom and social commentary

My mom had her gallbladder taken out this week, and Will was very worried about his "Ma." So after he talked to her today, he decided he would make her a Get Well card. He ran to his room to create, and when he emerged (with bravado suiting the occassion) to show it to me, it did require a bit of explanation. So go with me here. According to Will, "I couldn't write what I wanted to say, so I had to draw it."

PHOTO #1: The "X" marks the spot here. This is the "sad about surgery" scene, I suppose. I don't know if it's from photos of me and my c-section with Adelaide that he's seen or what, but he does seem to have a grasp of the operating room. I like the wheeled bed. And do note the doctor, while a stick figure is smiling. A couple of other details I feel compelled to point out: a.) She is wearing a surgical cap. b.) she has some IVs, apparently (although they do seem to be hooked into the table rather than a freestanding unit...but hey, he's 5!) c.) Is that the huge surgical light above her?

PHOTO #2: The funniest. This is the "Yes! You're better!" photo. And what does being better mean to Will? Apparently that Mom gets to be upstairs in the game room watching TV. Funny things...a.) Their entertainment center is apparently modeled on ours here at home, along with the ginormous television. b.) Love the detail with the buttons on the remote. c.) Wow, does Mom look happy or what? d.) Please note the backwards check mark, denoting "Yes!" in Will's kindergarten grade mentality. Well, his teachers don't do it backwards. But the X for no on the top and the check for yes on the bottom are important symbolism in this art!

AND...

d.) Do you see what's on the television? My conversation with Will re: television programming in this picture:
ME: Oh, and look! She's watching TV and she's happy.
WILL: Yep. She's watching American Idol!
ME: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
WILL: (huge, HUGE grin)
ME: She's (gasp for breath) watching Amer - (gasp for breath) ican Idol?
WILL: Yep. (Big grin stays)

The big kicker? We don't watch American Idol. At all. We don't oppose it, we just don't watch it. How completely part of our cultural identity has a show become when a five-year-old who doesn't relaly watch that much TV is capable of drawing what I assume is a fair portrait of AI on the TV? Love the microphone, too.
*sigh*
But it is still an AWESOME card.

Cutest pigtails ev-ah

Okay, she moves fast. The photo is a little blurry. But you can't deny that mouthful of toofers, the humongo grin, or the most awesomest piggie tails in baby hair history. LOVE. IT. SO. MUCH.

Happy girl.

:)

"Annie" at Runnels Theatre

Tonight was the final show of Annie at Runnels theatre. This was Will's first stage show, and he had a great time (even if he was on stage a grand total of like twenty seconds.) One picture shows him in his "boy orphan" duds, and the other photo shows him with a couple of his Kindergarten Cuties, Anna (brown hair) and Auldyn (blonde hair). They were "NYC kids," not orphans, btw, if you're wondering about the fur. Anyway, it was so fun to watch him on stage. He did a great job!

kids

 

kids

 

kids

 

Come see Will's 100th Day of School!

You can also see a very messy Adelaide, just as a bonus. : )

Will's 100th day...and Adelaide loves spaghetti

Sweet Adelaide

Well, not really. Actually she's been kind of a little monster lately. But she sure does look sweet as pie in this shot I got of her today. She looked so adorable, with her big 'ole peepers and sweet little expression, it almost makes you forget she's taken a precocious leap to the terrible twos at the tender age of 17 months. Almost.

Will's Camera!

Well, it's happened. Will got a disposable camera for Lindsay's wedding. He really liked taking pictures, so I went and found a digital camera that I didn't use much anymore and I've given it to him. It's a little teeny tiny 2 megapixel sony pocket camera, and he's really enjoying it. This is one of the first photos her took with it, and I think it is very nice. He took it to his Annie rehersal today at school, so I got a "backstage look" at what he does while he's waiting to go on for his one scene! Apparently, the batteries died while he was playing with it back there, but his friends taught him the old "take the batteries out and rub them together" trick to resuscitate it. So I guess that we'll be seeing more of Will's photography in the coming days, weeks and months...as long as he takes care of the camera like he should!

Why am I tearing up?

Are we all Louisiana now? I am so overwhelmed by the Saints' win tonight...okay, I have an admission to make. At the 3:18 mark, when the Saints turned it over, I turned the channel. I hit "Record" on the TiVo first, mind you, but I couldn't bear to watch. I couldn't bear to see it all fall apart. So I watched Candice Olsen redecorate a newborn nursery on Divine Design until I couldn't stand it anymore. I checked ESPN.com, and I saw it. And what was the first thing that popped into my head?

"We won."

We won. I am a Titans fan. My blood runs Tennessee blue from head to toe...or so I thought. In all honestly, if the Saints had been playing the Titans, I would have been cheering for the Titans. But tonight, I was a Saint. Weren't we all? I look at the celebration in the Dome and I remember the whirr of helicopters overhead for a full month after The Storm, knowing that even though it took us a week to get back to the house because we didn't want to suffer a newborn in the stifiling Louisiana August/September weather, that when we got back into our relatively new home and I heard those helicopters, they were still rescuing people off rooftops. I couldn't watch any network TV because it was 24/7 coverage. The suffering in the dome, the water...the water. And I know that it isn't over. New Orleans fate is not sealed. We celebrate tonight, but I wonder how many people will die there this week and what the insufferable politicians will pretend to do about it.

But I know how much this means to the people I see everyday. The people I walk past at Target, the people who suffered through so many hapless seasons (yes, after the last couple of years with my Titans, I have an inkling of understanding, but I can't pretend to know what decades of it feels like), and the people who were suffering on rooftops and in the dome and in the convention center and who were suffering silently, evacuated but knowing all was lost. To them, this gives back a little bit of something that money could never purchase, that you can't buy to replace: The Spirit of New Orleans.

I haven't even looked at it yet, but I can't wait to see Michelle's post on her Saints Rant Blog!!! I am so happy for her and Saints Nation!!!

Long time no post...

Yes, I've been delinquent. Sorry. But we've been so busy! Anyway, I still don't have time for a long post -- soon, I promise -- but here's a collage from our fantastic family Christmas. We went to Murray and Clarksville to visit family, and (WOOHOO) Ben got his much-longed-for Xbox. He was a very good boy this year.

Lucky Stars!

Isn't this quilt awesome? It's by the mom of one of my best friends from college. Her mom is a total sweetheart and an amazingly talented quilter. But what's special about this one is that it is part of the 2006 $100,000 Quilting Challenge! Please just take a moment to go to the Quilting Challenge website and vote for this quilt, Lucky Stars, by Sue Rivers. It is on the bottom row. She's done a lot of amazing quilts before, and I am so excited to see this one getting the attention it deserves! Thanks for voting! :-)

Thanksgiving

We had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday. Ben's parents came down bearing bedding...no, seriously, they brought us a scrumptiously somnulent memory foam king bed that is so cuddly and comfy. It was nice for me and Ben to get some "time off" -- we even went to see the new Bond flick, which was actually pretty good! And we made more progress on the bathroom, thanks to Ben and his dad's hard work (pics later). Anyway, here's a little sampling of our weekend. It was nice, and now we can't wait to hit Dallas later this week...and then to Kentucky for Christmas later in December. Yay!

Woohoo! And the faithful shall be rewarded...

Nov. 26, 2006
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Adam "Pacman" Jones jumped up and down, waving his arms, encouraging the fans who stuck around to stand and cheer their Tennessee Titans.

He and Vince Young made it worth their while, too, delivering the biggest fourth-quarter comeback in franchise history with a stunning rally.

The Titans cornerback intercepted two passes and had a 23-yard punt return that revived his teammates in the fourth quarter. Then rookie quarterback Young finished off an improbable charge from a 21-point deficit to a 24-21 win over the New York Giants on Sunday.

"Wow," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said when it finally ended.

Two pipe cleaners and a MICROPHONE

Okay, this was the laugh of the day at our house. Background to this: At his school, Will's language arts teacher uses a little "helper" called "Mr. Googly-eyes." Mr. Googly-eyes is a tricky little fellow who will jump around while they're reading words and randomly stop and they have to stop...anyway, you get the idea. He's a stick with googly eyes that the teacher uses as a pointer.

Well, we've been doing our fair share of home reno's lately, and when you go to Lowe's and get paint, they give you a stirrer. So Will has taken one of them and decided he wanted to make his OWN Mr. Googly-eyes. So last night, we sat down together with some art supplies to create Mr. Googly-eyes long-lost brother. As Will discovered what all we had craft-wise, Mr. Googly-eyes became Mr. Googly-eyes goes to Bourbon Street -- he's a little wild and crazy looking. So we're laughing about that, and Will's like, okay, we're done gluing, so now I have a few things I want to draw. SO he went with a mouth (which he "x"'d out and redid a couple of times until he was happy with it...) and even some toes, okay, cute. Then...he begins drawing at Mr. G's waist. And it's...somewhat...cylindricle...with a circle on top...WILL! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DRAWING ON MR. GOOGLY-EYES????

"It's his microphone, Mommy. He has it clipped onto his belt."

Okay...so I'm trying really hard not to roll in the floor laughing. So I call Ben over to see Mr. G's microphone-belt. This did not help the laughing situation. He was trying to hide behind the door, doubled-over, laughing.

So meet ***Porn Star Microphone Mr. Googly-Eyes*** hehehe

Seriously. It's just clipped to his belt. Can't you tell?

I love the innocence of children. It can teach us, it can move us, but it can also make us have semi-asthmatic moments of attempted laughter suppression. Like this one.

My life...a glimpse

Yes, this is posed...well, I am, at least, and the kids are being themselves, which is what I intended to capture. I like the way it turned out...I think it says what I want it to say. What that is...well, I guess that's up to you. :-) 

Thank you for contacting Delta...it wasn't US! It was FREEDOM, not US!

This is the email I received today from Delta. I saw another one that a mother had posted to a message board that was essentially identical except for these two lines: The employees involved were
Freedom Airlines employees. No Delta employees were involved in the decision to remove Mrs. Gillette from the aircraft.

The mother who recieved that email had pointedly mentioned that it was illegal to do what she did in the state of Vermont, where the aircraft was at the time of the offense. Anyway, here's their not-so-timely but nonetheless necessary response:

Customer Care	Mon, Nov 20, 2006 at 5:04 PM
To: alyson.english@gmail.com
Dear Ms. English, Thank you for contacting us through delta.com. We are sorry for the delay in responding to your message. Delta Air Lines is disappointed to hear about the removal of the passenger onboard Freedom Airlines Flight 6160. As you may know, they are one of our Delta Connection partners. Delta supports a mother?s right to breastfeed her baby onboard our aircraft. Please let me assure you that we are working with Freedom Airlines on their investigation of this matter. Following the results of this internal investigation, Delta will work with Freedom (a subsidiary Mesa Air Group) to ensure that their procedures mirror Delta?s service standards. Please accept our apology for the poor impression, and we welcome further opportunities to be of service. Sincerely, Lewis Wright Online Customer Support Desk http://www.delta.com Original Message Follows: ------------------------ Email about Other topic: Comments: I am disgusted by the news that a woman was kicked off of a Delta flight for nursing her child. It further infuriates me that the Delta spokesperson acted like it was acceptable to ask a nursing mother to cover up. It ISN'T. She was feeding her child in the best, most natural way possible. How ignorant can you possibly be? Honestly, my words cannot begin to express the absolute antipathy I now posses for Delta. I will never fly it again, my family will never fly it again, and you'd better believe I am blogging this and posting it to online message groups and encouraging everyone I know to withhold their business from a company so ignorant that once the flight attendant's abject stupidity was relayed, couldn't even manage to figure out that DELTA was in the wrong and release a statement to that effect. Welcome to the next millennium Delta. Your business plan shows you're behind the times, and apparently your customer awareness does to. Besides, what was she supposed to do? Pump her milk? I don't think that would have been allowed on the plane. Those scary liquids, they get you every time. Thank you so much for showing my family and everyone I know what kind of company you really are right before the busy holiday travel season. We'll enjoy flying on your competitors airlines even more now. Alyson L. English

grout, grout baby

Well, progress again -- baby steps for us, lol. We have got the grout in! Yay! Now we just have to let it set and then clean and seal it...and then we can finally put the sink and potty back in. Very exciting. We are really happy with how it looks, though -- I was unsure, at first, about the slate and how it would look, but Ben and I are both pleased now that were seeing how it is really going to look. We are going to have to get the grout haze off the slate, and we want to seal it so that the slate keeps its nice coloration. Then moulding, fixtures...

*sigh*

We have so much left to do. 

Delta: Fly the ignorant skies

No. Way.

I was completely taken aback when I read this. My first reaction was disbelief; my second was disgust and anger. Take a moment to read this story pasted below this message, which I cut and pasted from MSNBC.com. If you have the same reaction I did, please email Delta and let them know how you feel.

I encourage you to pass this along to others who need to know what kind of company they are dealing with when they fly Delta, as well.

What makes me the maddest is that rather than immediately saying the flight attendant was in the wrong and the mother had every right to nurse her child, the airline basically said it was okay to blatantly discriminate against a nursing mother because she wouldn't smother her child with a blanket while she nursed. I fail to see how sitting by the window in the next-to-last row with her husband in between her and the aisle was so offensive they needed to be removed from the flight. It sounds to me like the individual flight attendant, roaming the aisles, had some sort of backwards personal objection to naturally feeding a child and decided she didn't want them on there. It sets an extremely dangerous precedent if flight attendants are allowed to remove paying customers simply because they are made uncomfortable by their own ignorance.

Confront the ignorance. Email the airline, and if you feel so compelled, take your business elsewhere.

thanks,
alyson

Woman kicked off plane for breast-feeding baby

BURLINGTON, Vt. - A woman who claims she was kicked off an airplane because she was breast-feeding her baby has filed a complaint against two airlines, her attorney said.

Emily Gillette, 27, of Santa Fe, N.M., filed the complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission late last week against Delta Air Lines and Freedom Airlines, said her attorney, Elizabeth Boepple. Freedom was operating the Delta flight between Burlington and New York City.

Gillette said she was discreetly breast-feeding her 22-month-old daughter on Oct. 13 as their flight prepared to leave Burlington International Airport. She said she was seated by the window in the next-to-last row, her husband was seated between her and the aisle and no part of her breast was showing.

A flight attendant tried to hand her a blanket and told her to cover up, Gillette said. She declined, telling the flight attendant she had a legal right to breast-feed her baby.

Moments later, a Delta ticket agent approached and said the flight attendant had asked that the family be removed from the flight, Gillette said. She said she didn't want to make a scene and complied.

"It embarrassed me. That was my first reaction, which is a weird reaction for doing something so good for a child," Gillette said Monday.

A Freedom spokesman said Gillette was asked to leave the flight after she declined the blanket.

"A breast-feeding mother is perfectly acceptable on an aircraft, providing she is feeding the child in a discreet way," that doesn't bother others, said Paul Skellon, spokesman for Phoenix-based Freedom. "She was asked to use a blanket just to provide a little more discretion, she was given a blanket, and she refused to use it, and that's all I know."

A complaint against two airlines was filed with the Vermont Human Rights Commission, although Executive Director Robert Appel said he was barred by state law from confirming the complaint. He said state law allows a mother to breast-feed in public.

The Vermont Human Rights Commission investigates complaints and determines whether discrimination may have occurred. The parties to a complaint are given six months to reach a settlement. If none is reached, the commission then decides whether to go to court. A complainant can file a separate suit in state court at any time.

--------------------------
Update: hehehe

Here's an automated response I received after blasting Delta at that handy little link shown above (the emphasis is mine):

Your email to Delta (KMM14287997I41L0KM)
1 message
Customer Care Tue, Nov 14, 2006 at 10:34 PM

Thank you for taking the time to get in touch with us. We appreciate
every opportunity to listen to our customers and act upon what we hear.
Our response to your e-mail may take a little longer than usual due to
the high number of customers who have contacted us recently. In the
meantime, thanks for your patience.

AS THIS IS AN AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED MESSAGE, PLEASE DO NOT REPLY.

Sooooo...what are you waiting for? Let them know their actions and response are unacceptable!