Saturday, June 12, 2010

If I were to write the paper....

Lunch break.  While I was at the store last night, one of the ladies who works there was telling me about her daughter who is taking a summer class.  One of her assignments is to do a budget as if you are a single mom with a minimum wage income and you have to buy everything including formula.  She told the teacher "If I were a single mom with a minimum wage job, I would not be buying formula.  I would be breastfeeding."  The teacher said this was not allowed.  That formula has to be bought.

So, here is what I would come up with if it were me:

"Due to outside pressure and influences who completely and totally disregarded the law and forced me to formula feed my baby, my baby has been subject to numerous illnesses and hospitalizations.  Although FMLA is wonderful, I used up my FMLA time for the last few weeks of my pregnancy and the first few weeks home with my baby.  As a result of too many missed days of work to take care of my infant, I lost my job.  Due to continued formula feeding, my baby got sicker requiring extensive hospital stays.  Applying for assistance became impossible as I could not leave my baby's side for the numerous appointments required with applying for aid.  In the end, my infant died becoming one of the 900 infants that die in the United States each year as a direct result of formula feeding.  So, no income, no infant, no budget."

I would also put in links and sources pointing to the increased illnesses, Missouri law regarding breastfeeding, lactation support in the workplace that is part of the federal healthcare reform, and the most recent article with CBS that talks about 900 deaths in the US alone directly linked to formula feeding.

If it were me, I would either get an A or get thrown out of class. 

2 comments:

Lisa A. Goff, writer, stained glass, homeschooler said...

I suppose paper diapers were on the budget, too. That's one thing I could never understand is why when people complain that they don't have enough money, why do they buy throw-away diapers?

Lisa A. Goff, writer, stained glass, homeschooler said...

I suppose paper diapers were on the budget, too. That's one thing I could never understand is why when people complain that they don't have enough money, why do they buy throw-away diapers?