Danny's first Thanksgiving Day

I was working full time at a gambling game room Thanksgiving Day 1996. My husband at the time brought my oldest and at the time only child to have "dinner" with me. As part of my job I was not allowed to leave the room that I hosted. (It was South Carolina law that stated every 5 video poker games had to be supervised by one employee. ) It did not matter that there were no people playing the games at that time. My husband left Danny with me and went to go fix us a plate of food. My supervisors had set up a buffet style Thanksgiving dinner. I sat on the floor and started to nurse Danny. He was about 7 months old at the time. My boss came around and saw us. He didn't say anything derogatory but he just looked at Danny and me and then said "Oh, I thought he was a hand baby." When I started work there I informed them that I needed to pump on my lunch break. The only place I had to pump in private was the bathroom. I had to use a battery powered inferior pump to pump in there because there wasn't an outlet. Because I was still breastfeeding in my boss's mind I must have a newborn baby at home. That is where the "hand baby" comment came from. It may just be a southern saying but it means you have a baby that you would hold in a cradle position in your arms. If it is an older infant that is looking around and awake they don't qualify as "hand babies". Wow, I didn't think a 7 month old was considered too old to be nursing till he made me think about it. This event pops in my head all the time when I am reminded of where we all feed our babies and how old they are at that time. Danny will be 14 years old this month. I have grown so much as a woman and a mother but he will always be dear to me as my first nursing baby.