My youngest son is being privately tutored twice a week. My middle son is getting a full set of braces on Monday. My oldest son is about to apply to college. We are planning our spring vacation and will be taking my parents with us. Our checking account is getting a good workout! So, why am I writing a check to La Leche League?

I am writing this check to La Leche League, for my youngest son, Gavin. He has had some sort of learning difficulty in school. We have had to go through the process of having a special education evaluation. Throughout this process, I had to keep track of all the tests and procedures, make numerous phone calls, and attend several meetings with school personnel. I was able to do a better job of this because of my involvement with LLL.

When I didn’t understand my rights as a parent and I needed them clarified, I called a friend who works for the state department of education. He is my former coLeader’s husband – a contact I made through my involvement with LLL. He told me to keep a list of what evaluation was being done, by whom, and when. When I walked into the meeting, I had a blank chart to fill in with all this information. It was based on a chart used by Cindy Garrison, EUS Division Director for Division Council. When I decided I needed to confront the members of the Committee on Special Education for their lack of responsibility to my child, I used skills I had learned through attending Communication Skills sessions. I was able to make my point in a strong, assertive, yet not aggressive way.

I am writing this check to La Leche League for my middle son, Tristan. Last year he decided he didn’t want to be in the accelerated math and science program at school. La Leche League taught me to listen to my child and that I know him best. I was able to realize that though he could do well in this program, it wasn’t the best for him. He is happier and enjoying school more.

I am writing this check to La Leche League for my oldest son, Jeremy. I am so proud of the person he is. I have become a better parent through the information I’ve received from LLL. The books in the LLLI catalogue helped me understand my children more. I’ve attended sessions by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka, Nancy Samalin, Eda LeShan, and many fabulous LLL Leaders at Area and International Conferences. The women I have met through La Leche League have supported me through the pre-school Bing-Bing-Bing-Ricochet-Rabbit phase, the middle school attitude phase, and the high school apathy-to-school phase.

Now that we are in the college-search phase, I find that when we attend the open houses on various campuses, I am not afraid to ask questions or make comments, no matter what size group of people I am in. That is something I learned through my involvement in La Leche League.

I am writing this check to La Leche League for my mother and father. I spent this past summer taking my mother to a variety of eye doctors and my father to a heart doctor. I was able to ask questions and sort through information using skills I learned through La Leche League. When my father had been through a scare with his heart, and really didn’t like the doctor he was seeing, I was able to help him change doctors and find one that he was comfortable with. The dialog I used with my parents was learned through dealing with mothers in La Leche League.

Last night my mother was scared about something of a medical nature. I went to my parents’ house, phoned her doctor, and calmed her down. My father was thanking me and saying that I was able to do this because I had a college education. I stopped him in mid-sentence. I told them this had nothing to do with college and that I had learned all these skills they were praising from my involvement in La Leche League.

Sometimes, it seems that being an LLL Leader is an expensive proposition. Many of us pay our own Leader Dues. Many of us donate stamps, copying, and other expenses to our Group. Attending the Area Conference, Leader Development Seminar, or District Workshop costs money.

So why am I writing this check to La Leche League? As I look at the looming cost of college tuition, and compare what I learned and gained in college to what I have learned and gained in La Leche League, there is really no comparison. La Leche League has given me a wonderful education in all the things that truly matter. This education has had a positive effect on the people I love. I am writing this check for myself, and for all of them.

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by Melissa Fairweather, New York USA
from Continuum, 2003 #3

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