Dear Fred Meyers...

My letter to the Fred Meyer Customer Relationship Center:


Dear Fred Meyer Customer Relationship Center,

I have been a loyal customer in Bremerton, WA for the last three years and am generally very happy with your store. I love the employees and your product selection. I go shopping every week and we know many of the employees on a first-name basis.

My discontent is regarding your “Family Friendly” checkout lane. As a mother with small children, I always refuse to use any other lane. You can imagine my shock when I noticed this month in the family lane a “Betty and Veronica: Double Digest” comic book (#199) that showcased the girls in immodest swimsuits on the cover. This image is an objectification of women and is very inappropriate.  I do my best to protect my children from such images. That is why I refuse to check out in any other lane, and now the filth is encroaching on the one-and-only isle that is supposed to be safe for my children’s eyes. Please value the innocence of all the children in your stores and do a better job of selecting material for the family friendly lane.

On a similar note, the family lane in my store is very popular and it is clear to me that your patrons would be happy to see more lanes that were friendly to families. In fact, I find it odd that any of your lanes would be “un-friendly” to families as implied by your need to have one labeled as being “friendly.” All the material that is un-friendly to families should be located in a different part of the store - in a place that is not so visible by everyone. I realize that you have contracts with magazine distributors and you might lose money by removing them from each checkout lane, but I urge you to refrain from exposing indecent material to every customer that has to check out of your store.

I thank you in advance for your attention to these important matters.

Sincerely,
Lindsey St.Hilaire

Baby #2 Update

Baby belly pictures haven't been a common occurrence with Baby #2... oops! Today marks week 29, which means we only have *about* 11 weeks left. If he is anything like his older brother, we might have 12 weeks left.

Baby #2 - 28 weeks

We have been taking classes for the Bradley birthing method. It is a twelve week course - one night a week for two hours. Now we only have two classes left! I am shooting for a natural birth this time and I think this class has given us some good tools for getting through labor without drugs. We shall see! ;)

Thanks to those of you who have been keeping me and Baby in your prayers. All our doctor appointments and ultrasounds have gone well. So your prayers are working! Keep 'em coming!

Fashion Faux Pas?

It's been raining a lot lately here in Bremerton, and I'm struggling with a temptation right now, which has been brewing inside me for several years...

I'd really like to start using those rain bonnets that are stereotypically reserved for old ladies. 

In all seriousness - think of the practicality! Here in Washington, who even uses an umbrella anymore? They can be bulky, something extra to hold, and awkward. Yet I would still like to have a way that I can keep my hair dry, especially on the days that I actually try to make my hair look good. I have one problem... my sweet husband would never want me to wear one of these!!! So out of respect him, I am going to resist this temptation with all some of my might.

Actually, in writing this post I found some "trendy" rain bonnets - Here is a an etsy store that sells bonnets made out of umbrella fabric. And here is one being sold on a European website (I really have my eye on that one!).

Maybe he would go for one of those?