Feeding Tube Awareness Week: Day One

Topic: Why awareness is important to my family - What would be difference for me/my child if tube feeding was better understood?

One time I took Spencer to the Aquarium and a friend and I sat down with our children to eat lunch. Spencer needed to eat, so naturally I fed my child. I pulled up his shirt and hooked him up to his bolus and did our thing. I was vaguely aware of the lady sitting at the table next to us staring at us. After his feed, my friend said, "That lady was staring at you the whole time...rude ass people. I don't know how you do it."
The problem is we're used to it. Every time I feed my child a full meal in public we get stared at. If tube feeding was better understood, I could feed my child in public like any other mother would, breast or bottle. Some day, Spencer will notice the stares and that bothers me. Eating, no matter how it happens whether it's by tube, bottle, iv, or breast, shouldn't be a sideshow. It's how my kid survives.