January 21, 2013

The Mommy Wars



Social media has started something horrible that has spun out of control. Unless your a mother or parent you probably would have no idea about this. Facebook started the ability to see into peoples lives and it has only gotten worse because now people WANT to share anything and everything to do with their lives. Now I see the following topics all over the internet and it makes me ill. Here they are and Im sure millions more could be added to the list:

1.) You should breastfeed / You should not breastfeed
2.) Breastfeeding in public is gross/ Breastfeeding in public is our right
3.) Circumcision is bad / Circumcision is okay
4.) Dont let your baby CIO / Babies can CIO just fine
5.) I proudly spank / Spanking is horrible
6.) I pierce my babies ears because its cute / I dont pierce my babies ears because its horrible
7.) I co sleep / Co sleeping is bad
8.) I baby wear / I don't hold my baby because I don't want to spoil them
9.) I front face in a car seat early / I rear face as long as possible
10.) Dont feed solids to a baby before 6 months / We give solids at 4 months
11.) Medications for children / Holistic approach for children
12.) Vaccinations are bad / Vaccinations are good
13.) Young mothers/ older mothers
14.) C-sections are great / natural birth all the way.
15.) McD's all the way! / no meat/dairy/soy/gluten for MY child

..the list can go ON!

I have no desire to share my view on these subjects because I've grown tired of it. I will admit I fell for it and would go around preaching what I thought was right on some of these subjects for awhile. Then I realized the world has gotten this far on differing opinions. I mean.. I'm SURE we can find studies done on things and view them as proof but use that proof for your own child..dont push it onto another mother. Every time I see someone passively aggressively posting something in regards to their opinion as if its better than anyone else I do the whole "point your finger in your mouth as if your gagging" impression. For the longest time I really thought that when someone shared their opinion and another mom disagreed it was because she wasn't comfortable with her own decisions as a parent. I feel as a mother who is incredibly happy with her choices (which are completely half and half on the above topics) I still get bothered by someone posting or downgrading a parents choice. Its okay to be proud of a choice you made but make sure you are doing it without putting down another fellow mama.

I could go on and on about how much this annoys me BUT Ill just end it with this. Next time you feel the need to judge someone's parental decision remember you have your own child to raise. You can NEVER be a perfect parent as long as you try. As soon as your child becomes a teenager I can almost bet you they will find something to complain about. So why bother? What are you trying to prove? Get off social media sites and just be a mom..or get on social media sites and support other moms to be courageous in their parenting choices no matter what they are.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I think that for me I have a lot of things that I am in between on. I probably don't go to the extreme on any of these!
People are rude though and just with the Youtube community I'm on, some women are VERY judging.
In my opinion? You do what you think is best for your child, and before going into extreme, we should research on our own and decides what's best and not just go off of what other people say.
Be your own family! :)

Jess said...

I totally agree. Its just nauseating and it almost makes me feel bad talking about things Im proud of..like breastfeeding..because all the mothers who dont get made to feel bad because they couldnt/ or chose not to.