By: JANA GREENE
I don’t know how young mothers today deal.
It’s sad that they feel constantly judged, but even sadder because it’s their mom peers who often instigate it. Then add about 500 of your closest friends from Facebook and let them weigh in on every single parenting decision you make or share, as part of a community and HOOBOY.
The insinuation of course is that you’re DOING IT WRONG, the MOTHERING.
Everybody is The Mommy Police, and if you’re lucky, you’ll just get by with a “ticket” to Guilt-Landia. It can feel crushing and paralyzing. As a general rule, we moms feel bad enough about ourselves and worry enough about our kids, and don’t NEED the extra “help” with guilt. Am I right?
Make peace with this fact: If you’re a mom, there will always, always be something you feel like you should feel guilty for. There will be fresh material every day. Here’s the thing: Bad moms don’t worry if they are bad moms. They don’t agonize over breast vs. bottle, whether to be a stay at home mom or a working mom. So if you CARE deeply about these (and a million others,) congrats! You’re not a bad mom!
In addition – as a grizzled, world-worn, veteran mom who is now a grandmother as well, I hold these truths that will become self-evident as your babies grow into little individual people:
- You are not the first generation to parent, and ergo, feel like you are failing at it. We got the T-shirts, and they are out of style, covered in dry spit-up, and not what we thought we ordered. Hey mama? It fits you PERFECTLY. You are rocking it.
- Remember that opinions are, well…like assholes. And assholes especially have opinions for DAYS. Depending on who volunteers information, you are DEFINITELY spoiling that kid to death / neglecting it / setting your child up to fail / ensuring that your child will succeed / depriving it / indulging it / making it neurotic (just like YOU!) / giving it too much candy / not enough gluten (or is it too much gluten?) The consensus of Online Parenting Experts is in, and your poor kid is suffering because you are doing SOMETHING wrong in their eyes.
By the way, you will care less and less what people think and more and more about your actual child as they grow, thank God. - In the days before the Internet (also known as the Jurassic Period,) we did what we felt was right for our kid and whenever someone criticized us for minor infractions / different parenting styles, it was considered RUDE. It should STILL be considered RUDE. People worry about everybody else’s business need to be staying in they own damn lane. Rude is SO DISAPPOINTINGLY ACCEPTED these days. Everybody has to get offended. You are responsible for your own emotions. Everybody else should’ve have to tip toe around you, but neither should they be disrespectful. It’s okay to say, “wow…that was really RUDE!” When it’s warranted.
- When my girls were born, I promised them – audibly and whist they were still covered in vernix (look it up…or maybe don’t…) that I would always be the BEST Mommy for them I could possibly be. And I meant it. But you see, it wasn’t really a fair promise because I wasn’t ALWAYS the best Mommy I could have been. I made a lot of mistakes. Some of them were doozies. If I could go back in time, I would have promised them that I would always love them like CRAZY! That’s about all the promise I can reasonably be expected to keep. Because no matter how we screw up, or how many teenage “You’re ruining my life!” screaming matches you have with that cherubic little wee one you cannot IMAGINE fussing with now, no matter how many times your kid poops up the back of their Onsie as you are strolling them down the long, post-church K & W Cafeteria line (true story…), no matter WHAT, that’s a promise your heart will hold in highest esteem. And really, it’s all that matters.
- Your kids will likely turn out NOTHING like you thought they would, no matter how many of the “right” choices you made for them. They will be different from you, as they are their own humans and not an extension of you. Don’t be surprised if they deplore every value you hold dear.
Never, ever, say “Not MY child!” That shit
WILL comeback to bite you in the ass every time. Don’t be surprised if they choose a lifestyle you don’t agree with (they might even grow up to be conservatives / liberals! It happens, folks!) You will love them anyway and be proud of who they are because after all….didn’t you raise them to be free-thinkers? You brought a human into the world who is on their own path – and God loves a seeker.
And allll the advice / shaming / guilt-proddings from the masses will matter not one tiny bit. Here’s the secret: every mom falls short, verily I say unto thee even that one mom who seems to have it all together. I PROMISE you she doesn’t.
God chose YOU for your particular child, and you’re KILLING it! (Killing PARENTING, obviously. Hahaha.)
Hugs to all you mamas feeling like you don’t measure up. You’re doing swell. ❤️