STOP Mom-Shaming Each Other!

Recently my friend, who is not a mother yet, posted why someone would make a big deal about Amy Schumer going back to work so early after having her baby or why people are making an uproar about her wearing her mesh underwear in public. I realized that if you aren’t a mom, yet, you might not realize that this mom community can be crazy. One thing that took me by surprise the mom is the “mom-shaming” that goes down.

Unfortunately, I have experienced “mom-shaming.” I am a working mom, but I also choose to have fun with my friends, travel and make time for date nights with my husband. YES, there are times I spend away from my daughter outside of my work hours (GASP!!). But you know what SUCKS the most, is when I get ridiculed from other mothers about this. I have been harshly judged for the decisions I make as a mom, but what drives me bananas is that they are other moms ridiculing other moms. 

I want you to hear me  LOUD & CLEAR. What a mother chooses to do on her personal time, work time, parenting time is none of anyone’s business. What a mom wants to wear, not wear, eat, drink, breastfeed, bottle feed, or show off her post-partum body, it is not for anyone to decide what is right and what is wrong. We are all mothers, we all go through the same stuff just on different days. As women, we already have a tough enough time trying to prove our worth to society, and we shouldn’t be doing it to one another.

Working moms and stay-at-home moms, it doesn’t matter. We are ALL MOMS. Just because something works for my family doesn’t mean it is the right way for someone else’s family. STOP mom-shaming each other! The fact that we do this to one another literally blows my mind. The fact that there are mothers out there commenting on someone else’s photo saying terrible judgmental statements is awful. The day someone “mom-shamed” me, I was flabbergasted, and it made me question myself as a mother. It made me experience even more guilt that I already have daily. But I realized that no one’s opinion of me gets to sway how I choose to parent my daughter. We need to put an end to this. And it can start with YOU. 

Instead of jumping to conclusions about a fellow mom, let’s give her the benefit of the doubt. Let’s just say that works for her family, and I am happy for them. Let’s raise each other and lend support to one another about how great of moms we all are. Let’s give that silent nod to each other, the one that reads “I understand you” while walking through Target when we see a child having a full-on tantrum. No one knows what it is like to walk in another’s shoes, so there is no need to judge each other on the decisions we make about raising our babies. SO STOP!