Strong Moms Empower

Yesterday, I took a pledge.  A pledge to not judge other Moms, to not look down on others' decisions, to stop giving "the look".  You know the one.  I originally saw this pledge here, on RuralMoms.com.  They have a great article about "the look" and judging others, I'd recommend going to read it here. 

 

 

 You can sign the pledge by visiting: http://strongmomsempower.com/.  After you've signed, they give you a choice of a bunch of buttons to grab and share.  I couldn't decide on just one, so I took three.  :) 

 I love this one.  It's exactly how I feel.  Before I had children, I had all the answers of what I was going to do.  I wanted to be the perfect Mom.  Now, I'm in the thick of it and some days, I consider everyone lucky if I don't run screaming out of the house.  Don't get me wrong.  I love my children with my whole heart, I would do anything for those little sweethearts.  But being a mother isn't as easy as I thought. And it certainly doesn't make it any easier when your friends, neighbors, or family members are looking down at you for your parenting decisions and/or how you are doing things. 

 

We're all doing this the same way.  One step at a time. There's no manual, no magic book to tell us exactly how to get our kid's to sleep through the night (and if there was, trust me, I would have paid big money for that thing).  There's no "one way" to produce well-adjusted, happy, kind adults.  And let's face it, that's what every parent wants.  We want our children to grow up to be happy, successful, well-adjusted people.  I think any mother would tell you she would do anything to know how to make that happen. 

 

So, instead of judging that mom down the street who bottle fed right from day 1, or your cousin who breast fed until her child was 3...how about we just say "to each his own".  And support one another.  When you are shopping and you see children screaming and misbehaving, instead of looking at the mother and thinking "get your children to behave"....look a little closer.  You'll see someone just like you.  You might see how tired she is or how frustrated she is.  Just remember...she doesn't want this to happen either, and she's doing the best she can.

 

I took the pledge.  I pledge to not judge.  I pledge to empower other moms.  I pledge to support other women.  When someone looks like they are at their witts end, I pledge to do something to help, not hurt.  Because God knows those eye rolls, looks, and judgemental comments do hurt.  I know I'm not the only one to say I've come home from an outing with my children and shed a couple tears over hurtful comments other women have said to me. 

 

Please, consider taking the pledge too. Then share the button on Twitter, Facebook, wherever you can!  Awareness is the first step towards change.  Let's change!!



Take the pledge at http://strongmomsempower.com/.