Mommy Thoughts

We've all done it, said what kind of mom we'd be, what we would and wouldn't do when we had kids. I was 'that' woman, the one that saw a kid screaming in the mall and thought 'my kid won't act like that'... Well yes he did, just yesterday in fact. I was the one that saw a mom be too 'lazy' to breastfeed and was giving her baby formula... (Insert audible gasp here)... My son drinks formula because I don't make enough breast milk. I was the one that saw a woman nursing in public and thought 'Can't she cover up?' I despise using a cover and my son hates it. I was the lady that said "my kid won't sleep with me, he'll be in his own bed from day one", he's 9 months and his crib is used for his clean clothes I've yet to put away! 

Being a mom is hard it's non stop worrying and second guessing, it's googling at 1 am why your kid is running  a fever when he was perfectly fine just 5 hours earlier. It's constant guilt when you drop him off to his daily caregivers, it's trying your hardest to make it through your work day so you can rush home to love on and just be with him for the 2 hours before he has to go to bed. It's crying in the closet while trying to pump, at work, what little milk your body produces just so that he has some breast milk. But it's also rewarding... seeing him crawl for the first time, or pull himself up on the coffee table. It's the look of pure joy he gets when he sees you after a long work day, it's the moment when you give him a pickle and he actually likes it. It's waking up in the morning to smiles and cuddles, when he's nursing for those 30 minutes that are just ours, me and him. That's the highlight of my day. 

Motherhood is hard, you are making the decisions that will shape the life of this child the lord has entrusted to you. It's trying to be a good wife and mother at the same time. Or, if your a single mom, trying to fulfill the role of both mommy and daddy. Motherhood is a club, a secret society if you will, we all have our child or children's best interest in mind, we make decisions based on what best for our child. What's best for my son might not be what's best for yours. I gave my kid a French fry yesterday... And I'm not sorry, he loved it! We have to stick together and be supportive of one another, we can't make another mommy feel like a failure just because she doesn't or is not able to raise her child like 'we' think she should. 

Mom shaming... That's the word that is being used these days. Anytime we see another mom doing something we don't agree with we cast judgment. Just today I did it, at Walmart I saw a mom with her baby who looked just a little older than mine with no shirt on, and I judged her. How do I know that he didn't get food or milk on his shirt and she didn't have a spare but still needed to run in to Walmart, it happens! One day I might be in that situation and I sure hope I don't get judged. Here is my resolution, I'm going to try not to judge other moms from here on out. My opinion is my own and I won't push it on others unless it's asked for. I challenge you all to do the same. 

Thanks for reading. 

Ashley