When I first become a mom, I was incredibly overwhelmed by the amount of love I felt for this helpless little person that I had just pushed out of my body. No one can prepare you for what it's like to become a mom. It is truly a gift like none I've ever received. But with this great gift came a lot of pressure that I never planned for. Not just pressure from myself but also pressure from outside sources, leaving me asking myself the question "Will I ever do this mom thing right?"
Enter: The Mommy Wars.
It's a real thing. A real battle between mothers over the various ways WE choose to raise our families. You can see it all over facebook, instagram, twitter. Name the outlet, the mommy wars are being fought there and no one is winning.
If only it were over just ONE thing. But it's not. The battle is waged over all kinds of ideologies...
Stay at Home VS. Full time out of the home worker
Cry it Out VS. Attachment Parenting
Organic diet VS. The McDonals drive thru
Home Schooling VS. Public School
Vaccinating VS. Natural Immunization
Natural Child Birth VS. The C Section
DIY VS. I'd rather buy, thank you
I'm sure there are more that I'm missing. I'm sure in your own experience, you've seen the way any number of these battles has effected you. Maybe you've been the victim of someone's critical spirit over a specific decision you've made. Maybe you've lashed out in defense of your point of view at the expense of someone else's.
The point is, this is a battle with no winners. No matter how many people you have on "your side" there will always be "another side" that feels differently. This is the beauty and tragedy of our role. We have decisions we have to make and they WILL be different than the decisions that others are making.
So in an effort to wave the white flag, let's expose this issue for what it really is: Satan's attempt to rob mother's of the joy found in their role AND the opportunity we have to nurture each other in those roles.
Even with all our vast differences, we can still find common ground.
1. We are all moms
2. We all feel insecure in our role and decision-making at times
3. When we are critical of another mother, we are fighting the mommy war
4. When we are defensive of our own position, we are fighting the mommy war
5. We are all doing the BEST we can with information that WE have to raise our families
We have seen the power that we as mothers can have in our homes when we nurture those who live in it's walls, but have we even tapped into the potential we have to be each other's biggest advocates, greatest support, loudest cheerleaders, and sweetest nurturers?
Can you imagine what we could accomplish if we stopped tearing each other down and competing with each other? If instead of fighting against one another, we started playing on the same team? We would be a force of good to be reckoned with.
Will you join me in waving the white flag and ending this war? It starts in our own hearts by examining our motives and the way we CHOOSE to lift each other up.
If you walk away with anything from this, I want you to know, sweet momma, I'm on YOUR side.