Quote of the Week

"We Must be Willing to Give Up the Life We Have Planned, So As to Have the Life that is Waiting for Us."
-Joseph Campbell
Week of Aug 12, 2013




Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Respect the Motherhood

Seriously.

I believe that all mothers are "working mothers." And I would never make assumptions about the choices a mother makes for her life. I come from a unique perspective -- in that, my husband and I together make "one" stay at home parent....me in the mornings, him in the afternoons.

But that's not good enough. Somehow I'm still pitted in the "sniff sniff ... you WORK?!? .." corner. Said in the same tone as one might say, "You clean up poop? And LIKE it?"

I don't want to get into the whole Mommy Wars thing here. But can we all agree to stop judging? We all share the same thing: GUILT. Are we doing enough? Are we backing off and giving our children space? Is the laundry done?

We make our own choices -and should not be judged by them. Only WE know why we do the things we do. Don't make assumptions that I can or can NOT participate in something based on what you THINK you know about my life/job/intentions/abilities.

MOMS: we are equal. We love our children. We want what's best for them. We worry. We hover. We make the best decisions we can for the benefit of our entire family.

Respect that.
We should be a united front ... not factions of us vs them. Better vs. adequate.
Open up your tight knit circles of "one type of mom" and allow other moms in. If you tear a mom down, instead of building her up ... you're violating the whole essence of "mom" : Comforter in Chief.

So .... who are YOU judging?
Let it go. Reach out. Show grace. You may find a strong, loyal ally who approaches the caretaking & commitments differently -- but whose ultimate goal is the same. You may see a different perspective on love and balance. And it's ok.

And you might find me. Just a mom trying to make it.

4 comments:

Shawn said...

Oh Kelly your post made me cry. That is so true. I hope whoever made you feel like crap gets the karma thrown back at them. Hugs to you. Miss ya :)

Kerry said...

you are so right Kelly. I think you are a great mom! Guilt is a horrible thing.

Lisa said...

A.
Men.
Sister.

Student of Life said...

Just started reading your blog, and this post moved me. It's so true. I'm a stay-at-home mommy right now, but I've been an overworked working mommy, too. I don't fit in either "camp." I'm somewhere in between, and I totally agree with you. Mean mommies suck.
--Michelle (my blog is on hiatus indefinitely)