Stop the Mom Shaming!
Stop the Mom Shaming!
Happy Thursday everyone! Today I wanted to talk about an interesting subject, Mom Shaming. Have you ever heard someone whisper about you while letting your child have a sip of a coke? Or had someone ask you what you do all day if you are a stay at home mom? Or, have you been the one that has made comments about a mom whose child is having a tantrum in a store? I’m sure we are all guilty of it, and it’s time to STOP!
Being a Mom is one of the most rewarding, amazing, and heartwarming experiences a women can have, and also one of the hardest! There is nothing that compares to the feeling of being 100% responsible for another persons life. As Mothers, we should support each other in our journey, and the trend of Mom Shaming is not the way to go. Much like Fat Shaming, Gender Shaming, Mom Shaming is making fun of a mother for the choice she makes when raising her children. So when I was asked a few days ago “What I do all day” while staying home with my child, I had to ask myself, Why do we do this?
Mom Shaming is an awful way to make yourself feel better about your decisions!
As a tattooed, only child having stay at home mom, I’ve seen my share of Mom Shaming. People asking me why I would want to tattoo my body when I’m supposed to be setting an example, asking why I’m going to “deny” my child a sibling, and the ever present why don’t you work? question. (FYI, I do work, I just do it at home!) Recently, a famous Mom said that “moms who work a regular job” had it much easier than her. Her reasoning for that is that “Regular Moms” have jobs that allow them to get things done before and after work, and she has to “work on a movie set for 14 hours”. Needless to say she got a huge internet response, and most of it was not good. Claiming that any mom has it “easier” than another is untrue, and unnecessary.
But I must admit, I am not just a victim in this situation, I have found myself judging a mom whose kid is acting horribly at a restaurant, snickering at the mom who has their child on a leash in the mall, and laughing at moms who have their children in matching outfits. This is NOT ok, and I hope by writing this I can remind myself of this, and others!
So how do we stop Mom Shaming?
By being sympathetic to what another Mom might be going through! We are all in this together, and Mom Shaming doesn’t help any party involved. So instead of judging a mom that works 10 hours a day and hardly gets to see her kids, consider that she must do that to pay the rent. Or the Mom whose child is having a melt down in a store, consider that maybe the child is going through something at home, and is acting out. (Because who hasn’t been there before right?) We must stand together as Moms, and quit bringing each other down! Focus on what kind of Mom you want to be, and don’t worry what others think of you, or how other Moms parent. Do what works for your family, and help lift other Moms up!
None of us are perfect, but as long as we love our children and do the best we can, that is all that matters. So Stop the Mom Shaming, and start some Mom Love!
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