Mean Girls...

I would challenge anyone out there to find a more, diverse, passionate, ornery and judgmental group of people than mothers. Whether it's breastfeeding vs. formula feeding, extended breastfeeding, attachment parenting,gentle parenting, homeschooling vs. traditional schooling, circumcision, to vaccinate or not, there is no shortage of topics that are sure to cause nasty messages to fly across the internet with the speed of light, foot stomping, shouting matches at playdates and whispering behind the backs of the poor unfortunate souls who just don't know any better. In my ten short years as a mom, I've made some really important discoveries. #1 - When you really have kids of your own all your preconceived notions of what parenting will be like go out the window, and it's ok. #2 - There will be times when you make mistakes, and it's ok. #3 - Everyone from your mom to your mailman has the best advice ever and whether or not you take it, you'll be ok. #4 - Trust your instincts, your mommy sixth sense, if you will, and you will be ok. I'm far from perfect, my kids are far from perfect and yet somehow we're all ok. Whether or not I homeschooled, or vaccinated, or formula fed my children should not matter nor influence another parent's decision to do any or none of those things. What should influence our decisions as parents is what is best for OUR individual family. Because, quite honestly, at the end of the day, you're the one that has to live with your decisions. Don't get me wrong, I'm always up for a healthy debate, and I'm always more than willing to share what led up to us making the decisions we have, but I'm hoping that I'm doing it in a way that someone out there searching for answers knows that I'm not judging. Take care of your babies, love them up, and do the very best you can. No one should, or has the right, to ask for anymore than that. "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." -Theodore Roosevelt