My baby boy started sitting before 5 months. Not perfectly. Definitely wobbly. But sitting. A close family member criticized me for making him 'grow up too fast.' Never mind the fact my sweet baby boy had been doing crunches trying to sit up while laying on the floor.
A family friend asked how many teeth my growing boy had. None. 'None? He's almost 6 months old and doesn't have a single tooth? Surely there's something wrong with him. My baby girl had several teeth by then.' Never mind the pediatricians that assure you it's perfectly normal for babies to not have any teeth by six months.
It's not easy being a mom. You're given this tiny baby that depends on you to meet every need and a hundred set of eyes are watching to make sure you do it perfectly.
Ready to offer criticism if you're doing it wrong. There's criticism if your baby meets a milestone 'too early.' Criticism if he meets one 'too late.' There's criticism if you don't work outside the home to help support your family. Criticism if you work 'too much.'
I've read studies (I'm a study junky) that suggest society feels like its their duty to help raise the next generation and make sure they thrive. That makes sense. But what doesn't make sense is how we think we're helping to make sure that generation thrives while making their mamas feel completely inept.
The thing is parenting is hard. It's hard to parent perfectly. But there's a million ways to be a perfect parent. And my baby is doing a great job of teaching me to be exactly the mama that he needs. Not the one anyone else thinks I 'should be.'
Parenting isn't easy. Let's support each other and stop with the criticizing and comparing.
Have you encouraged a mom lately?
