It’s been a privilege to be a part of the Columbus Moms Blog community. I’ve met so many amazing women (and men!) and learned many different ways of parenting. It’s a gift that I don’t take for granted. And in exchange for being welcomed into this amazing group, I am asked to share my thoughts once a month.
But to be honest, for the past several weeks, I’ve started to write about various parenting topics, written a few paragraphs, and then quickly hit delete. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. And I couldn’t quite figure out how to get past this giant roadblock.
Slowly, it dawned on me.
We are living in a time where any praise given to a specific parenting perspective, style, or philosophy is automatically seen as an attack on a differing style. We all seem to be on the defensive, myself included.
When did this happen? WHY did this happen. I’ve seen it and experienced it myself, over and over. I’ve personally struggled trying to find my personal parenting philosophy. But you know what?
Motherhood is not a war.
We don’t need to draw a line in the sand and pick our sides as we steel ourselves for an epic battle. The stark truth is that as parents, we have more in common than not.
And so, I think there’s a better way.
I don’t want to be on #teamBreastisBest or #teamFormulaFeed.
I don’t want to be on #teamCoSleep or #teamCribTime or #teamCryitOut
I don’t want to be on #teamEssentialOils or #teamPillsPlease
Instead, my allegiance is to #teamParenting.
I’d love for you to join me.
On #teamParenting, we cheer on parents who agree that feeding their kids is a good thing – regardless of their choice of breastmilk, formula, early introduction of solids, or baby-led weaning. Whether you pick up some fast food in between work and the multitude of children’s activities each evening or you spend an hour picking, peeling, steaming, and spicing organic, in-season vegetables, can we all agree that feeding your child is awesome?!
On #teamParenting, we also believe that sleep should be celebrated! Let’s cheer on parents getting more sleep! Are you with me? At the end of the day, who cares if it’s because of co-sleeping, cry-it-out, or in a crib. Can we all agree that parents getting more sleep is awesome?
On #teamParenting, we believe that parenthood is full of impossible decisions. And whether you work, stay-at-home, do a mix of both, have a choice in the matter, or just “gotta-do-what-you-gotta-do”, that parents who make personal sacrifices on behalf of the children they love should be celebrated. (And let’s be clear – each one of these choices involves a personal sacrifice.) Can we all agree that parenting is hard?
So here I am – asking you to join me as we take off our armor, drop the battle axe, and wave a white flag.
Who’s with me?
I am so with you and definitely agree that we need to be all about parenting in general of our own kids. So, perfectly stated 😉
I am on certain teams because I believe in them wholeheartedly. But I don’t disagree that someone else may not be, simply because they do what’s right for them. I think the main problem is moms are allowing themselves to be offended. I don’t get offended easily because I’m pretty strong in my conviction for the way I do things, for what I believe. I have friends who openly disagree with my stance on things, and we’re not offended by each other because we’re confident in ourselves.
We should all be that way really … it’s freeing.
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