Mommy Wars

Uhhhhh...the mommy wars.  For those of you who haven't heard of this, mommy wars are when one camp (attachment parenting, regular parenting, etc.) does something, says something, posts something that creates a firestorm and puts everyone in the opposite camp in a tizzy.  (Yes, I said tizzy).  You should breastfeed-formula is ok.  You should baby wear-baby wearing is weird.  You should co-sleep-co-sleeping is dangerous.  You should have a home birth-home births are dangerous and you are a bad parent for wanting one.  Whatever it is, someone is going to fight.  But, this article showed up in my Facebook feed today thanks to Lora Cox.  And the author, who I have never read before but instantly like, makes a great point.  Especially with Mother's Day coming this weekend,  it hits me particularly hard.  We here in America, particularly as a middle-class American myself, are so focused on being the perfect mom/parent, that we forget that there are hundreds of thousands of children around the world who don't have a parent who cares at all about them.  Period.  The author of this blog post I've linked to says that it is a travesty that we are fighting a mommy war about who is the best mom when millions of children would kill for a mom even for a day.  She says a lot of really good things and it has caused me to think about the way I parent my own child.  Do I want what is absolutely best for my child?  Yes, of course.  Every parent does.  Am I going to get into a war with you about what is best?  No.  You have to do what's best for your family.  Did we breastfeed?  Yes, we even did extended breastfeeding up until recently.  Do we extended rear face?  Yes, we feel this is the safest thing for her, especially due to the fact that she is very small. Do I do countless things for my child that you might not agree with?  YES!!  But, should we focus on the things someone does that you don't agree with, or should we focus on being good parents to our children and begin caring about other children who are parentless.....let's stop the mommy wars and focus on the casualities of another war.