Isn’t It About Time We Stop All the Mommy Shaming?

Mommy Shaming: It's like the pack of cool kids just outside the high school entrance you had to walk past every morning. They leer and sneer and judge and talk about everyone else because they can. It's mom versus mom and it's a frigging minefield out there - and with all of us constantly connected with our phones, it's getting worse!

Several weeks ago, new celebrity parents went out for supper without their one week old baby. A date, if you will.  How lovely!  But no, it was pretty much the Meal Heard Round The World. The backlash from the couple going out was intense. But the father wasn’t even mentioned in the negative barrage! The sole recipient of the shame was the mom, called a terrible and selfish mother for going out to eat while having a newborn at home.

Seriously, mommy’s got to eat. I would’ve given my left arm to go out for supper when my son was a week old!! A chance to feel like a normal person again after having given birth, even if only for an hour or two? Sign me up! Why was the mom subject to such vilification, and not the father?

Related: Stop Mom-on-Mom Bullying! 

The mommy shaming epidemic is getting out of hand

I’ll tell you why: Mommy Shaming. It’s like the pack of cool kids just outside the high school entrance you had to walk past every morning. They leer and sneer and judge and talk about everyone else because they can. It’s mom versus mom and it’s a frigging minefield out there – and with all of us constantly connected with our phones, it’s getting worse!

From the moment a woman announces her pregnancy, the shaming begins: “She’s drinking coffee! She’s not exercising enough! She’s exercising too much!  She dyed her hair!”. And on and on it goes. Really?

Once the baby is born, the shaming continues: “She’s formula feeding! She’s breastfeeding! She’s letting her baby cry it out! She’s sleep training! She’s co-sleeping! She’s using disposable diapers! She went out to eat at a restaurant without her newborn!”. etc., etc., etc. Again: Really?  Call me a superstar for managing to both entertain my son and get a hot meal on the table! I managed to get both myself and my son dressed today, I deserve a medal!  A really big shiny one!

So, instead of mothers putting each other down, let’s support one another, and befriend each other and strive towards a feeling of camaraderie. It will make the hardest job in the world a smidgen easier, I promise you. Let’s refuse to judge and bully and talk behind one another’s backs. Instead, let’s remember to be kind. It’s so basic, but it just might work. And unless you have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

How do you think we can put an end to mommy shaming? Tell us your thoughts and ideas for supporting each other in the comments.

 

11 thoughts on “Isn’t It About Time We Stop All the Mommy Shaming?”

  1. How smart to keep a blanket around for movie nights. I’d do it too, if it was tucked away. Good idea!

  2. I can’t imagine having a baby in the limelight like they have to do. No one’s ever going to be happy and a lot of people want to go to what they perceive as negative so others will listen. Negativity seems to be an alluring magnet, which doesn’t make any good sense at all.

  3. I adore my wife as she is a great mom with our son. Even though moms are not perfect, they should gain respect from other people.

  4. It’s ridiculous. I try to avoid mommy conflicts at all costs because who has the time for it really? If you think about it those who have time for it – you really wouldn’t want to be hanging out with anyways so it doesn’t matter. Moms need to learn to lift each other up instead of putting each other down ALL THE TIME.

  5. Seriously, people need to grow up. We spend too much time sticking our nose into everybody else’s business instead of minding our own. There’s nothing wrong with someone going out to eat and not taking their kid, so long as the kid gets to eat themselves. This is really ridiculous.

  6. I am not a Mum – but I see things happen so much, ohh did you see that Mum doing this or that and I’m like does it really matter? Just because your opinions differ as long as no harm is coming to the child of course.

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