yes. this.

tonight on twitter someone posted a link to a blog and i decided to check it out.

i am so glad i did.

i read it and at the end of it, i was all - YES.THIS.

it's something that's been on my heart and mind for quite some time now.
and i've blogged about it before. but it's fresh again in my mind.

i'm not sure if it's just that when i first became a mom my life was somehow consumed with all things related to motherhood and if anyone was doing it differently than me that they must be somehow mistaken or that somehow my experiences held the answer to everyone else's sleep/eating/breastfeeding/birthing dilemmas.

and then i'm not sure when it happened, but i stopped caring about everyone else. not in the bad sense that i have no concern or compassion for others, but more along the lines of i stopped caring what people thought of my parenting and i stopped judging others in their parenting styles.

we do what we do because it's best for us and also because it works for us.
i no longer draw the lines so firmly and darkly in how we "parent". i'm not a strict "babywise" or "baby whisperer" or "attachment" mom.  i do this and that and i don't beat myself up for what i do or how i do it. but make no mistake, i am a mom.

and for goodness sakes, i'm a good mom!

so you may cloth diaper or co-sleep or supplement with formula or do extended breast feeding or make your own baby food or do baby-led weaning or do CIO or wear your babies but honestly...
if your child is fed, nurtured, and loved then what business is it of yours (or mine?) to judge anyone for doing it a little differently than you do?

we need support. and we need advice and we need encouragement and we need someone to tell us to "hang in there, because it'll get better" and so we need other women in our lives who can come alongside and help us as we journey on this crazy road called "motherhood".

i love hearing about the differences. and i love sharing my experiences so far. but i'm going to let go of the guilt and judgement and just be.