Let the Madness End

In the chaos and anxiety leading up to the birth of our beautiful little girl, I neglected my blog and the few faithful readers I have. My apologies. However, recent "mom" stories on Facebook, Twitter and Good Morning America have led me back to the keyboard.

It isn't a new concept...criticizing the choices of other moms. Working vs. stay-at-home. Fitness buff vs. couch potato. Vegan vs. carnivore. I wish it would all stop.

Two days after giving birth, the "mom" story of the day was the wife of a Norwegian soccer player who posted a picture of her body 4 days after giving birth. I'm not going to lie. At first I thought she was lying and hadn't just given birth. But, when I saw pictures of her during her pregnancy with hardly any belly at all, the picture made sense.

Needless to say this is not what my post-baby body looks like. But NEWSFLASH! Even pre-baby I looked nothing remotely close to this. I don't believe posting this picture did anything to empower the average woman or bolster the self-esteem of all of us other moms dealing with the flab left after our babies have made their grand entrance into the world. However, this woman has no obligation to build up anybody's confidence.

As women, can't we say "good for her" while celebrating our own bodies? Her looking like her supermodel self (yes, she is a model) doesn't make her any less of a mother than I am, and me having a mom pouch doesn't make me any less of a woman than her.

Women are given these bodies that can do such an amazing thing...create and carry life. WOW! Amazing, right? So why do so many women put themselves down instead of celebrating what a miracle their bodies are. And please, for any women who are unable to carry children, please know you are no less of a beautiful, incredible and wondrous being. Some of the most loving and amazing mothers I know adopted their children. The mom's whose babies are carried in their hearts rather than in their bellies are not only mothers, but saving angels for those kids.

The next big stir was a picture posted by model Gisele today of her beauty team working on her while she breastfed her baby.

Again, 99.9 percent of women cannot relate to a team making you gorgeous while sitting in a penthouse in your plush robe and a photographer snapping pictures of you nursing your child.

We can all sit around yelling at our computer screens that the picture was unnecessary, or we can say how great it is that this busy, working mother is not only nursing her child, but is sharing the experience and possibly inspiring other women who thought they could not breastfeed because of working or fear of judgement or lack of support.

I say, "You go girl!" Thank you for letting the world know you are a proud, breastfeeding mama!!!

Women need to stop feeling like everything is a competition with other women. Let's celebrate each other and encourage each other. Let's set an amazing example for our children by being positive, loving people. Life is too short and too precious to sit around hating on one another!