Labels

I hate labels.

Maybe because it feels like a box.

And I hate trying to fit into a box.

But point is, as a parent, I hate labels.

 I hate bottle vs breast.

I hate rear vs forward.

I hate cloth vs disposable.

I hate co-sleeping vs crib.

I hate circumcision vs being intact

I hate it all.

And most of all, I hate how it all divides people.

I am a mother.

I try my best every second of every day.

I try to be awesome.

But some days, let's face it, I fall short.

Isn't that what being human is about?

My daughter is no better because I breastfed her.

She's still been sick a handful of times.

And she's just as smart (ok, I think she's a genius, but that's the mama in me talking ;) ) as the next (bottle-fed) baby.

Cloth was no better for her than disposable.

Infact, she hated cloth with passion.

It just didn't work.

She coslept with us for over 2 yrs

Not so much for all the benefits,

infact, come to think of it, I don't even know what the benefits are,

I just liked her next to me. We slept better cuddling together.

And rear vs forward?

If I had to listen to her scream one more time in the back of the car,

I swear, I might have had an anxiety attack and driven off the road.

She was forward facing at little after one year old and we were all happy for it, thank you very much.

I don't deserve the mama of the year award.

Infact, most days, I daydream about childless vacations with my husband

far away, on a beach with a cocktail the size of a fishbowl.

But I love her

I love her with every ounce of my being.

And I try.

Every day, I try.

I try to be the best.

 I strive to hear her giggles.

I work towards being better.

And I don't need labels to prove that to me.

So step away from the labels.

You aren't going to change anyone.

You can only be the best YOU can be.

As Ghandi once said, Be the change you want to see.

And remember, we've all had sleepless nights

We've all stressed over this vs that

We've all been first time moms.

We've all been there.

And it's not easy.

So why divide us up even more?

We're mamas.

And that's all we can be.