Well done, TIME magazine.
May 11, 2012 4 Comments
I was just thinking to myself, “There just isn’t enough controversy surrounding being a mom.” I have been anxiously awaiting a new fight to erupt, pitting moms across the world against one another. Let’s face it, the working mom vs. stay-at-home mom controversy just isn’t exciting anymore. The camps are established, colors are flown, and there is enough evidence to support both sides to keep things in a rather boring even keel.
Even the excitement of red-shirting your kid has gotten blasé. For those of you not in the know, it’s the practice of holding your kid back a year starting in kindergarten so that they have every advantage academically, and more importantly, physically, than all the other kids at school by being anywhere from a year to a year and half older than their classmates.
Imagine my excitement when I saw the cover of TIME this week, showing me a bold, sexy mama breastfeeding her humungous three-year-old standing on a chair. I’m 5’2”, so logistically I can’t even compete, but it still beckons me to pull out my gloves, demanding me to pick a side and fight.
I’ll let you in on a little secret – the Mommy Mafia exists. Old Italian men with bushy eyebrows have nothing on us. Moms will backstab and costume slash with the best of them, utilizing subtle techniques of exclusion and gossip to bring opposing families to their knees. Moms can be secretive and subversive in their dealings, making you wonder, “Is she a Tiger Mom, or a Ferberizer? I just can’t tell! She refuses to let pacifiers in the house, but uses the 5 S’s with reckless abandon. Is she one of us, or one of THEM?”
Just when I thought the balance of mom and let mom was beginning to overtake us, TIME brought us a new fight. I have a new choice in Familia, or rather a new oath of allegiance I am required to make. Do I lay on my sword for the boob or the bottle? I must choose wisely, for surely the lives of all innocent children are at stake.
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I don’t have kids, so I can’t speak from personal experience; however, the breast-feeding argument drives me nuts. I was a breach baby and my mom had me by C-Section and she also bottle-fed me. So many of my friends are concerned about the “bond” that is created during breast-feeding or are upset because they didn’t have their babies vaginally and have lost out on that bond. I want to clock them, because I feel like they are somehow demeaning my mother and overlooking our strong relationship. I also think the breast-feeding camp oversells the benefits of it (yes, it’s nutritionally better and cheaper, but I don’t think it can guarantee anything more than that). It doesn’t matter to me what a mom chooses to do, but they shouldn’t be made to feel bad b/c of their decision.
I never thought about how theories on parenting styles make us feel as the children of these methods. Another great reason we should support one another, and honor the individual relationships of mothers and children. Thanks for your input!
Well said, my friend!
Reblogged this on asklotta and commented:
Dear Readers, Of course my dear friend Dr. Eva (Where’smyt-backandotherstories) lead me to this new blog! As we MIND YOUR BUSINESS Asklotta and staff couldn’t care less your parenting style but this Italian mama feels the “boob or the bottle” is for la familia NOT for Time Magazine to denigrate either/or decision!