I was just recently introduced to the concept of "Mommy Wars." I think I felt so encircled with this instant connection with moms all over that it didn't even register to me that moms would do anything other than help each other out.
My understanding is that Mommy Wars began with
a battle between stay at home moms versus working moms. I'm a mostly stay at home mom, but some of the best moms I know are working moms, such as my SIL and
A Cupcake For Moose (both of whom I ask for advice on a regular basis). I love being a stay at home mom (most days), but I also get to work 3-4 days a month - flexibility that I'm really lucky to have.
It hit me that this Mommy Wars thing was really a problem when I was on Pinterst the other day (yes, I've been sucked into one more social networking site...). A friend had posted a pic of the above onesie, and boy oh boy did the stream of
NOOOOO, Why would you risk your baby's life, etc started to flow. I had to stop and breathe for a second, so I could keep my comment a simple positive encouragement to the mom-to-be and not a rebutal. And then I remembered how I got flack for choosing to home birth myself...from people I never asked advice from. I still get judgemental comments about it even after the fact.
Anyway, the point being we are all choosing what we deem best and safest for our families and it's going to look different from family to family...from epidurals, to circumcision, to stay at home, to breastfeeding, to cosleeping, to sleep training.
Whatever it is that we choose let's respect one another. Isn't motherhood already challenging enough?