Judgement.

I will {begrudgingly} admit it: I have a few character flaws. One of them being that I rarely apologize for them because i rarely admit that they are "flaws" at all. But, if I'm being honest, i do have them and they are legitimate. One of them is my tendency to be pretty judgemental in combination with thinking {or "knowing" as i like to believe} that my way/opinion is the correct one. The only correct one. I like to trick myself into thinking that it's "okay" because I {usually} only do this in my head or with Cheyenne in the privacy of our home {okay, and also with a select few friends who are basically my twins} instead of being the kind of rude obnoxious person with no internal monologue that just blurts out those kind of sentiments {doesnt that last part even sound a bit "judgey"?}.
I have found that I am at my worst with this when it comes to all things child related. I scoff and look down on the people that don't take the "right" prenatal vitamins, don't eat the "right" foods when pregnant or breast feeding, don't read "enough" baby/pregnancy books {don't even get me started on this, my #1 pet peeve}, don't breastfeed {this excludes women who are physically incapable such as in the case of adoption or for medical reasons}, don't provide healthy foods, don't try {sometimes easier said than done} to get their babies on a routine, dads that feel changing diapers is "womans work" {in fact, this just goes in general for anyone who thinks that there is "womans work" and "mans work" it's almost 2011 for goodness sake}, I could go on and on and on. And, I usually do - to myself.
I am just totally unable/unwilling to get beyond this judgement.
But the thing is, being a parent is real REALLY difficult and being a mom - especially if you have left a career to be a stay at home - does a real number on you physically, mentally, and emotionally and it can be very isolating at times. So I also very strongly feel like we as mothers and as women should stick together and stand up for one another instead of tearing one another apart with judgemental attitudes because we're all doing the best that we can to raise good people that will make a difference in this world while at the same time trying to keep a semblance of who we each are as a "person" not just a mom.
Even though it's only early December I have made this my resolution {not just for 2011 but for the rest of my life} I will try my very hardest to stop being so quick to judge my fellow parents. It'll be hard for me and I'm sure there will be moments when I fail but I'll just get back on the horse and start again.