Why Mom Friends Matter #GuestPost

Why Mom Friends Matter

Did you know mom friends are like insulation against mom shaming? Moms in the media and in society, too, are darned if they do and darned if they don't. Breast or formula, co-sleeper or crib, wear the baby or push baby in a pram… there's always someone ready to jump up and criticize how you mother. Sometimes that someone is even another mom!

But when you have plenty of moms friends, that criticism rolls off your back like water off a duck. You may not agree with your mom friends on every point, but seeing eye to eye isn’t everything. Mom friends support each other and sympathize, listen and offer the kind of advice only other mamas can give. And they don't tear each other down when they disagree. 

That's not all mom friends do, though! They:

Celebrate your choices… and that means you don’t have to worry about the people who don't. It’s hard to let an angry blog post or Facebook comment shake you up when you know your mom friends have your back.

Offer different perspectives… without judging. Hot button topics don't cause fallouts among friends. You can discuss things like vaccines and circumcision without yelling, name calling, or irreparable damage to your relationships.

Help when things go wrong… it's a lot easier to get up, brush yourself off, and keep on mothering when you have a solid network of support. Mom friends never say "I told you so!"

Open your eyes to different ideas… there are so many ways to tackle motherhood and most of them result in happy, healthy kids. You may practice one parenting style but that doesn't mean you can't borrow some moves from a mom who practices another.

Show you that differences are okay… having lots of different kinds of mom friends is the quickest way to figure out that parenting styles are sometimes a lot less important than just loving your kids. 

Help you see when you’re shaming yourself… they know you’re awesome so when you're having a bad day or your kids are being terrible, your mom friends are the ones who will remind you how great you really are.

That's why as hard as it can be to meet moms when you're exhausted and overwhelmed by motherhood, it's worth the time and the trouble. So what if there are people out there who want to shame moms for doing the best they can? The moms who matter will always be there to tell you you're doing a great job.

About Our Guest Author:

Christa Terry is mom to two rather small but incredibly loud humans and is also one of the founders of Mom Meet Mom, a desktop app that helps mom friends meet. She blogs at Hello, Mamas! (pro) and I Know How Babby Is Formed (personal) when she's not otherwise busy making working motherhood look easy. She can also tap dance and speak German, which she'd like to believe makes her sound interesting but probably just makes her sound weird.