A mom of three has set out to let other parents know as long as they love their kids, they’re doing alright.
Leslie Means, the co-founder of Her View From Home (a community of writers focused on motherhood), shared a Facebook post on August 29 addressed to all the “sweet, exhausted” moms. She wrote to let her fellow mothers know whatever they’re doing for their kids “is exactly right.”
“Listen. You love your baby, right? You’re doing everything in your power to give him/her the best possible life, aren’t you?” she wrote. “Great. Then you’re perfect.”
Means listed several instances in which a mom might be shamed, then ensured her readers that whether they breastfeed, bottle feed, homeschool, buy phones for their 7-year-olds, feed them Cheetos or prepare organic food, they’re doing just fine.
“Don’t let your friend, or your friend’s friend, or your mom, or your church leader or your neighbor or anyone else in the entire universe tell you otherwise,” she wrote.
In her post, Means also included a photo of two bottles in which she had pumped. She explained that her right breast typically produces more than her left, which is why the bottles have unequal amounts of breast milk.
“Could I have tried and tried and eaten better things, and visited more lactation people and spent more time to get lefty to work? Probably,” she wrote. “Did I choose my sanity instead? You bet.”
Means signed her sweet note, “Leslie ― a tired mama of three, just doing her best to love her babies.”
The writer told HuffPost that moms and dads are exhausted from the judgments they face from friends, relatives and even strangers online.
“So many of us get caught up in the day-to-day comparison game, it’s easy to do. I’ve done it too!” Means said. “But I’m over it. I’m tired of listening to what others have to say and I want moms to know that their choice is the right choice.”
Means said she’s received several messages from moms and dads thanking her for her post. She told HuffPost she’s lucky to be able to reach moms specifically with this post and remind them that their choices are good enough.
“We’re all just doing the best we can,” she said. “And in most cases, the best we can is perfectly right.”
See more work from Her View From Home writers on Facebook and on the community’s site.
