Why Mom-Shaming Needs To End, Period

Mom-shaming is more common than you think — and it needs to end.

According to recent research, nearly two-thirds of moms say they've been criticized for their parenting skills, and blogger Laura Mazza is not here for it.

In a post to her Facebook page, Mazza, who runs the blog Mum on the Run, shut down mom-shaming, and reminded us all that we are not here to stand in judgment of other people.

"If i complain about my children, don't say i don't love them," she wrote. "If i say how perfect they are, don't tell me I'm too braggy. You don't see the hours I spend holding and loving them."

Mazza then goes into exactly the things we shouldn't be shaming other moms for — and she's got a pretty sizable list, from how moms feed their babies, to how they discipline their children.

"Don't judge the mother who is formula feeding," she wrote. "You don't know if she struggled for months on end trying to make it work. [...] Don't judge the mother who breastfeeds in public. You don't know if today was the day she finally got the confidence to do it. You don't know how hard she's worked to keep that breastfeeding going. Don't belittle the act of a mother feeding her baby."

"Don't judge the mum who works, she's making a living for her child," she continued. "Don't judge the mum who stays home, she's doing the job of 20 for no pay."

Mazza's list is not exhaustive — moms can be shamed for anything these days — but it points to just how much pressure mothers can be under, not only to take care of their children the "right" way, but to "bounce back" after pregnancy.

"Every mother has her own story," she wrote. "She has walked down a tough path. You don't know her challenges, her strengths, her weaknesses...Her life, you don't know any of it. [...] remember before you criticise, accuse or abuse, you have to walk a mile in her shoes."

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