~Our appearance: Most days, it is hard enough to roll my ass out of bed at the ass-crack of dawn; even more so to take (or make) the time to make myself look semi- attractive. Life circumstances affect how we all dress, style our hair, and do (or not do) our makeup. Before having kids, it is easy to spend money on makeup and clothes and trips to the stylist; then munchkins come along and it is “Goodbye, Maybelline” and “Hello, Suave”! Instead of judging your co-worker when she shows up Monday morning with formula stains on her shirt and baby puke in her hair, remind her how quickly this stage passes; maybe give her some chocolate and offer to cover for her if she needs a minute in the restroom. Remember, someday it might be you coming to work fretting about how in the world you walked out of the house with two different socks and a pink, ruffle bow in your hair. Might be kind of nice to have someone cover for you, too. Who doesn’t have a little extra fluff around her middle? Maybe she is working her ass of to get rid of it; or maybe she has an affection for beer and chocolate and not so much for working out. You never know- appreciate her anyways.
~Nursing Shaming: This needs to go away right now. What I mean by this is: IF a woman so chooses to nurse her child in public, let her. Leave her alone. Chances are, she is as uncomfortable as you are, so why make it worse by being a dick? Good for her for nursing her baby. On the other hand, if a woman decides to feed her baby formula, don’t give her the third degree or preach the benefits of nursing to her. She already knows the benefits of it, dumbass; there are exactly 941,057.12376 reasons why she has either chosen to or been forced to give up on her boobs. It is no right of yours to tell her what to do with her chest. Chances are, her husband hasn’t even touched those puppies since the baby came along, so you are best to stay the hell away or she might sick him on you. Just saying.
None of us are perfect. We all have bad days and take it out on the people closest to us; myself included. But I am afraid that we are raising a generation of “Mean girls”, purely because we are too selfish to raise our girls otherwise. Girls learn from their mother’s first, so think about the image you are projecting on your own or other young girls around you. Instead of belittling other women (and men, for that matter), stop and think about what they might be going through and how different their life probably is from your own. Even if you don’t like it, respect it; don’t add fuel to a fire that is already out of control. If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem.
Be kind, my friends.
Until next time,
~Richelle~