Say what?

Have you ever been about to share a mothering story with someone and found yourself stopping? Or you did share it and wished you hadn't? Because as soon as the words left your mouth you knew exactly what was coming... the dreaded unsolicited advice.

"Make sure to sleep when the baby sleeps."

"Well have you tried (insert outdated parenting tip here)?"

"When I was raising kids we didn't have to deal with (insert modern parenting stressor)."

Guess what folks, parenting has changed. There is a better awareness of child development than there was "back in your day." And one parenting method isn't necessarily going to work for every single kid. There is no one single pro-tip that is going to work from one kid to the next. Some kids respond to gentle tones and reasoning, others may need the stern tone or a shock factor.

Regardless of the parenting moment, the kid you have, the advice you're getting from all corners of the boxing ring--parent your way and parent your way without shame. You know your child best. You know what will or won't work--and heck, sometimes nothing is going to work and you just have to coast that wave.

Children are the world's largest lesson in patience, in surrendering to the chaos. You have to bend sometimes in order to get through the day--and if you break, that's okay too. Your village is there to put you back together.

And as I like to say; if you are a parent, you should know better than to judge, berate, or offer up the millionth version of advice that no one asked for, and if you aren't a parent, then shame on you. Unless you have been personally in the trenches or had front row seats to nuclear poop explosions, sleepless nights, the countless tears shed on momma's pillow, the upteenth time momma has repeated herself to NOT touch the scalding hot dish water--then you have absolutely nothing to contribute other than a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on. That's all that momma wants from you--and maybe to roll up your damned sleeves and help her have 20 minutes to herself.

Mommas, I see you, I love you, I support you.