Are you mom enough?! Really?

This cover of Time Magazine has generated a lot of attention, and is creating a lot of discussion among moms and non-moms too. So, being a first-time mom, I thought I'd throw out my two-cents...

First of all, I think breast-feeding is a beautiful thing. It's the best thing for your baby, I choose to do it, and every breast feeding mom should be able to feed their child as long as they want, where they want, and when they want. Although I feel this photo of an amazingly beautiful mother, breast feeding her three-year-old son is a very creative way to bring attention to the natural way for a mother to feed her child, I think the headline is very unsettling.

"Are You Mom Enough?"

When I look at this photo with the headline, "Are You Mom Enough?", I immediately pull back and think to myself, "Is Time Magazine insinuating mothers who don't breast feed their child, or insinuating that mothers who don't breast feed until their child is 3, 4, 5 or 6 years old, isn't 'mom enough'?". Many mothers literally can't breast feed their child or children. Does this mean they aren't "mom enough"?

For those of you who read my blog, you know that I breast feed Linna, by pumping my milk and bottle feeding her. She eats solid food, but at 9 months old she has never had formula. This is a choice I made for my daughter and I before she was even born, and I have a goal of breast feeding her until she is 1 year old. That said, I am a stay-at-home mom who also works out of my home, and I know that my goal would not be accomplished if I would have gone back to work. Breast feeding is TOUGH... VERY tough! It's almost like having a part-time job, on top of my other duties at home, as well as building my business, and taking care of my daughter. There have been SO many times where I've wanted to throw in the towel, quit pumping, and just feed Linna formula. I completely understand why some moms don't even try to breast feed past one week, or "give up" a few months in. It's not an easy thing to figure out when you first start, it doesn't just "happen", and it takes a lot of time, focus, and... did I mention TIME? Breast feeding is a lot of work!

A breast feeding mother has to really take care of herself, because the nutrition she puts in her mouth ends up inside her baby. I love nights out with my girlfriends or my husband, but every time I want to get a little crazy and have a drink or two (or six), I immediately think of the breast milk that will be wasted and dumped down the drain. As moms know, breast milk is liquid GOLD! A part of me gets so upset when I have to dump what could be an entire bottle of milk for Linna, down the drain. But hey, a mom needs and deserves to let loose every now and again, right?! I commend any working-mom that is still breast feeding. If you ask me, any woman who is working full-time and continues to breast feed... those moms are "super moms".

Part of me also feels that mothers who choose to breast feed their child or children past the age of two, is really fulfilling something inside of themselves and not their child. This is my opinion. I don't think there is anything wrong with breastfeeding your child for as long as you'd like, I just wonder if it's something the child really wants, OR something the mother really wants. Again, I have one child who is 9 months old, so I am not speaking from experience... just opinion:)

I don't think the headline writer for this cover of Time Magazine is a mom, because every mother knows how much emotional and physical hard-work goes into being a mom. Breast feeding does NOT make you a better mom than the mom who chooses to formula-feed her child. Breast feeding your child until he or she is 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 years old, does NOT make you a better mom than the mom who breast fed her baby for a week. As long as you love, protect, and nourish your child or children... then, in my opinion, YOU are "mom enough".