The Attached Mother

I was online trying to catch up on my overflowing email when one caught my eye. I almost sent it to the spam folder because of the subject line “perfect parents”. Luckily my curiosity made me open it. Instead of the spam I assumed it would be there was a long, angry email from a mom named Tammy. What she laid out was frustration and guilt on how she choose to parent her children verses what she felt was the “perfect parenting” of attachment parenting.

I don’t know her story, or why she felt the way she did. Maybe she had the unfortunate luck to run into an AP parent  who was on a high horse, maybe her own guilt made her read into things what wasn’t there. I don’t know. I do know that she felt extremely hurt in her parenting choices.

I just have to say that there is no such thing as a perfect parent. No matter what style you choose, and there are  the bullies in every area, you will never be a perfect parent. And neither will anyone else. We are all human, subject to mood swings and mistakes and saying things we wish we could take back. Life happens, even to the “perfect parents”.

That said yes many of us are vocal about our parenting styles. We are ecstatic, moved, relieved, and a whole host of other emotions that make us want to shout from the rooftops. When a parent finds something that works they are usually turning jumping jacks in an attempt to tell others. Not because we think we are “perfect” but because we know what it’s like to be in that spot before. If it helps us so much isn’t it worth passing on to other mothers who might find it helps them as well?

AP never claims to be perfect parenting, because that does not exist. Parents who use the tools will fall down just as often as everyone else.

parenting, perfect parent, attachment parenting