The new film from Sisterhood of the Motherhood adds to the chorus of #EndmommyWars

I’m a Sisterhood of the Motherhood Partner and was compensated for this post. All thoughts are our own.  There’s a heavyset parent at our school whose arms are covered in tattoos, the even have a couple on their neck. They drop them off in an older model car whose muffler obviously needs to be replaced. The car has a rainbow flag bumper sticker, the ‘namaste’ one, NRA decal and animal rescue too. It’s a train wreck of lifestyles and organizations that only coexists on bumpers and in the minds of those I don’t relate to.  The child seems normal and happy; I see them sometimes when I eat lunch with my child. However, I never see their other parent and the tattoo laden driver is never in the school helping out. Plus they look just a little too young to have a child the same age as ours, but here’s what’s really surprising about this person.

This above parent does not exist. It was easy to judge them though wasn’t it? It was very easy to write, even in my head I was judging this creation that doesn’t exist. Yet, we’ve all judged someone like this.  It could be the seemingly wealthy blonde woman who has it all together, but her life is a shell game where debts outpace income by 3:1. Move around the adjectives, multiply the number of children or change any other variable and that is the person we were thinking about this morning.

95% of moms have experienced judgment; actual judgment, that in some way was verbalized. They directly questioned something, made a sarcastic statement or the passive aggressive ‘hmmm….’after you said something. The Sisterhood of the Motherhood was created as a way to support parents, end the mommy wars and raise happy, healthy babies. Their latest video doesn’t pull any punches.

As it highlights each of the seven new, real mothers you get an overview of their lives and traits that triggers our judgment gene. It is easy to judge isn’t it? Some of our judging might not even be done with malicious intent.

For stay at home dads the number one go-to pejorative is babysitting. Oh, you’re babysitting the kids today, giving mom the day off or even ‘where’s mom today’ are the popular ones SAHDs will hear during the day. Much like some of the comments said to moms, they may not be hostile, but it’s a glib statement with an underlying vibe that is anything but positive.

So, how do you end the mommy wars or judging in general? In theory, it’s simple, just don’t do it. The problem is that by the time we’re adults things get very set in their ways. Habits are formed, prejudices established and the way we’ve thought is quite possible the way we’ll continue to think until something drastic happens.

Watch the video again. Imagine that your partner, spouse, friend, mother or even you were in their shoes. Can you still judge or are you ready to end the mommy wars? Have you got something to add to the conversation? The Facebook page for Similac welcomes any input or experience that you’ve had with being judged or as someone in the mommy wars.

Similac partnered with bloggers such as me for its Sisterhood of Motherhood Program. As part of this program, I received compensation for my time. Similac believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Similac’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.