Joining the "Crappy Mom" Brigade

I just found out I’m a crappy mom. Seriously. You probably are too.

Last night, a blog that I follow (Life with Levi) posted a picture on her Facebook page. I’ll share it with you here (it’s from Granola Babies):

The point being made here was that as long as we love our babies, it really doesn’t matter what choices we make, right? You would have thought that celebrating this would have been easy. Instead, Life with Levi’s Facebook share received an over-the-top amount of comments debating the issue of circumcision. Some called others bad moms for making the decision to have this surgery for their child. Education was questioned. It was likened to female circumcision. There was some name calling. It became an ugly response to what was supposed to be a supportive image.

So, Life with Levi wrote her own post about being a crappy mom (tongue-in-cheek, of course), and I love the idea. I offer you the reasons I suck as a mom:

* Sometimes, when the baby wakes up, I pretend I don’t hear him so I can sleep for five more minutes.

* I breastfed both of my children past the one-year mark.

* I went back to work with my first child.

* I stayed home with my second child.

* I don’t co-sleep except in times of absolute need.

* My son is circumcised — a decision my husband and I came to together for both cultural and medical reasons.

* Even though I was breastfeeding, both of my children had rice cereal before they were 6 months old.

* They both had whole milk before they hit the 12 month mark.

* Sometimes, my kids go to bed without a bath.

* I won’t let my daughter have a sleepover until she’s 8. She’s 7.5, and I made her come home early from a party that was going to be a sleepover even though the rest of her friends got to stay.

* I won’t let my daughter get her ears pierced until she’s 10.

* My kids watch more than 1 hour of TV a day.

* I have two dogs and a cat, and I sometimes forget to make the kids wash their hands before they eat.

* My daughter has had soda.

* Both kids had peanut butter before they were 1.

* I make my kids take naps, and I get weird about things if they miss one. Anxiety attack weird.

See? I’m a pretty awful mom. But one thing is true. I love my children beyond reason. You know that cliche about not being able to remember life before your kids? Well, that doesn’t really apply to me. I totally remember it. And guess what? It just wasn’t this fun and uplifting. Yeah, I’m tired. I have a permanent belly pooch. My face is discolored because I was pregnant twice. My jeans will never fit the same way again. But I wouldn’t trade any of that for the world. I love my babies and whatever future babies we might be blessed with more than I could ever explain.

Join me in celebrating our crappiness. What makes you a “crappy” parent?