Well hello, Lovelies!

Let me start by saying welcome, and thank you for joining me in my first ever “Bad Mothers Club” meeting! My name is Emily, and according to strangers on the internet, I’m a bad mother (amongst many other less than desirable things). See, a few weeks ago I wrote a post about Why I’m Never Getting My Daughter A Pony, and wouldn’t you know it, it awarded me membership to the club with gusto (awesome comments can be read here)!

Shortly after receiving my membership notification, via multiple comments along the lines of my personal favorite, “You’re a blithering IDIOT!!!”, and of course the old stand-by, “You shouldn’t be a mother,” I came across another poor fellow mother and blogger who was ripped a number of new assholes from hundreds of angry mothers who didn’t agree with her message. If you’re wondering what her message was, it was simply that she doesn’t like to play pretend with her daughter. OH THE HORROR! Get your pitchforks, ladies, we’ve got a monster on our hands! Someone who doesn’t like being bossed around by her 4 year old?! GASP! As long as you promise to play nice, you can read it here.

I was fully intending on pulling a T. Swift, and just shaking it off, but seeing the pack turn on another mother got me thinking: Isn’t there a better way to deal with this? And so I present to you, The Bad Mothers Club. The membership rules are simple:

1. Make a pledge to be nice. You don’t have to agree with everything someone says, but if you choose to voice your opinion, do it without personally attacking the other person.

2. If you see a fellow blogger getting ripped any number of new assholes over a topic as uncontroversial as not enjoying being bossed around by her 4 year old, maybe pop by and tell her “You are not a bad mother.” Unless of course you believe in your heart of hearts this makes her a bad mother, and if that’s the case, you don’t belong in our club.

3. Say this out loud to yourself until the icky feeling in your stomach goes away: “I am not a bad mother.”

4. Continue to write out YOUR truth. Maybe other people don’t like it, but that’s on them. Motherhood is a wild experience, and it’s different for everybody. Of course your truth won’t fit perfectly someone else’s, but if they don’t like it, they don’t have to read it. And if they say something nasty, come here and vent about it.

So welcome! Make yourself at home. Feel free to dump that horrible comment someone once left you in the comments section. Leave here with your heart a little lighter.