Am I Mum Enough?

Have you seen the image floating around the web of the cover of the the Times magazine with the smoking mum breastfeeding her front row forward three year old?

Well, if not, here it is.

I haven't read the article, which is not about extended breastfeeding but rather attachment parenting, of which there are many aspects, not just magazine selling extended breastfeeding, but boy has it gotten mummy bloggers everywhere hot under the collar.

I'm a bit "meh" about the image. It's designed to ignite controversy and there is a much more beautiful image inside where the child looks his age and is nursing lovingly. I think the cover image, that most people will see, does nothing for positive breastfeeding press.

Mothers are very quick to get very defensive about their formula choice. Many, many blogs and online articles that are desperately trying to advocate for breastfeeding, especially extended breastfeeding, get swamped by irate mothers invoking hysterical nonsense like, "I shouldn't have to feel guilty." In my opinion, just talking about extended breastfeeding isn't trying to make you feel guilty, it's just trying to raise awareness and encourage people to view it as normal. Community views on breastfeeding are a huge obstacle right now, and let's face it, not enough women are following the WHO guidelines.

And that's where my commentary on that stops. Anything further would push me into nutty lactivist territory and I'm not about that. I support mothers who honestly can't breastfeed or mothers that have very good reasons for not breastfeeding, and I hope they support my choice to breastfeed my children until they are ready to wean.

What I really want to speak about is being "mum enough". The article, from what I've gathered, is about the extremeness of attachment parenting and I guess what a hardcore mum you have to be to do it.

I'm going to go right out there and say, I'm not Mum enough.

• You couldn't pay me to wear my kids.
• Co-sleeping sucks, and I only do it because getting up eight times during the night sucks worse. 
• I've tried cloth nappies, and while I was mopping up the 57th puddle of wee, scrubbing out the 95th poo stain and washing them for the 112th time trying to get them to be absorbent, I went "Fuck this shit, hand over the sposies."
• I make my own baby food because it's fun. If I got bored of it, I would totally supplement with jars.
• I do not like being a stay at home mum. It doesn't suit me. I feel suffocated and bored. Bring on uni and work!
• Sometimes I let my kids cry. Sometimes I let both my kids cry at the same time.
• For the most part, I can't stand other mothers.
• I refuse to take shit from my toddler. If she's naughty, I treat her as such. 

But you know what, and lots of true attachment parents will say this too, it's pretty hardcore mummying to be able to admit my faults, so maybe I AM mum enough.