Have you ever been surprised by another mom’s parenting style? Check out Pretty Wicked Moms!

If you are a mom, I’m sure at some point another mom’s parenting style has surprised you.  For good or for bad.  Maybe both. When POPSUGAR asked me if I wanted to check out a new show coming soon to Lifetime called Pretty Wicked Moms, I wanted to see it.  I am NOT the biggest reality TV fan out there, but sometimes it’s just plain fun to watch these shows.  The world of being a mom can be one of the most wonderful and supportive communities there is- but at the same time (often simultaneously) it can also be one of the most cutthroat, competitive and judgemental communities out there.

Before I was a mom, I was the best.parent.ever. I was going to do it all RIGHT.  After you stop laughing at my ridiculousness, keep reading.  I think the mom’s parenting style that has surprised me MOST has been my own. I am fairly sure most people thought I’d put my kids on a schedule quite early….I’m not sure we’ve ever had a real schedule in this house. There’s a lot of grey in our schedule. Not much black and white. I really wasgoing to be the best mom ever. I researched my butt off. I was on the pre-parental pregnancy HIGH HORSE, y’all, and I wasn’t coming down off of that.  I was just going to move it to a pedestal.

And then the baby came.  Aw, hi cute baby!!  CRASH.  Off that high pedestal, right now, new mama!!  You weren’t going to cosleep?  Babies should only nurse for 6 weeks? 6 months?  You’ll never cloth diaper?  Won’t wear your baby?Think again, my friend.

Like so many mamas I’d met, talked to, read about, heard about, or just saw, when the baby came, I had to do a lot based on my instinct.  Maybe it wasn’t with kid 1, or even kid 2.  But by kid 3?  Many, many of those “I never” statements I’d been so darn sure about were “I’ve done it” or “It got the baby to sleep/eat.”  All that stuff in “the books” didn’t apply to my baby.  Trial and error got us into a groove, although it seemed like the groove would last for 3 days and things would change again.  Back to square one.

I have see other’s reactions when they learn how close together our children are, or that my littlest one slept in our bed for the better part of a year.  I’ve seen eyebrows go up when they hear that not one but TWO of my kids were nursed far past a year, one for over 2 years.  I’ve also seen “that look” when they learn my kids have all had formula.  Or that I took multiple herbal remedies to increase my breast milk production for months on end.  I’ve long since stopped caring (although not to the extent some of the moms on Pretty Wicked Moms don’t care!!) about what others think.  My family, my business. Period. Your family, your business.

I am not proud of this but I can clearly remember thinking (and probably judging because I was so ignorant) about WHY anyone would want to breastfeed a baby after a year…a toddler…a preschooler…and yet, here I am, telling you I nursed my younger 2 far past a year, the last one, well past 2 years.  Me.  The one who couldn’t understand why anyone would want to.  But at the time, it worked. It worked for my kids and it worked for me.  It hurt no one and it worked.  Now, if I hear someone has an extended nursing relationship, I quietly think to myself “I hope their kid isn’t a biter.”

I’ve learned from my almost 8 years as an actual parent (and unlearned all the perfection I wasn’t ever going to attain in my months of pregnancy with child #1) that we are all pretty much doing the very best we can.  Period.  If it works and isn’t hurting anyone, who cares?  Not my business, not yours either.  Of course, that doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy a show that gets as snarky and high -horsey (or should I say, high-end-horsey) like Pretty Wicked Moms.  That’s just fun to watch.  (And really, if I’m being totally honest, I sit and wonder why in the world someone would want to wear heels that high while caring for their children…..)

If you want some fun viewing, be sure to check out Pretty Wicked Moms.  This group of moms is not like any mom I’ve met in real life, but the parenting styles and differences are the same basic ones that I’ve heard from all moms.  Cosleeping, caregiving, birthday parties and more.  The parenting styles and differences aren’t so different, but these ladies seem a lot more concerned with how they look WHILE they are parenting than what others think!  It’s snarky and outrageous at times but it’s also entertaining and fun to watch. Tune in to watch parenting like you’ve never seen before with the first episode of Pretty Wicked Moms on Tuesday, June 4, at 10:00 pm ET/PT on Lifetime.

Have you heard of Pretty Wicked Moms?  Will you be watching June 4th?

FTC DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT This Mama Loves aims to provide unbiased editorials. However, I wish to disclose that from time to time I may receive free products or other compensation from companies for blogger reviews.