A little Friday drama ... why not?

So by now, unless you're hiding under a rock, I am sure you've heard about or seen the Time breastfeeding cover. If not, here's one of a million quick stories, and the picture is below.

I think the point of this article and image was to get people talking. So, mission accomplished. If you put "Time" into a Google search, this is the first thing that comes up.

My main issue here is with the title "Are you mom enough?" Do we really need more drama in this country about whether or not we're good moms? This kind of reminds me of my rant about the Facebook COO leaving work at 5:00pm every day. Some people are taking the title to mean "Are you mom enough to breastfeed your children until they are 3 or 4?" (which is such a huge commitment), while others are interpreting it as simply "are you mom enough to breastfeed?" Either way, I don't like the polarizing nature of the title. All mothers want to do the best thing for their children, and ultimately, I think a child's mother is the absolute best judge of what, in fact, is best. Was I supposed to keep charging ahead with nursing Thatcher when he lost weight between appointments and the pediatrician was talking about testing for cancer if he couldn't gain weight? That was an incredibly scary time, and I have no question that supplementing and plumping him up to make sure that he was capable of gaining weight was the right choice. But am I less of a mother because of that? I'd hate to think so because had I kept nursing exclusively, we could have put him through unnecessary and invasive tests while also jeopardizing critical brain development.

I think the question ought to be "are you mom enough to make tough choices and constantly put your children first even when that means changing course from what you personally wanted to do?"

I also find the picture highly sexual and the opposite of what breastfeeding is about at any age - to me, nursing is about nurturing, loving and providing for your child, and the fact that she is striking a pose while he is staring at the camera bugs me. No one nurses like that at home (and this mother even admitted so on The Today Show), so why must we display breastfeeding in this way? What would have been wrong with an image of the child at whatever age being cradled in the comfort of his room before bedtime? That would have been beautiful. But not nearly as sensational. And sensation sells.

I have no issue with attachment parenting or any other method of parenting for that matter - to each their own. I don't want to be judged for my choices, and I don't feel it my place to judge others. I don't want unsolicited advice on how best to parent my own child, and I am not going to pretend to know how to best parent other people's children. That said, I don't think the picture did anything to further attachment parenting or extended breastfeeding, which then leads me to believe it is just an article for sensational purposes and that kind of drives me bonkers.

I just get tired of the mom debates constantly bombarding us. They're everywhere you look: Facebook, Time, The Today Show, blogs, etc - it's like you're constantly judging yourself and wondering if you're good enough when I think what would be amazing is SUPPORT for all approaches versus espousing one. Especially right before Mother's Day when we should really be celebrating motherhood in general.
 
So those are my thoughts. And yours?