Greetings!

Happy August!

My radio show this week is about Handling Judgment. It’s a great show (I recorded it last week) and you definitely should listen in. I talk about different ways to deal with being judged as a mother. My personal favorite is just to speak your truth about whatever you are being judged on. So, I devoted this newsletter to sharing more about Speaking Your Truth.

Scroll down to Your Coaching Moment to practice speaking YOUR truth.

All the best from your coach,
Amy
Founder, Empowered Motherhood LLC

Amy with her son, Matthew

Don't Miss This Week’s Radio Show!

Amy is the coach and host of the Internet radio show, The Empowered Mother. You can listen live every Thursday from 11am to 12pm pacific standard time on healthylife.net OR check out the show archives anytime.

Join moms and moms-to-be as Amy coaches women on their challenges as women and mothers and celebrates their success. This week’s show is about Handling Judgment! If you are interested in being a caller on an upcoming show, email amy@empoweredmotherhood.com.

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Handling Judgment – Speak Your Truth!

Motherhood can be a divisive issue. Even among mothers. People tend to have strong feelings about motherhood, and they're not always shy about sharing them. You probably have experienced this often as people in your life and even strangers tell you what you should and shouldn't do as a mother.

Feeling judged as a mother is unsettling whatever stage of motherhood you are in. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how old your kids are. Judgments can come flying at you and from you about almost any topic:

• whether you work or you don’t
• what your baby or kids eat or drink
• what your body looks like
• whether you breastfeed or not or how long
• how your kids interact with other kids
• what your rules are and how you discipline your children

Inevitably you will be judged by what you choose to do as a mother. Feeling judged usually makes you second-guess yourself. It's hard enough to make decisions without a chorus of critics. One strategy for handling judgment is to speak your truth. You know whose best interest you have at heart. You really do know what's best for you and your family. You can simply share your thoughts with others to help them see why you've made the choice you have.

For example: I am going to share a story of my own. The other Saturday I complained to my husband that I had to take care of our little 20-month old dynamo all day while he studied for grad school. He said, “Well, you’re his mother!” The judgment was clear to me – I’m a bad mother who doesn’t love her son enough and a real mother would be happy to be with her little boy all day.

Several hours later after I stopped heaping guilt on my head, I tried speaking my truth to my husband. It went something like this. “I AM Matt’s mother and I do love him tremendously.  But, the truth is I have childcare all week while I work and sometimes I don’t know what to do with Matt when I am alone with him all day. It seems daunting to me.” We then went on to have a conversation about how I need to get out of the house with Matt and just have more fun together.

Notice how the truth doesn’t over explain, defend or make apologies. The truth is usually simple and straightforward. It might not be pretty, but speaking clearly about what is true for YOU does wonders to move past the judgment and open up the space for reflection, learning and growth.

Email me at amy@empoweredmotherhood.com and share what you learned! And click here to see our newsletter archive.

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DISCLAIMER: This newsletter was created to provide information of a general nature and is designed for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your health or the health of your baby, you should always consult with a physician or health care professional.