The Movement
I have had the good fortune to be raised by an incredibly strong woman. My mom may seem like a sensitive person, but she is tough as nails. After suddenly losing my dad in a car accident when I was 2 and she was pregnant with my brother, she was in this harsh world without her husband…and raising 2 small kids. I cannot even imagine the heartbreak and fear she felt. Looking back on my childhood, I never witnessed her worried or anxious. She was superwoman to us – and still is. At a very young age, I knew my mom was powerful!
Women have this amazing way of putting it all on our shoulders and just making it work. Yes we fall down and we are perfectly imperfect…but we don’t give up without a fight. We lay in bed and play out every possible scenario for the next day (or year) in our heads. We have purses full of nonsense items for the ‘just in case’ scenarios. Hell, I have fruit snacks, a pair of toddler socks and a packet of Chick-fil-A honey mustard in mine right now! It’s just what we do. Even the moms who say they don’t plan ahead still know their kid’s school schedules, homework assignments and grocery lists off the top of their head if you quizzed them.
It has been a great honor to virtually make over 4,700 new mom friends in my Judge Free Mom’s Facebook group. We are comprised of women from all over the world. Diverse in age, race and background. We have one HUGE thing in common. We are moms on a journey. While we don’t all agree and may not understand each other, we respect everyone. When one of us is hurting, we console. When one of us is happy, we celebrate with them. When someone vents their issues, we listen. We never judge. Seems like a very easy concept…but these days, judgment is passed quickly and it hurts. When we are judged, we shut down. When we put ourselves in a place where we don’t judge others and aren’t judged ourselves…we all shine together! There is enough room in this world for ALL OF US to shine :-)
The way this page has grown in the past few months shows me how much moms craved a forum to just ‘be’. We want a place to share our stories and to confirm that we aren’t completely crazy! What an amazing sentiment it is to feel the embrace of thousands of supporting women…most of whom we will never even meet. To have a place to interact with women from all walks of life while knowing that you will be lifted up instead of knocked down. While I have created the group…it is the moms who make it tick!
The Judge Free Mom movement is just at it's beginning. I feel a real change in the way I interact with other women, and so many members have told me they feel the same. Judge Free Moms is my passion project. My goal is for the women in the group to invite others who feel the same way and pay it forward in our daily lives. Small acts of understanding and love towards women will create a ripple effect. Ripples turn into waves!
Judge Free Moms can create huge waves. I know it.
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
-Mother Theresa