Hugs Not Judgement {Special Photo Edition}

Here at CTWorkingMoms we believe in the importance of non-judgement. You do what’s best for your family and I’ll do what’s best for mine and we can still love, respect and even appreciate our differences. That’s the premise behind our Campaign for Judgement-Free Motherhood.

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We’ve talked a lot here about how we can all work towards being less judgmental – towards other moms and just in general. The first step is simply to recognize when we’re judging someone – you know, like when we see a child having a tantrum in the store and our first thought is ‘why isn’t that mom getting her kid under control??’ {GUILTY} One really powerful practice in working towards judging less and loving more is to follow up that judgmental thought with an opposing positive thought.

Let’s take the example that IS NOT FROM MY OWN EXPERIENCE {ahem}. Let’s say, theoretically, I see a child that’s just acting totally out of control, screaming and just being really difficult and let’s just say this takes place at…Target. Is it just me or does this always seem to happen at Target? My first thought might be what’s referenced above, something negative about the parent for not stopping the child’s bad behavior. So now I’m standing there just kind of staring at the situation and I’ve had this negative, judgy thought. At this point I can choose what to do with that thought and I can choose to let it go and instead offer that other mom some empathy and compassion. I can think to myself ‘maybe that mom has had a really hard day and geez my kid has tantrums too, I don’t know what her situation is like so who am I to judge it?’ AND THEN I FEEL A MILLION TIMES BETTER. Because it FEELS better to choose love over judgement. It’s like we’re not only giving our own heart a little hug, we’re giving that other mom a little hug too (albeit, in our mind).

There really doesn’t seem like much we can do to top the popularity of that original post about embracing our parenting differences and nor do we want to aim to top it. But we do want to continue to support our readers and fellow moms and to continue forward with our positive message of sisterhood. So we recently got together for another photo shoot, photos taken by the incredible Jean Molodetz of IViewPhotography. Our hope this time was to take the idea of our Hugs page (one of our most popular pages here on the site), mix it together a little with our Campaign for Judgement-Free Motherhood and come up with our own loving, supportive hugs statements for all of you.

Have a bad day? Feeling insecure about your parenting? Feeling extra judgmental of others and need to come up with some phrases you can use in your mind to replace the judgement? Just want to feel a sense of sisterhood? Look no further (and bookmark this post so you can always find it).

Here are some warm, loving, hugs from the writers of CT Working Moms, to you:

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Do you feel better now? I sure do. I love reading the messages each of these mamas came up with on their own. When we all work to embrace an attitude of support and love, we feel much more connected to our fellow moms and the world just seems brighter.

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Share this post with someone you care about, come back here when you need us and even send in your own little hug statement. You can see all these photos, plus the other hugs we’ve accumulated over the years, right here.

We’re sending you positive, supportive energy and a big old giant HUG! XOXO

All photos were taken by our photo goddess Jean Molodetz at IViewPhotography. These images may not be reused or altered in any way without permission from CT Working Moms.

17 thoughts on “Hugs Not Judgement {Special Photo Edition}”

  3. Greetings Michelle
    I read the CNN article and there was one thing there regarding judging a mommy of a screaming child in the throes of a tantrum. You mentioned supporting her and giving her a mental hug. just a offer of advice, no judgemnt here-lol-
    Is it possible we could give her a verbal hug of support?
    I was thinking what could be done was walk over and say something like “being overwhelmed is part of being a mom, i’ve been there-can i help at all?” not everyone wants to be helped, but another mom who has been there can be enough support. and who knows maybe another mom’s help and intervention can diffuse any anger, and yes, shame, that mommy may be feeling. another mom to speak to can just bring the relief thats needed to also help mom stand up and breathe a sigh, count to ten(or higher), and breathe calmly, and respond better to the naughty tantruming child.

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    1. Oh yes Dee! Totally! I’ve definitely made sure to say something encouraging to moms I see struggling when it’s appropriate. Good point!

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  9. […] Today’s Hug post and its message couldn’t have come at a better time. I can’t claim to have any answers yet about any of my questions but, as the post alludes to, I can maybe at least put the brakes on my out of control, train-wreck thinking. Lenny eats. Lenny sleeps. Until we figure out something that works better for us, he is just fine for now. We’re doing the best we can right now, and will work it out as we go along. Someday, we’ll have perfected the art of acting like we have it all figured out even though we’re flying by the seat of our pants, so that no one will be the wiser. Sorry again, Teenage Lenny. […]

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  10. This is really terrific, powerful and inspiring. I’m past the tantrum days (or at least the one’s that involve full frontal body plants on the floors of stores) but still benefit from the support of moms. Don’t know where we’d be without our girlfriends!

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  11. I can’t tell you how much I want to meet each and every one of you! I just love you guys! Thanks so much for your wisdom, kindness and support

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  12. AWESOMENESS!!! Such fond memories of this photo shoot! Seriously, do we all ROCK or what? Great post, Michelle! Great artistry, Jean! Love us!!! ♥♥♥

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