The Bad Mommy Phenomenon

You may have read by now that Bad Mommies are all the rage.

In fact, I've heard more than a few of you complain over the last couple of years that the Bad Mommy phenomenon is a growing problem on blogs, where some mothers seem to be competing over who is the most outrageous/neglectful/badly behaved.

I've never really thought of myself as a bad mom, although I have many Bad Mommy characteristics that would get some of you out there in a tizzy. To name a few...

• I don't bathe my kids every day.

• I still let my son drink warm milk from a bottle when he wants it.

• I don't limit my kids' TV time, and won't unless they seem to need it. What's more, I think TV has given my daughter fabulous vocabulary, imagination and critical thinking skills.

There are more- I actually list them from time to time on this blog. I think it's perfectly normal to do some things my way, regardless of what all the experts (not to mention the commenters) are telling me to do.

And I don't think I'm a bad mommy, because for all the mothering mistakes I make, I love my children with a wild abandon. I hug and kiss and cuddle with them dozens of times every single day. I know what's going on in their world. I'm part of it. They will doubtless think back some day on some of the things I did wrong.

But they will never, ever doubt that I loved them with everything I had.

That's why even when I got handed my hat last week for apparently putting my son's life at risk by letting him run to the back of a small restaurant, I didn't sweat it.

In fact, I even wrote about it and the backlash for this week's newspaper edition of Suburban Turmoil. Some of you are in it, too! Check it out- and leave your comment there with your URL if you'd like me to stop by and check out your blog.