I'm Mom Enough.

Yes. Yes I am.

By now, everyone has seen the controversial TIME Magazine cover of the woman "breastfeeding" her three-year-old son. It's struck a chord with mom and non-mothers alike... "mom enough?" What does that even mean? And why does it have to involve breastfeeding a three--year-old who looks older than he is?

Even within my own social circles it has become a topic of debate. Does attachment parenting work? Should there be a line drawn when a child is at a certain age? And who makes these decisions best?

I think that's where TIME got it all wrong... any mother who's a mother is "mom enough."

The time, effort, and energy it takes to raise a child doesn't need justification. Yes, I breastfed my own daughter, but between going back to work and her own self-weening we were done at 7 months. Do I feel like I failed her because we didn't keep it up until she was older? Absolutely not. I had even said if we were lucky enough to get through a year, I was going to ween her myself the moment she could ask to eat. There are boundaries, and a child asking to suck from my boob is one of them.

Am I judged as a mother because I allowed her to sleep in her own crib starting at 3 months old rather than co-sleeping in our bed? Was it cruel of me to leave her alone at night so I could sleep peacefully knowing that I wouldn't be in fear of rolling on top of her in the middle of the night? Sure there were late nights when she was little where I would bring her in with me after a feeding and allow her to sleep on my chest until she was hungry again, but I can tell you for a fact regardless of how comfortable she was, my sense were attuned to every move she made... the slightest movement and I was awake to make sure she hadn't somehow fallen away from me. No, that was no way for me to rest.

Am I less of a mom because I chose to use disposable diapers on my daughter rather than cloth diapers? Before my daughter was born, my husband and I compared costs, not only the initial start-up, but the cost to maintain our decision. For the amount it would cost us to purchase cloth diapers - the shells, inserts, detergent - not to mention the extra water and time it would take to keep everything sanitary, it just wasn't comparable having to buy boxes of disposables. We were able to price out boxes of disposables to fit our needs and budget (and for anyone wondering, Amazon Mom is a godsend). Not to mention most daycare centers won't even take a child in cloth diapers, so at that point you're going to have to buy disposables anyway!

But why stop there?

Am I demoted as a mother because I wasn't a fan of wearing my child? Because I found a Moby Wrap too confusing and time consuming? For not giving her organic or all-natural foods only? Because I feed her chicken nuggets? Because I chose to buy standard Graco strollers and pack-n-plays rather than expensive high-end brand names? For using Johnson products? Hell, am I damned because I have had to bring her to a daycare so that I could work to ensure she was cared for??

Deep breaths...

Another article began circulating around the time this TIME cover surfaced, and I thought it was very well written and really hit home, not only to me, but to a lot of other moms I know. It's a blog post from Boston.com titled Am I Mom Enough? A Motherhood Wishlist and I suggest any of you who haven't read it yet to please do so. Trust me, it will ease any doubts you may ever have about being "mom enough."

We ARE mom enough, my friends. Don't ever let anyone try to convince you otherwise.