When my big guy was in Junior Kindergarten he was 4 years old, like all the other kids in his class. Unlike all the other kids in his class, his mom (me) was only 25 years old at the time.

My age never bothered me, it never determined how good of a mother or how much of a mother I was. But it clearly bothers some people. And now that my kids are back in school, I have to deal with it all over again.

It all happened one fine day when my son was happily playing in the kindergarten school yard. Happy as can be. I was standing watching him, while my other son, who wasn’t old enough yet for school sat at my feet playing with a toy. Another students mom came up to me and asked my age. Feeling no guilt or shame in it, I proudly answered her. Her response, as loud as she could for every parent around to hear, “OH MY GOD! You are one of THOSE parents! OH MY GOD! You are only 25!” She actually put her nose in the air and turned away from me. She has never spoken to me since, despite our children going to school together at the same school and my son is now in Grade 5.

To this day I am still referred to as, “One of THOSE moms” When some of the moms talk at school they will purposely say things like, “Not that you would know about this, you are a young mom”. Unless they are talking about getting the seniors discount, they really should just shut it.

My age has been pointed out to me since the very first time I got pregnant. This is nothing new to me. But happening at school, in front of my kids, thats just not cool.

My age has absolutely no baring on how good of a mother or how much of a mother I am. It doesn’t define me on my journey in motherhood or makes me any less of a mother. It also doesn’t make me unable to understand the importance of motherhood and the ups and downs of it all.

I am every bit a mother as the next lady who gave birth in her mid 30s or 40s. I am every bit a mother the day I gave birth when I was 17, as I am now at 31 years old and 4 kids later.

How do I put this nicely… Dear Mothers who gave birth later in life, stop judging other moms based on their age. It doesn’t matter at what age we joined motherhood, what does matter is that we are all in this motherhood journey together and should be supporting each other and helping each other. We all have the same goal; raise kids that are happy and productive members of society and reach their full awesome potential.

Age is just a number. Age doesn’t matter. Age doesn’t define how good of a mother you are. There is no guarantee that the older you are the better mother you will be. So stop judging others by age. There is no magic age.

I am 31, I given birth to 4 kick ass children aged 14, 10, 9 and 2. And I am a kick ass mother. I am every bit a mother as someone who gave birth at 35, or 45! A mother is a mother is a mother!

So the next time you are out and see a young mom, be nice, don’t judge.

~ Michelle