You know what I hate? The Mommy Wars. Stay-at-Home vs. Working moms. Attachment vs. Waldorf vs. "I got spanked and I turned out fine!" moms. Homeschooling vs. Unschooling vs. Charter schooling moms. Oh, do you not feel welcome among any of the aforementioned warring mom factions? Okay - how 'bout if we add to the fray a new and completely media driven battleground: Adoptive Celebrity moms vs... uh, other adoptive celebrity moms.
Sunday's Daily Mail, a British tabloid, reports that the world's most famous adoptive mom, Angelina Jolie, is unhappy with new adoptive mom Madonna's decision to quasi-adopt a semi-orphan from Malawi, a country in which there is no legal adoption process. The paper quotes Jolie as saying "Personally, I prefer to stay on the right side of the law. I would never take a child away from a place where adoption is illegal." (Human rights groups are still investigating whether Madonna used her 1 million pound "donation" to the orphanage where 1 year-old David lived, to bypass laws prohibiting foreigners from adopting Malawians).
Yeah, the Madonna thing is totally fishy. My guess is that Angelina probably felt some sort of obligation to stand up and stay "there's a right way and a wrong way to this this, people," because, let's face it - she is the global face of adoption. But the bottom line is that, because of Madonna, conceited and misguided though she may be, there is one less African child living in an overburdened, underfunded orphanage. Because of Madonna, there is one more young African man in the world with unlimited opportunities and a loving home and family. And everyone knows it.
Now, I do not defend Madonna's shady dealings - but, seriously? What is more important,here? Even young David's biological father, Yohane Banda, who relinquished his son since he could not afford to care for him says "As David's father, I have no problem with (the adoption). What I want is a good life, a good ecducation for my child." The very same article that claims that Angelina is "attacking" Madonna quotes her saying "I have been horrified by the attacks (Madonna) has been subjected to. All that should count is the happiness of little David."
Ouch! Quite the scathing commentary, eh? What a bitchfest. CATFIGHT!! Come on. Give me a fucking break. The Mommy Wars are raging - we know. Vegetarian Moms hate/resent/insert-angry-verb-here Hamburger Moms - we know. Adoptive Actress Moms totally kick the asses of Adoptive Musician Moms - we know. We know because bullshit mainstream media publications tell us all the time.
But the war stops today if we stop it. The Soccer Moms and the Baseball Moms become friends today, if we want it. The M.I.L.F.s and the Mom Jeans coexist peacefully - happily! - if we make it happen. And we can. Because we're moms. Because whether you are a birth mother or an adoptive mother, a celebrity or struggling single mom, you're a mom. We are caring for the children of the world, and we are amazing. And though that simple fact is not enough to sell magazines or self-help books, it's enough to change the way the world looks at us, if we believe in it, and in each other. Cheesy but true.
