Does your past determine your credibility as a mother?

Recently I got into a discussion via facebook that landed me being judged by my past. Here is my past: I dropped out of high school when I was 16 or 17, can't remember exactly. I moved out when I was 17, moved back in when I was 18, moved back out before I was 18 1/2 and had a baby when I was 19. I was not married and I was into smoking pot. I was also an exotic dancer, before I was pregnant and afterwards. When my baby was 7 months old my boyfriend and I started using Meth. When my baby was 9 months old, CPS got involved, removed my son and gave temporary custody to my parents. I immediately started doing what I needed to do but I was still trying to hold on to the man that was my baby's father, all the mean while he was cheating on me. After I got pregnant again, only 6 months after my son was taken by CPS, I said "forget this! I don't want to lose another baby because I am trying to hold on to this jerk who is doing nothing but holding me back". So I left and went to my dad's house. he took me to a shelter and said "get your act together then you can come home". I had a choice. I could have went back to my old ways or I could turn and knock on the door that would save my life. I knocked on that door and sure enough, with a little hard work I got out of my crappy hole that I dug. Now 5 1/2 almost 6 years later, I have my son back, I have my daughter, I have another daughter, and I am married to the most amazing man in the whole entire world. I am clean, I have given my life to God, I work with the youth group, and I work with Teen MOPS.

Now, because of my past in an email I was told this: "If you had your child/children taken away by cps (it takes alot to have a child removed from the home and more than one istance) then you are no model mother (no offence just sayin) and should NOT be posting stuff like that. I don't care how long cps has not been involved because by far that is a horrible thing," 


Okay, so I am sure you are wondering what the "should not be posting stuff like that" is. I posted some links on facebook about a couple of mothers who allow their sons to dress in girl clothing. One mother wrote the blog My Son is Gay and the other mother wrote the book My Princess Boy. And you can probably guess the discussion that came from that! PHEW!

But I guess my question is.... Does my past really determine my credibility as a mother? I mean really, if I was still doing drugs and all my children were being taken care of by someone else because I was selfish like that, then yes, i can see where I would not be a model mother. But, because I have learned from my mistakes, doesn't that give me some credibility? I mean, am I completely exempt from having an opinion on mothering because of my past? My past is my past.

What are your thoughts?

~Lil*Mama~