mama blogs

I was talking with a fellow mama this morning about how much we appreciate being able to talk honestly with one another about the challenges of parenting (and not just the amazing, cute, sweet etc. etc. big and little things); how being around moms who always appear as if all is fine and dandy in their world makes us feel uncomfortable.

I like to use my blog as well as a space for honest outlets. But this fellow mama told me about another approach: Amanda Blake Soule, a mama of four who in her blog, SouleMama, likes to focus "on the beauty of everyday life." In her Snapshots disclaimer, Soule explains that her writing presents the reader with exactly that: snapshots. The precious ones. Because this kind of blogging is a sort of meditation to her that helps her remind herself of the joys, beauty and blessings that surround her on a daily basis; that it helps her to see and look for those things, people and moments which bring her joy. That it helps her get through the days of parenting (just as, she adds, a reassuring phone call to a spouse or a friend can do, or the promise of an evening of creating in peace, or the mindful mantras taped to a mirror and repeated as necessary,  "and yes, sometimes by eating a pint of ice cream, locked alone in the bathroom at 9 o'clock in the morning, breathing deeply and trying to restore some sanity with which to continue the day mindfully, and with patience."

I like this approach too. Maybe I should try adding a little bit of this meditative practice into my own approach to parenting.

Though I do really enjoy reading blogs that I can relate to well, like SuburbanSnapshots by the mom of a toddler girl my daughter's age.