A Few Words on Parenting and Blogging and Also Me

by | Oct 3, 2010 | Blog, Parenting/Family | 2 comments

I get asked lots of questions about blogging, which I now see is a series of posts in and of itself… all of which have been done in many ways, shapes and forms by other bloggers across the interwebz.

But we all have our own voice, philosophy and way we breakdown any number of “101” approaches to any given discipline.

And yes, I did just directly, yet indirectly imply that blogging is a discipline.

But it depends on who is doing the blogging.

Oooh, so serious.

All that is a set-up for a question I was asked recently, “Are you a parenting blogger?”

Yes. No. Yes.

I am also a woman, wife, coffee whore, dreamer, lover of 80’s music and black jelly bracelets, goof-off and *gasp* VLOGGER.

I was asked the question because as of the writing of this post, I am currently standing in #1 in the voting for Best Parenting Blog of Western Washington (in a list of great local bloggers…) You can check them out or just click on the image below as I shamelessly make it easy to help you keep me at #1… Because this accomplishemnt really IS about You. Really. No, really!

We're Competing badge

*ahem*

I love how that badge says “Vote 4 Us”. How did they know I have an alter ego?

I digress. I was asked if I categorize myself as a “parenting” blog. Again… Yes. No. Yes.

My spot (pun intended) here is a reflection of me. Alter-egos aside… Every time I am asked about what my blog is about, I struggle… “Mommy blogger”. “Humor Blogger”. “Glitter blogger”. “Video blogger“.

Jenny of all trades, master of none?

I answered the question about the pareting theme of this site this way, “Yes. But. It’s not a parenting ADVICE site. It’s more of a “DEAR. LORD.” approach to parenting.

I am a mess of a mom. But a great mom. I am inconsistent in discipline. I am terrible at letting my kids “help” me make cookies. But I let my 5 and 8 year olds paint their own nails. I hate letting the kids crack eggs. I yell. I crack (who knew I was so egg-like). I cry. I laugh. I joy… and this whole deal with helping siblings learn to not kill each other is WAY harder than when I had to share a room with my sister for years 3 to 18 of my life.

My take on parenting is – it’s hard. It’s awesome. It has way more hard moments than awesome moments, but those awesome moments are SO intensely awesome (think double rainbows) it’s often times difficult to see the hard in the great shadow of awesome.

Oooh. That’d be a good book title — Parenting: The Great Shadow of Awesome… A Story of Brokenness and Redemption.

I also like to make-up book titles and then do nothing about it. But I digress.

Being a mom or dad is the greatest challenge. It is the greatest privilege. It is the greatest at making or breaking a full-sized person. Everyday I am amazed at the power of my little people. Not OVER me, but sometimes. Their worlds shape mine… wills fight with mine… their hopes grip my heart… their tummies keep me in the kitchen more than I ever imagined.

So. Parenting. It’s all part of the piece. It’s all part of the journey. I acknowledge I will never have it figured out. Everyday is different, and in the blink of an eye my toothless firstborn is 11. It seems like just yesterday I was regretting my diaper cream choice… and last night I regretted not taking my son the the Black Keys concert.

Who knew? I never read that regret in a book.

Always changing. New seasons, new challenges, new accomplishments, new victories and new defeats.

In the end, I know this “parenting” thing is a perfect fit for me. Any other life would bore me to death.

How about you? What is your 2 cents? Are you a parent? What is your perspective?

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Keep up on the ridiculous, the insightful, the always digressive…

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