Self-aware mommy blogs?
May 23, 2014 11:29 AM Subscribe
Recently someone on the blue pointed me to Fosterhood, a blog written by a foster mom and I was obsessed--read the 270+ pages of archives in about 3 days. I'm looking for other similar blogs, but googling for 'top recommendations' of parenting blogs hasn't exactly found me what I want.
So, hive-mind, do you have any recommendations of your favorite parenting blogs?
What I'm interested in:
1) Introspection and self-awareness: I like reading blogs because I like to have a window into someone's "inner life". It doesn't have to be deep and therapeutic type stuff, but I am interested in learning someone's honest story, and not a sanitized-for-facebook version of their lives. I think its especially interesting when people talk about the struggles and challenges they face and how they get through them.
2) Diversity in family structure: Most people I know in real life come from a 'typical' family structure, so I'd love to learn more about foster families, multi-racial families, stay-at-home dads, extremely rich or extremely poor families, etc. I'd extend this to both sides of the political spectrum -- I'd be interested in a "quiverfull" homeschooling mommy blog, as well as a feminist CXO mom, as long as they both seem to question their place in the world and show respect for the other lifestyles people live.
3) Humor: Cute or funny stories about the weird things kids do.
What I'm not interested in:
1) Blogs with alot of ads/product placement: I respect that alot of people are doing this for a living, but it's really distracting when you have to work to filter out the "serious" posts like with Dooce.
2) Displays of pinterest-perfect housewifery: Like the blogs listed in this slate article. Similarly, I'm not interested in blogs that are mostly recipes or craft-patterns.
3) Parenting advice: I don't have kids -- for me, kids in parenting blogs add to the drama of their parent's inner lives, but photos of kids aren't interesting on their own.
It's fine if a blog includes some of these three things, but I'm not looking for blogs where those are the focus.
From some previous ask-mefi questions I found Matt, Liz, and Madeline which looks intriguing. Some career blogs I follow have posts about parenting, that are the kind of thing I'd be interested in reading more of, so feel free to recommend blogs that aren't only about parenting too.
So, hive-mind, do you have any recommendations of your favorite parenting blogs?
What I'm interested in:
1) Introspection and self-awareness: I like reading blogs because I like to have a window into someone's "inner life". It doesn't have to be deep and therapeutic type stuff, but I am interested in learning someone's honest story, and not a sanitized-for-facebook version of their lives. I think its especially interesting when people talk about the struggles and challenges they face and how they get through them.
2) Diversity in family structure: Most people I know in real life come from a 'typical' family structure, so I'd love to learn more about foster families, multi-racial families, stay-at-home dads, extremely rich or extremely poor families, etc. I'd extend this to both sides of the political spectrum -- I'd be interested in a "quiverfull" homeschooling mommy blog, as well as a feminist CXO mom, as long as they both seem to question their place in the world and show respect for the other lifestyles people live.
3) Humor: Cute or funny stories about the weird things kids do.
What I'm not interested in:
1) Blogs with alot of ads/product placement: I respect that alot of people are doing this for a living, but it's really distracting when you have to work to filter out the "serious" posts like with Dooce.
2) Displays of pinterest-perfect housewifery: Like the blogs listed in this slate article. Similarly, I'm not interested in blogs that are mostly recipes or craft-patterns.
3) Parenting advice: I don't have kids -- for me, kids in parenting blogs add to the drama of their parent's inner lives, but photos of kids aren't interesting on their own.
It's fine if a blog includes some of these three things, but I'm not looking for blogs where those are the focus.
From some previous ask-mefi questions I found Matt, Liz, and Madeline which looks intriguing. Some career blogs I follow have posts about parenting, that are the kind of thing I'd be interested in reading more of, so feel free to recommend blogs that aren't only about parenting too.
Best answer: It's not a blog, but the MaxFun podcast One Bad Mother jumped to my mind when reading this.
posted by inturnaround at 11:49 AM on May 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by inturnaround at 11:49 AM on May 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
I really enjoy Anna's writing about motherhood, her pets, house restoration, and gardening. From what I gather, she's made a home with a platonic male friend and has had a daughter recently; her posts about deciding to get pregnant with a donor, singlehood, as well as her experiences with the baby, have been really interesting to read. There is a certain calm and peace in the pace of life she describes, which I find pleasant and reassuring.
posted by magdalemon at 12:04 PM on May 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by magdalemon at 12:04 PM on May 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
I love bleubird's blog, and I'm not even a parent. She has four kids of varying ages (I think the oldest is 14 and the youngest is a year old) and she home schools them. She writes well and it's an added bonus that she photographs the most beautiful pictures of her family.
posted by alon at 12:08 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by alon at 12:08 PM on May 23, 2014
http://bluemilk.wordpress.com/
I love Andie's writing and always learn something when I visit.
posted by lafemma at 12:11 PM on May 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
I love Andie's writing and always learn something when I visit.
posted by lafemma at 12:11 PM on May 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
I really like academomia.com. Becca is a mom of four kids (three boys and a baby girl) and is a university science professor. I love her writing because it's breezy and upbeat without being all Mormon-saccharine, and how she oscillates from posts about work to posts about home. Actually I really just want to be her friend.
posted by Liesl at 12:16 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by Liesl at 12:16 PM on May 23, 2014
Someone else on mefi recommended LA Fosterblog. I've read the full archives of both Fosterhood and Fosterwee, and that is maybe even more insightful and heartbreaking.
Travel Orders hasn't been updating that much recently, but it's fascinating to read through from beginning to end - they start out as a young, childless, unmarried couple interested in joining the foreign service, and then - lots of changes!
posted by pretentious illiterate at 12:29 PM on May 23, 2014
Travel Orders hasn't been updating that much recently, but it's fascinating to read through from beginning to end - they start out as a young, childless, unmarried couple interested in joining the foreign service, and then - lots of changes!
posted by pretentious illiterate at 12:29 PM on May 23, 2014
Lesbian Dad doesn't blog all that much anymore, but her archives are amazing.
posted by barnone at 12:30 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by barnone at 12:30 PM on May 23, 2014
Camp Patton might fit the bill. Grace, the author, and her husband are quite Catholic (although religion itself isn't a huge focus of the blog, clearly they are from a culture that unlike mine) and have four kids all about a year apart. I also love Grace's writing style--I think she's very talented.
posted by Ideal Impulse at 12:31 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by Ideal Impulse at 12:31 PM on May 23, 2014
Best answer: Team Shimmy - lesbian moms of a 6 year old with cardiomyopathy and autism. Much funnier than that sounds.
posted by cushie at 12:45 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by cushie at 12:45 PM on May 23, 2014
I really love The Harridan and Relentless Laundry.
posted by lollymccatburglar at 12:57 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by lollymccatburglar at 12:57 PM on May 23, 2014
Best answer: Oh, and I also really enjoy Belgian Waffle. It's not specifically about parenting, but the writer talks about her two sons nearly every post.
posted by lollymccatburglar at 12:59 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by lollymccatburglar at 12:59 PM on May 23, 2014
Mutha Magazine would likely lead you to some good blogs by their various contributors.
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 1:20 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 1:20 PM on May 23, 2014
Best answer: Of those mentioned above, Fosterwee and Anna at twelve22 are some of my favorites.
You should definitely check also out Adoptive Black Mom (one mom, one recently-adopted tween daughter - thoughtful, introspective and frequently hilarious).
I also think you might like:
Adoption in the City (a birth mom in New York who has regular contact with her 4-year-old son through an open adoption)
Big Mama Hollers (Christian, vegan, rural Southern gardening nerd homebody with a lot of adopted kids - just a really interesting person)
And in the not-just-about-parenting category:
Grumpy rumblings of the (formerly!) untenured (two professor friends talk about academia, parenting, books and general interesting stuff on the web)
posted by fussbudget at 1:48 PM on May 23, 2014
You should definitely check also out Adoptive Black Mom (one mom, one recently-adopted tween daughter - thoughtful, introspective and frequently hilarious).
I also think you might like:
Adoption in the City (a birth mom in New York who has regular contact with her 4-year-old son through an open adoption)
Big Mama Hollers (Christian, vegan, rural Southern gardening nerd homebody with a lot of adopted kids - just a really interesting person)
And in the not-just-about-parenting category:
Grumpy rumblings of the (formerly!) untenured (two professor friends talk about academia, parenting, books and general interesting stuff on the web)
posted by fussbudget at 1:48 PM on May 23, 2014
If your desire for diversity includes special-needs parenting, here are two extremely literate, entertaining, and self-aware blogs from moms with autistic children:
Squidalicious
We Go With Him
posted by Daily Alice at 2:43 PM on May 23, 2014
Squidalicious
We Go With Him
posted by Daily Alice at 2:43 PM on May 23, 2014
I personally enjoy Amalah, Julia, and Mimi Smartypants. Agree that Dooce is getting harder and harder to read.
posted by southern_sky at 3:09 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by southern_sky at 3:09 PM on May 23, 2014
To add to the list: I've recently started following The Healthy Doctor and Free Our Kids.
posted by gakiko at 2:16 PM on May 25, 2014
posted by gakiko at 2:16 PM on May 25, 2014
Posie Gets Cozy might be a little too craft-heavy for you but I adore it. Alicia is a designer with a one-year-old adopted daughter, she's a great writer and photographer. Her blog is just beautiful and warm. If you go back in the archives, she wrote about an adoption that fell through that made me cry.
posted by Safiya at 10:00 AM on May 27, 2014
posted by Safiya at 10:00 AM on May 27, 2014
Also, this one went from ecology and peak oil and climate change to fostering, but it's always interesting.
posted by gakiko at 12:44 AM on May 28, 2014
posted by gakiko at 12:44 AM on May 28, 2014
Response by poster: Thanks everybody for the great suggestions! I marked a couple that resonated personally with me, but all of them were well worth reading, and loads better than what I found through random googling.
posted by tinymegalo at 4:45 PM on June 2, 2014
posted by tinymegalo at 4:45 PM on June 2, 2014
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posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 11:32 AM on May 23, 2014 [6 favorites]