By Stephanie
I was recently interviewed by Janice & Susan of 5 Minutes For Mom and was asked about my vision for 5 Minutes For Parenting. One purpose that is so important to me regarding this blog is how I’d love for this to be a site that any Mom can come to and feel like they can relate. And when I say that, I am considering the fact that a different writer is featured each day. So I am hoping that at least one day each week (if not more!) has a post that totally gets you. Or is something you completely understand. Or even something you don’t have to agree with, but you can appreciate the different perspective.
One major thing I love about blogging is the community. How unpopular it would be, I presume, if it were only one-sided. If no one ever commented or linked or acknowledged my writing, I might not be so encouraged to write every day. And if I did not write every day, I feel I personally would really be missing out.
And the thing is, I am not necessarily writing for anyone else but myself, but knowing that others can relate and validate what I have to say really does matter. What I’ve found inside- that somehow my fingers to my keyboard manage to spill out onto your screen- propels me to understand myself better, to see who I am as a mother and friend, where I am going, and where I want to be.
I am sure for others, they have a different form of art that allows the expressing of themselves in a similar way. But those of us in this blogging world really do make up our own little “world”. And I see each of us as cities and towns- some with gorgeous mountain views and some in dark, dreary caves. No one blogger is necessarily better than the other- no matter how many comments they get or how pretty their blog design or how much they get paid.
They are, essentially, who they are. And they are a very real and important part of making up this “world.” Our tones might change just like the seasons. Our opinions might seem like a foreign language to the next blogger. There will always be a writer you may never understand. But should that mean they shouldn’t write? Or that you shouldn’t read?
Maybe the understanding lies in realizing the culture behind each city, what makes them up, their history, and willing to accept there will be mysteries that may never be explained. It’s so easy to quickly judge and move on to the next blog. But until we’ve really visited more than just the one post you’ve landed upon that day, until we’ve really spent the time knowing just who a blogger is about, where they’ve come from and where they hope to go, how can we truly appreciate the greatness and beauty? And how can we expect the same for our own?
No one ever said we all had to agree or look exactly the same or talk just alike. We can still be in this together despite our diversity. In my opinion, we taste so much better, we paint a more lovely portrait, and sound amazingly melodious when we celebrate those differences. It’s what makes up this blog. And what makes up our little world.
Stephanie Precourt is the managing editor of 5 Minutes For Parenting and also blogs at Adventures In Babywearing.
After being around people for one whole week, 24/7, that expect you to be their idea of perfection, which is impossible to be, I MORE than celebrate diversity. Differences in people fascinate me and make me feel alive. Having a pulse on this community is something very important to me. Great post.
YES! (Not sure I can say it better than that.)
Oh Steph, I loved this post! I have to say, that this little “blog world” has really helped me feel like I am a better mom because I do take a little down time to do something I love (write) and I get to be alone (nice!) AND on top of it, I get to meet and interact with amazing people around the globe which does motivate me and give me new perspectives on all aspects of life. Thanks for writing it!
I needed to read everything you wrote. I have to remember that if I’m writing for anyone other than myself I can’t be totally authentic. And it’s when I’m myself that I am most blessed by the community of bloggers that I’ve come to know (including you!). Sometimes it’s discouraging when it seems like someone else is better at such-and-such, but there is always someone else out there that struggles with the same things I do. It’s refreshing to be reminded that none of us are perfect and though our voices are sometimes very different, we’re all in this together.
Excellent!
I tell this to my kids all the time: how boring the world would be if we all looked alike, sounded alike, had the same interests and quirks. Same with the mommyblogger world. I’ve got all sorts of moms on my RSS collection. And I’m always on the hunt for more. (All these new sister sites are making it easier to find them)
Great post, love it! I’ve learned so much about parenting from reading other people’s blogs. I learned about homeschooling, cloth diapering, and homebirth by reading about other people’s experiences in those topics.
I think about this a lot and appreciate you bringing it up. The tone of my blog changes from serious to silly and back again. I have had people say they don’t read it anymore because they “don’t like serious blogs.” I get over it pretty quickly, shrugging and remembering I don’t need to try to make everyone happy on a blog. That would be impossible. That’s another reason blogging is good for me. It helps me over-come my people-pleasing disease. (:
Totally agree! What fun would it be if we were all the same… agreed on everything… I love hearing new perspectives, offering my own and I sure have learned a ton from others as well!
This is a VERY good post – and I’m glad you wrote it. A community should be big enough to include many different voices, I think!
Really appreciate your sentiments in this post. Of course finding like-minded moms is a joy and an encouragement–but it is also powerful to explore the opinions and life experiences of others who walk a different road. I was reflecting on your recent guest-blog about immunizations and the variety of opinions I saw there–and how well you handled those with strong differing opinions. Part of what draws me to blogging is keeping my mind aware of the amazing and endless variety of people in our world–particularly in a season of mommyhood that keeps me home more and out of the main stream. It is a venue to feel the ‘pulse’ of this broad generation, of its wisdom and its foibles, strengths and challenges.
Blessings!
Beautifully written and expressed better than I could! I simply admire every Mommy blogger that I have the pleasure of coming across and getting to know via their home on the web.
:–) Nell
Well said, Steph! It’s nice to be part of this community that is blessedly not telling me constantly what I should be doing, how I should be talking, and accepting me as I am.
How true! I love being part of this ‘small’ blogging world – it makes the huge globe seem a little smaller and more reachable.
And I wish we all had more time to spend learning more about each other. I hate that because of time constraints I often read only one post of a blogger and judge on that one. I know I have my off days and hate to think what people think of me on those days!
Wonderful post. Diversity is so beautiful. While I was pregnant with my first daughter I read an article about mommy clique and couldn’t believe it. “How could mommy’s be mean to each other…aren’t we all in it together?” Amazing though how insecurity is often a root of mean.
After becoming a mommy, I made some mistakes too about thinking that there was a “best” way for many parenting issues….but oh how I have learned.
I too love blogging and reading blogs because it opens my eyes to so many different views, yet there are so many similarities as well.
Well put. We are all different in so many ways and it shows but that’s how we learn from one another I think. Like you said we may not always agree and that’s o.k., that’s why there is an X in the right hand corner of your screen to move on to the next blog. Hopefully before you moved on you did get something out of what you just read, even if it just help to open your mind up to new ideas (or at least made you think a little).
Keep up the great writing.
You summed it up so very well. I really enjoyed reading this. And, 5 Minutes for Parenting has quickly become one of my favorite reads. I’ve hardly linked to anything on my blog and I recently put up your button. I coulnd’t resist. Keep up the good work, all of you.
That’s what I love about the blogosphere as well, and I think you’ve done a great job of creating that atmosphere here in particular.
I have been a silent reader on this site for a while and never posted, but this one really warrented a moment of stepping out from the shadows.
I don’t have any children of my own, but I recently got married and became step-mother to 2 little boys. I don’t feel like a parent, and haven’t really owned the title yet. But reading the stories of other parents, whether I can relate perfectly or not, has really helped me assess what my role should be. I constantly learn from other people’s stories, whether I agree or not.
Thanks so much for this post. It’s beautifully written, and so true.
amen.
amen to all of it.
I love your blog ladies but I would love to read more about us ladies with older kids. I have a 16 year old teenager. Let’s hear from those moms of tweens and teenagers.
Again, I appreciate the parenting posts and your blog!
I really agree with you đŸ™‚ its the same way I feel.
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