Welcome to the Sunday Surf! Here are some of the best links I've read this past week.

In absolutely no particular order…

• "Get Personal — A Blog Carnival" from Good Goog: Write about your journey toward personal blogging, and submit your post by July 28.

• "Breastfeeding anywhere and everywhere: What is there to see?" from Adventures in Babywearing: Linked to by Stephanie in a Carnival of Nursing in Public comment on the day religion was discussed. I like the thoughtful and gracious way she writes about choosing to breastfeed uncovered, despite some opposition in Christian circles. Incidentally, if you wanted me to write a 5-comment response to the rest of the comments on my article on "Christianity's effect on breastfeeding," done.

• There's an ongoing Breastfeeding Cafe Blog Carnival from The SLC Breastfeeding Cafe through the end of the month. I have three posts up currently ("Nighttime parenting and the right attitude," "Why breastfeeding is important," and "Breastfeeding by the waterfall"), and you can find links to more participants at the end of each. Write Claire at clindstrom2 {at} gmail {dot} com if you want to participate.

• I have two new giveaways up that end Aug. 12:
  
  • An amazing $50 credit at Amy Adele for adorable children's and personalized stationery
  • A Libre Tea Glass that allows you to enjoy loose-leaf tea on the go (and quite fashionably, I might add).

• "Power, Parenting and Gentle Discipline" from The Parent Vortex: Good thoughts on the relationship between gentle discipline and power struggles: "Parental power (or lack of it) gets tricky when we talk about Gentle Discipline. What does 'gentle' mean when it comes to discipline? Does it mean avoiding the responsibilities of weilding parental power? Does it mean handing an inappropriate level of power over to our kids, so that they are calling all the shots and controlling the family life?" I'm looking forward to reading more at The Parent Vortex and also have a blog post of my own in mind after several good conversations with Sam about this very topic.

• "No, less-than-threes do not need their moms 24/7/365" from Raising My Boychick: Our children should be attached — but not JUST to a mother.
• "Grin and bear it? Parenting, happiness and the pressure cooker" from PhD in Parenting: On much the same topic and inspired by the same article saying mamas should be full-on responsible for their kids' care, plus a recent study that says parents are less happy than non-parents. I have a blog post in mind for the same topics (yes, as well), but since I have a loooong list of blog posts I'm meaning to write, let's let these two stand as ones I agree with!

• "Nursing is Normal" from Honest To Betsy: From hushed and italicized to completely expected and average — a beautiful description of the maturation process when breastfeeding.

• Gather water, buckets, paintbrushes, kids, and sunshine, and then kick back and let your children entertain themselves:

• "How to keep 10 kids busy for a LONG TIME" from Intrepid Murmurings
• "A Bucket of Water Will Buy an Hour of Quiet" from A Lot of Loves

• "On Wealth and Privilege (and being a stay at home mom)" from Tales of a Kitchen Witch Momma: Beautiful paean to choosing a stay-at-home lifestyle even when it pinches financially. She's not saying this (and I'm not passing it along) to suggest that other choices are better or worse; I just love the way she frames the choices she has made.

• "I Will Not Buy Pampers Diapers Anymore" from A Blogger and a Father: This isn't about the latest disposable hullabaloo. It's about how brands market to women almost exclusively. Even as part of the group being marketed to (maybe especially as), I really appreciate his point here!

• "Our Front Yard Family Room" from Playborhood: What a great use of what's usually a wasted space: the American suburban front yard. I love this! This is a link I found through someone, and I can't remember who! I should really keep a notebook handy…

• For instance, I just spent way too long trying to remember where I first found this funniness, so if it was you, speak up. If it wasn't you, enjoy a lighter note to end on. These are all from the blog Catalog Living, showing us how people in catalogs live, and I chose the ones that made me snort loudest. (Indeed, I had to stop reading while trying to put Mikko to bed, because I kept snorting him awake.) I know it seems like a lot, but they're only a sentence or two plus a gooey picture, so they're a quick read.
  
  • "Staying warm…"
  • "Before you leave…"
  • "Sit on it…"
  • "Alive with flavor…"
  • "All the comforts of home…"
  • "Time to stock up…"
  • "Everything in its place…"
  • "A twist of something…"
  • "Being a good hostess…"

And that's all the time I have today, folks! I'm feeling quite decadent, but we're going to another movie as a family, after having just been to two movies that way, and I actually have a post on the first two (with video!) all ready to go for you sometime this week! Now I'll have to add to it, I guess.

You can find more shared items during the week at my public Google Reader recommendations feed.

Check out Authentic Parenting, Baby Dust Diaries, Maman A Droit, and Navelgazing for more Sunday Surfing!

Feel free to add your recommendations in the comments. Happy reading!