Sunday, October 9, 2011

Sunday Surf: Community gathering

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

Two posts in one day — yowza!

This week is a really fun one. There's a Natural Parents Network Team meetup in Kansas City this weekend, but we West Coasters were feeling left out, so we're having our own little get-together today in Seattle.

(P.S. If you volunteer for NPN, your service comes with instant friends! It rocks.)

So Amy from Anktangle and Arpita (R-pith-a, as I have learned it's pronounced!) from Up, Down & Natural are at this very moment in my living room. I love it!


I will take loads of new pictures today, but here's one of Amy & me from this summer.


A bunch of us NPNers will be linking up posts on our visit this Thursday, so stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, tomorrow will see Part 2 of my working-from-home saga, this next installment dealing more with the gender inequities we (I) have set up and how I feel about that. (That's the problem with asking me anything — you sometimes get more answer than you were bargaining for.)

The next day, Tuesday, is the Carnival of Natural Parenting! Sam will be guest posting a followup to his allowance article, and I will be guest posting on Natural Parents Network about how parenting and working from home intersect.

Good week, eh?

On to the links!


via www.blogher.com on 10/8/11
Lauren:
 
I half really agree with this post and half am choking on guilt, and resentment from the guilt. The basic thrust is that a blogger has to respond to everything (comments, emails, tweets), read everyone's blog who follows hers, and meet all deadlines (err…) and commitments (guest posting, promoting others' posts, etc.). The guilt part of me is saying, Gulp, I know, I know, I've been terrible at all that! I really wish I were better, because blogging IS community, and it means SO MUCH to me when people interact with me online. And the resentment part of me says, I would be DROWNING if I did all the bloggy community things I wish I could do; I would have no time for LIFE, for parenting, for writing, for, you know, sleep. I'm not comparing myself to them (not hardly), but I doubt Dooce & The Pioneer Woman can respond personally to every single howdy (or do they??), so at some point there's a limit to how much you can invest in each follower/friend/fellow blogger. How do others balance these commitments? Where do you fall on the agree-guilt-resentment continuum?

{I wrote the above when noting this for Sunday Surf but now feel a little goofy putting it out there. Doesn't it sound overly angsty and obnoxious, or is that just my inner critic telling me I can't talk about how hard it is to have friends, because that's rude to anyone who doesn't yet have friends? Bleh. Well, anyway, I still think it's a valid point of conversation, for any blogger and really for any person (especially parent) who has a presence online: How much do we "owe" (for lack of a better word) to our online community, and how much can we let go? I know some bloggers who make a point of not getting drawn into Facebook or Twitter and instead just WRITE. I know some other bloggers who respond to every single comment with a meaningful, emailed thank-you. There's a broad spectrum of how bloggers interact, and I'm wishing I could be more toward the friend-who-always-answers side but with enough time to write and still be (more) active with my family (and I can't figure out how to make that happen in the time I have). But if you blog or interact online, where are you in terms of how much you invest? And as a reader, how much interaction do you crave? (I know for me personally, I love it when bloggers respond to me, but I tend not to expect it.) Ok, that was enough for one note…}
Blogs are larger than just their words, and blogging has the ability to hurt or give love.

via trueconfessionsofarealmommy.blogspot.com on 10/6/11
Lauren:
 
Do you have a cleaning routine? I need good ideas like this once-a-week list!

via jonirae.com on 10/4/11
Lauren:
 
Nice response to an ill-advised Babble post — not every baby can be covered up, and not every mother wants to cover. Why is this still a fight, particularly among fellow nursing mamas?
Nursing mothers have no more interest in flashing you a breast than you do in seeing one. Even my crunchiest, hippiest, cloth diapering, co-sleeping, homeschooling mama friend -who refuses to wear a bra under her tie-dyed organic cotton shirts- does not “whip out her boob anywhere she wants”.

via letstakethemetro.blogspot.com on 10/3/11
Lauren:
 
Our new naturopathic pediatrician was recommending ideas like this to trick Mikko into actually eating something green once in awhile (as opposed to his steady diet of all white foods). These are some good ideas!

For those looking for more recipes & tips like that, our ped recommended The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals or Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food.

Now, I just want to point out a couple things: Amanda is talking sneaking veggies into HER meals, because she doesn't like them but wants to eat them. I'm talking sneaking veggies into my son's meals, which feels a little uncomfortably deceptive to me (and I could say more on that in a full post). That said, Mikko's having some poo concerns that bother him a great deal, so I feel like it's worth trying for his health's sake. Sam & I tried one of our ped's suggestions the other day for us to eat (as in, not Mikko), and it was really tasty but I don't know that it would pass the picky-preschooler test: pureed white beans and butter as a pasta sauce.



a REAL house tour with Amber of Crappy Pictures




Hey, how'd Amber sneak in to our home to copy down our design?

Home birth video for Daddy in Afghanistan

And now you've had a good laugh, I'll end with a video that will make you cry if you're a sap like I am.




(via Skinies)


I can't imagine birthing without my husband near. But I have to say the screen that most got to me was when the mother's in the birth tub, overwhelmed with transition, and suddenly there are half a dozen women and girls around the tub. Just that vision of sisterly support — I seriously am crying like a fool typing these words. I'm grateful for the Natural Parents Network Team gathering this weekend: for women, for fellow mothers, who can come around each other when we need community, to be our tribe. May you be blessed with strong women to come around you when you need them.

Natural parenting blog carnivals

I've updated the blog carnival linky. It's hard to find out details for some carnivals, so if anyone knows dates/themes for carnivals missing information, please do let me know.

Feel free to enter your own carnivals or find some to write for!

Visit Natural Parents Network

From Natural Parents Network, in a week on holistic health





Natural parenting giveaways

I've updated the linky for natural parenting giveaways, too. Please feel free to add your own giveaways and check out some to win!

I've taken moderation off, so you should see your submission right away. If you need anything changed, just let me know and I can edit it.


Current giveaways around here




  • Skinies Nursing Cami $33 ARV {11.8; US/Can} — NEW!





  • 2 Sets of Children's Homebirth Books $24 ARV {10.24; Worldwide} — sweet preparation for kids for a homebirth!


  • NPN: Storyland Yoga $15 ARV {11.1; Worldwide} — NEW!


  • NPN: $20 Gift Certificate from KidsCuteture {10.17; US/Can}


  • NPN: Baby Unplugged Book Set, $24 ARV {10.10; US} — Ends TOMORROW!



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

    Check out Authentic Parenting, Baby Dust Diaries, Anktangle, Navelgazing, Momma Jorje, I Thought I Knew Mama, Enjoy Birth, A Domesticated Woman's Adventures (various), Fabulous Mama Chronicles, Kelly Hogaboom (Fridays), The Parent Vortex (weekends), Ichigo Means Strawberry, TouchstoneZ, Hippie Housewife (Saturdays), Multiple Musings, Motherhood Moments, Mama and Baby Love, and A Little Bit of All of It for more Sunday Surfing! (If you also participate in a regular link list, whether on Sunday or not, let me know and I'll add your link.)

    Feel free to add your recommendations in the comments. Happy reading!
    By Lauren Wayne at 11:12:00 AM
    Categories: , , , , , , ,

    1 comments:

    Unknown said...

    Wow, Lauren, thanks for the cry! That video was so incredible and heartbreaking. I would not want to birth without my partner right there with me.

    October 15, 2011 at 7:59 AM

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