Why Blogging makes me a better Parent

It’s interesting being part of the blogging community because it really opens you up to so many different styles of parenting, views and opinions and even fantastic activities.

I wrote a post last week where I asked how all you lovely people blog and find time; I had got to the point where I was being more active with the boys, working more, having social interactions and blogging and to be honest I was finding it a slight strain to keep on top of everything. From that post many people commented to how they were in agreement with me that on the whole I should remind myself that blogging is a hobby and not to worry too much about it; this is fundamentally what I tend to think.

The more I relaxed and the more I thought about it I realised that blogging is also great for helping me become a parent:

You have the aspect blogging where you have linkys like Wicked Wednesdays where you see a range of parents going through exactly the same as you and usually showing the ‘lower’ points of parenting from tantrums to mucky children. It’s linky’s like these that remind me that I am not alone in some of the harder parts of parenting and if anything take a deep breath and carry on.

You also get the community of support; it doesn’t matter what you post, good and bad, child related or personal, one thing is for certain everyone sticks together, encourages you and makes you feel in any circumstance that you are not alone in what can feel like a very isolated world.

Within this though you create your own mini community; when I say this though I am not meaning ‘cliques’ I mean exactly what I say….mini communities. I am part of a Dads group where for the first time in my life I am communicating with men about life. I join linky’s that highlight the joys of parenting, love of subjects like cooking, Home schooling and even, as mentioned above, the harder parts of parenting. For me these are great and although you will often see the odd regular faces that link up or that you chat to you also find new people who are blogging in different areas; real groups of people united under one thing rather than small groups who exclude. (Communities rather than cliques)

The best part though is the range of activities that all you wonderful people seem to do! I have read so many fantastic posts that I literally go “This looks amazing, I am going to do this at the earliest opportunity”. Before blogging there were weeks where I looked at the two boys and had no idea what I was going to do with them. Yet now I have a list of ideas that I have stolen and claimed as my own admired and wanted to achieve with them.

There is also the added incentive to blog; don’t we all have those weeks, as mentioned at the top, where life jumps in and we literally struggle to blog anything; this is either due to time commitments or just because we have run out of things to blog about. For me though the latter is happening fewer times than before because of all of the above reason; linkys, discussions in communities, friendships and  activities all give me a reason to blog but even more importantly to do things with my children that I want to blog about later.

We are now coming to warmer weather which invites us to more festivals*, conferences, and days out or outside activities* and I am jumping at doing each one. If I am completely honest blogging gives me that extra motivation to do these things; usually giving me something else to blog about. Now don’t get me wrong, I obviously want to do these things with the boys but some weeks I will honestly look at something and really not feel that bothered to take the boys and have a want to opt for a lazy, blanket wearing day. Yet with the slight added pressure motivation I end up doing it.

So it’s for reason like these that make me feel that blogging has made me a better parent; it has definitely made me feel less isolated and motivated to try harder and be better.

Do you think blogging has made you a better parent?