SA Mom Blog Best Posts: A Roundup and Linky for August

August is Woman’s Month. It seems like there were a few sad posts sprinkled around this month.

On the upside, Keri from Midland Musings wrote a great post in support of women.  Thank your lucky stars that you were born in a time that enables you to attend university, study what you like, work where you want and still be a mom and a home keeper – if you so wish.

But a sad reminder that women are still subjected to domestic violence came from Karen of MomAgain@40, who wrote for BlogShareConnect on how dealing with this kind of abuse is mostly about avoidance.

– You try to stay away from home as long as possible. But not too long to cause another outburst.
– You do not discuss any potential conflicting topics! Ever!
– You are always in survival mode, treading on egg-shells. Because there is always a reason they have exploded/did what they had done!

Perhaps we need to be able to put up boundaries:

Reclaiming our space when there are toys all over the house: Harassed Mom. Maybe it sounds selfish to want my space back but since I don’t have an office outside of this house, I do need a little spot where I can escape to without having to find trolls bobbing in my bath or getting into bed next to a blue horse with purple hair. 

She also had an excellent post on no longer apologising for her kids. 

Babies cry on airplanes, their ears hurt, they get hungry, they cry. It is normal. I will not apologise for that. Toddlers do not have the ability to sit through an entire meal without moving. They need to run, walk, move. It is normal. I will not apologise for that.

 

I liked this post about her special needs kid and the mom guilt too, from Cat at Juggling Act of Life. Although there are days when I verge on feeling defeated,  I very often have so much hope for him.

A wonderful raw and honest post on reflections on 12 years of marriage by Sharon. It hasn’t been all hearts & rainbows. It’s been beautiful & ugly. Loving & hurtful. There have been good times and bad times. Friendship & frenemies. There has been joy and a lot of grief. We’ve been lost to each other and found again. 

Belinda Mountain also celebrated 10 years here.

That’s why I don’t believe in love at first sight. Attraction sure, but not love. Love takes longer to harbour. I also believe that life gives you the partner you need, not the one you THINK you want or the one that may look good on paper.

Lovely poetry from Ursula and a post celebrating her connection with her grandmother.

I keep, the cookie roller

from your warm kitchen, where

homes heart beat, like

an ancient clock, and

baking at Christmas, with my children

we cut the same shapes,

from different dough.

Another post that will bring tears to your eyes is Jo Ma Se Blog: In Memoriam: on her mother in law.

Maureen taught me a lot about my husband, and about marriage…generosity of affection…Maureen expanded her heart to allow me (and later the children) in. Instead of being small with her affection, she was generous.

On the special bond with cousins, Life and Times of the Fireflies wrote this post. I loved the way she compared relationships to a fabric.

But sometimes our stories, the fabric of our lives, are so intricately woven together, that the beginning of one thread and the ending of another is impossible to tell apart. Sometimes our stories are so closely stitched and over-locked, that the very seams of that bond is impossible to separate. Sometimes…a cousin transcends the bond of a cousin and becomes a brother…

Robin William’s death brought out some posts. Reluctant mom said something I was thinking, that often behind the smile is a lot of pain. In a post entitled “Robin Williams and Why Funny People Kill Themselves” she said: Robin Williams’ comedy always had that “edge” to it — even at his funniest, there was a sense that his humour was not the “clown humour of the circus” but there was indeed something deep, dark, and complex lurking behind the face paint and bright red nose. The Nocturnal Wenchy quoted script from Good Will Hunting and said “Only when you know your demons can you mock them.” I especially liked her picture of a cartoon self standing on a desk saying “Oh Captain, My Captain.” Sharon of the Blessed Baronness had an excellent portrait of depression. Don’t leave it, the longer you leave it, the worse it gets. 

On Judging Other Moms. It seems that we are pretty judgy about all stuff. This post on my google mom blogs alerts, was about judging moms on smart phones.  But I absolutely loved Cindy’s post on The Grace to Evolve: “We have a tendency to want the other person to be a finished product while we give ourselves the grace to evolve.”

If you have dogs and young kids, you’ll appreciate my post on Toddlers and Dogs, plus a video I made to illustrate warning signs.

And then, on food: healthy party snacks: from Zombie Mom blog who did a whole series on parties. I have pinned this one. How awesome is the boat made out of a watermelon?

For decor: how awesome is this instagram wall of photos?

On blogging: some basics for PR people I found interesting by Melinda of Diary of a White Mother raising a black baby.

Of course we had the very joyful CTMeetUp and Stiletto Mom very conveniently put all the posts in one place here.

As women we run the gamut of all emotions, dealing with relationships, death and children or all ages. The posts this month honoured those relationships but also showed how we should protect ourselves as well.

Please link up your (or others) best posts for the month below! Then make sure you comment on at least three other people.

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