Parenting Resources Part 1: Blogs

I intend to make this a series of posts, outlining some of the resources I have found useful in pregnancy and parenting. This is in no way whatsoever a comprehensive list of useful resources. The intent is to write about some of the resources that I personally have found particularly useful.

Before Sebastian was born, I started looking for blogs. Although I very much wanted to have a child, the persona of "pregnant woman" and eventually "mother" were at odds with my self image as feminist, independent, and free thinking. Then I found a feminist parenting blog. Then I went on a search for others. Some of them I picked initially because the women were pregnant at the same time I was, and this gave me a sense of camaraderie when most of the women around me were not going through pregnancy and never had. The ones below I stuck with and still read regularly, because they are insightful, funny, and not afraid to talk about their personal experiences. These blogs have all in some way expanded my thinking about my parenting and my identity as a mother.

Blue Milk - An Australian blog, this is the one that started it all for me and I still very much admire the way she can break it down and tell it like it is. She's not afraid to talk about the dark side, the times when parenting is not all rainbows and sunshine.

First The Egg - How can you NOT love that name?? Insightful writing on the intersection of feminism and motherhood. Also good for book reviews (both adult and children's). Also, her dreadful pregnancy symptoms made me feel a lot better about my run-of-the mill pregnancy symptoms back when we were both pregnant.

Birthing Beautiful Ideas - In addition excellent and thoughtful writing on parenting, I also appreciate her irreverent sense of humor and willingness to mention sex once in a while (not to mention the recent informative and hilarious series of posts on her partner's vasectomy). Also reading about her baby's sleep issues has made me feel a bit better about whatever run of the mill sleep issues me and Sebastian are dealing with at the moment.

PhD In Parenting - An awesome Canadian feminist blogger. A blog with a bit of an activist slant, especially around issues of breast feeding and consumer rights.

I thought about point to particularly awesome articles from these blogs but I decided they belonged in a different post. Whenever I run across an article that really gets me thinking about parenting, or really resonates with my parenting, I bookmark it. I'd like to go back through those and pick the ones that really stand out for me, the ones that I still think about even if I read them a year ago.