Hey, Friends. How are you? Long time no type. Things have been busy but good with my new Two Under Two Gig. It’s been fun upgrading my vocabulary from “my child” or “my son” to “my children” and “my son and daughter”. I’m only four weeks in, and six weeks behind on sleep, but overall I’m liking the new normal in the H-G Household.
Somewhat recently I wrote about Blogger’s Guilt, a guilt that I’ve been suffering from yet again. I mean, c’mon. Brad and I have this brand new, adorable baby and I’ve only done one post with pictures and she’s now four weeks old? Bahhhhh, for shame, Maggie The Blogger! Here are some photos to bribe you into still liking this site…
With that bit of guilt in mind, and after reading a great article by Krista Infante called The Unnatural Mom, I really started to think hard about guilt with parenthood. It’s so easy in our fast paced world to compare ourselves to others. I’m up day and night with kiddos and those late night feedings are the perfect time to browse Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. I love seeing what people are up to, moments of their lives captured in photos and videos, as well as see what they like and be inspired by the latest DIY project. But who of us is fully represented in what we post online?
I recently have been accused – and I use that word because I hope to clear my name – of being Super Mom. Sure, I can upload fun pictures of what I’m doing, and write quirky status updates, and pin all the wonderfully creative projects I can find. But, I also can choose to leave out the details of the really tough days, the photos of me wearing pajamas until four o’clock in the afternoon, or the proof that my dietary habits lean heavily on the caffeine and light on the well balanced meals. Case in point:
This is what 3:00am looks like a day and a half after having a baby.
I write these things not to harp on social media – I will continue to use it and you can stalk me through my E-Social page – so don’t read this as a warning to unplug yourself from all things electronic and socially interactive. Instead, I write because I don’t want anyone to read these words and feel guilt. I write this to all the moms out there because I don’t want this blog to ever make you feel bad. YOU are Super Mom. For the single moms who do everything under the sun for their kids without much support from others; for the working moms who put their heart into their jobs and still put even more of their heart into their kids; for the stay at home moms that keep their spirits high in the thick of those long days where you just want a little break from the chaos; for the moms at heart who are working through infertility or adoption. Super. You. Are. Super.
What began over two years ago to update friends and family on our first Baby HG (our first post you can find here!), this blog has shared many topics – pregnancy, nursing, teething, crafts, eco-friendly ideas, house projects, family trips, parenthood, etc. So whether you had an unmedicated birth, epidural, or c-section, you breast-feed or bottle-feed, you are a do-it-yourself-er or pay-somebody-else-er, you use cloth diaper or disposable diapers, or simply walk a different path in life than the next person, my hope is that you come to this blog to read, and leave it feeling uplifted.
Welcome, my fellow mothers and all other readers that stop by this little e-space, to The Guilt Free Zone.
~M