"Blogs may help women transition to 'mom'"

 

My mom sent me THIS article about how blogging (both reading other blogs and writing your own) helps women transition into into being a mom because they have "a greater sense of social support and connection."

I completely agree with this article and this is why:

We moved right before we had Ella and so I have approximately zero friends here because I don't really have school or work to make friends and being with Ella all day doesn't really lend itself to meeting new people. There are definitely some really nice people that we know here, but no one that I could call up and talk to about Ella and who would care to see endless pictures of her. So thank goodness for this blog that is always available to listen to me talk about Ella and never complains about the ridiculous number of pictures I post of her. 

The greatest make-believe friend ever! 

Plus, there are so many other blogs about moms having babies and the crazy things they are going through (one of my current favorites is this beautiful mom who is pregnant with twin boys, I love reading her weekly pregnancy posts) and it's so nice to read about other people going through the same thing as you, even if you've never met that person. 

And on top of all that, blogging is one of the only things I can do with one hand while feeding Ella or rocking her to sleep or just holding her so that she'll stay asleep for longer than five minutes (see picture above). I cannot tell you the number of nights that I have been awake at 3am, Ella in hand, reading blogs until she falls asleep*. It's nice to have something to distract me from how exhausted I am. I feel much more patient with Ella's refusal to go to bed at a normal time when I have something interesting to look at while she dozes off and that's important to me to be able to feel patient at times like that.

Conclusion: blogs are a wonderful thing.


But in contrast to all that, I thought this blogger had a good point. I don't have the problem of feeling the stress of needing to respond to hundreds of comments on my blog each day, but I think she's definitely right about making sure you prioritize your time so that you are spending quality time with your child and not wasting that precious time on the internet or blogs. 

*Disclaimer: I realized that it might sound like I am the only one who ever stays up late with Ella, and let me assure that that is not even close to true. Adam is up with her in the middle of the night just as much as I am and is pro at getting that girl to zonk out. I don't know what I would do without that cute-faced boy.