A friend of mine told me the other day that when she meets new people, she prefers to start their conversation about something other than children or parenting. She also likes to be called by her name rather than “So-and-So’s mother”. I feel the same way. And that is perhaps why my blog is a potpourri of topics.

According to Technorati, about 8,500 parents blog about their kids. And if these blogs are like most of the ones I come across, that’s pretty much all they write about. What bothers me is that the most popular ones tend to be sarcastic and self-absorbed. This is what Ayelet Waldman of Bad Mother says about blogging in a New York Times article on the subject:

Fundamentally children resent being placed at the heart of their parents’ expression, and yet I still do it. A blog like this is narcissism in its most obscene flowering. But it’s necessary. As a parent your days are consumed by other people’s needs. This is payback for driving back and forth to gymnastics all week long.

Blogging is a fun way to share Stephen’s achievements and my endeavor to be a good parent. I draw the line at ridiculing my child and being overly negative.

The Dalai Lama suggests cultivating love, compassion, patience, and generosity as an antidote to negative mental states that obstruct the expression of our underlying natural state of joy and happiness. That’s my goal both in real life and online.

Heads up from Mom in the Mirror