Blog love and inspiration

I am thrilled to accept Her Bad Mother's challenge to identify bloggers who have inspired me, who have been great friends and important to me in the blog world.  I've done this before, and I am sure that I will do it again.  So in honor of Mother's Day, I decided to make today's expression of blog love all about the bloggers that have inspired me to be the best kind of mom I can be.

I want to highlight two bloggers in particular whose writing about their families always makes me aspire to be a better mom.  I started thinking about this when Heather at One Woman's World held her Share the Love blog awards earlier this year -- one of the categories was "Makes Me Want to Have Kids," which was intended to honor bloggers who make other moms feel great about motherhood. 

The first mom I want to mention is Moonface of Midnight Musings.  Her exchanges with her children are wonderfully described in her posts -- whether she's describing her daughter's active imagination, ahring truly creative ideas for keeping her kids entertained, or describing a wonderful day with her family.  Moonface's love for her children and her pride in being a mom shines through in every word she writes.  Unfortunately, she has not posted in several months.  Moonface, if you read this, I hope all is well.  I miss your eloquent and beautiful posts.

The second blogger that never fails to inspire me with her amazing mom-ness is Mama Tulip (Katherine) of Where am I going and why am I in this handbasket?  Katherine describes life with her kids Julia and Oliver in a way that makes me strive to be a better mom, every day.  Her stories are touching, funny, and so... real, that I just find myself nodding along, smiling and/or crying.  Recently, Katherine has also been talking about her own complex relationship with her mother, and how much she misses her mom.  Her eloquent posts have been an excellent reminder to me that I am a daughter as well as a mother, and that I need to nurture that relationship with my own mother as well as caring for my children.

Other favorite posts about moms and motherhood:

• One of  my favorite posts from Susan of Friday Playdate describes how she interacts with her highly intelligent child Henry, who has a nonverbal learning disability.  Whenever Susan talks about her boys, I am impressed by her patience and strength in dealing with the many challenges she's faced as a parent.  This post was one of my favorites because her descriptions of Henry made me see how well she "gets" him.

• I've saved this post by Mommy Blogger Meghan (also of I'm ablogging) in my Bloglines clipping folder since it was first published.  It's one of the most articulate and well-written articles on the pressures of motherhood that I have ever read.

• This DotMoms article by Sarah of Citizen Beta resonated greatly with me.  Sarah describes how she strives to keep her independent self ("me") nurtured independent of her role as mother -- not only because it's beneficial to her, but it teaches her daughter an important lesson about self-love.

• Asha of Parent Hacks wrote a very thought-provoking essay for Mommy Bloggers about how it can sometimes take time to grow into the title -- and role -- of mother.  I love how she indicates that some of the "mom" titles apply at certain times and not at others, but throughout it all she is simply Asha.

• The very first post that I ever read by Julie of Mother Goose Mouse was the one that absolutely got me hooked.  It hit me with a wave of tremendous recognition -- in Mimi, I have a sensitive older girl that's smart but quick to get hurt just like her Tacy.  I commented, and it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, in which Julie inspires me regularly.
  

• One of the best posts I've ever read about the choices we make as mothers was written by my friend Dawn of I am doing the best I can.  If everyone shared Dawn's view: "...my fondest wish is for all women to be able to say what path is right for them, without any other woman doing any eye-rolling, or tsk-tsking at their decision" we would have no more mommy wars. 

• And finally, I've enjoyed some amazing posts that celebrate the mothers and grandmothers in my blog friends' lives.  Roo of roo the day... and Jen of Once More... With Feeling wrote very touching tributes to their beloved grandmothers -- their wonderful writing inspired me to do my own posts on the strong women in my life.  Posts like these are a reminder of the legacy of moms that have come before us, and the parents that our children are destined to be.

This certainly is not a complete list.  I would have loved to include everyone here, but I couldn't end up with a post that's a mile long -- the links alone would have killed me.  There are so many other bloggers that inspire me on a daily basis -- just look at my blogroll to check out some of the others.

Happy Mother's Day to all my mom blogger friends.  I wish you a perfect day of celebration with your children.  And to those of you whose motherhood journey has not yet begun, I wish you success and love in the days ahead.

Comments

[IAI]

Again, St. Nancy ... just for all the linking!
Great stuff ... I'll be back to continue reading all your links since I know I'll love them! (Thought tonight is final West Wing night and the couch is calling my ass, "Ass! Ass! I'm cold! Come warm me up!"

[Mom101]

thanks for all the suggestions. I am relatively new to Mama Tulip's blog and agree, good stuff! Look forward to checking out the rest (and hope your day was fantastic).

[mama_tulip]

Thank you so much, Nancy. Your words mean so much to me. As my mom used to say, that's high praise. :)

Happy Mother's Day. I hope you had an awesome day with your family.

[mama_tulip]

I wanted to touch on Moonface also in my comment, but clearly spaced out for a minute or twenty. Her blog is such a pleasure to read; I've really missed it. I hope everything is okay with her; I've thought of her several times since her last post.

[Dawn]

Nice post. Been checking out the different links. I think that is a cool idea to write about bloggers that have inspired you (us). May do that too one day.

I am just getting ready for bed. Been up and about most of the day with no nap! Had a great barbeque at my Mom's. Now I am back at home, relaxing with my blog reading. Actually it may be more stimulating because I read so many good things and it gives me ideas of stuff to write about.

Hope you had a great Mother's Day!

[Mommy off the Record]

Nancy, just wanted to say thank you for your comment on my blog today. I hope you had a nice Mother's Day.

[mrsfortune]

Thanks for these links! There are a bunch of blogs I've never read, I love discovering new diversions.

[Jamie]

I love learning about other great blogging moms. I just "met" Julie at Mother Goose Mouse and I can so relate to that post. My oldest girl is extremely sensitive and I have to watch it when I snap at her in a fit of impatience and insensitivity!

[Mega Mom]

I loved the way you described those bloggers. I look forward to checking them out!

[Amy]

Thanks, Nancy--those sound like great reads. And bonus--most of them are new to me. Although--that does mean I might not be sleeping anymore . ..

[chilihead]

I can't wait to check out all these links! I always find new blogs when you do these posts.

I've tagged you for a meme over at Don't Try This at Home.

[mothergoosemouse]

Nancy, thank you. I'm honored to be mentioned here, and I'm honored to be your friend.

[Beth]

i'll check some of these out!

[Brooke]

I want to join... :,(

But thank you for the well wishes...we WILL get there!

[Beverlee]

Always great of you to share all the stuff that caught your eye or your heart.

[Becki]

Thanks for the links--I feel like someone just gave me a pile of good books to put on my nightstand. I've been needing to update my blogroll--these should help.

[Busy Mom]

Great post, I'm looking forward to checking out the new-to-me lins, too!

[Stephanie]

I'm looking forward to going through this list of links when I have a bit more time. They all sound like amazing bloggers!

Now to bookmark THIS post in my bloglines folder!