Blog Love: Boring Baby Drones

Friday, August 29, 2014


I hadn't expected early motherhood to involve so much spare time. Not free time; I am chained to that hungry little monkey almost constantly and don't expect to be liberated any time soon. Fortunately, I have a severe case of Stockholm syndrome when it comes to my tiny captor, so I don't mind. But I'm spending many, many hours cradling either a baby or a breast pump, neither of which provides me with much in the way of sparkling conversation. Inevitably, at some point I will find myself gazing blearily into the glow of a laptop or phone hoping to fill some of those quiet hours with companionship, consolation or distraction, depending on my mood.

Pretty much anything will do for distraction - working my way through fifteen seasons of ER, pinning pictures of trendy haircuts that I don't have time to get, rearranging the baby's adorable outfits for the tenth time - but companionship and consolation are more elusive, particularly when you only have one hand and can't move from the couch. So it's the internet to the rescue, once again.

If you have no interest in children, you will probably have no interest in what I'm about to share with you. If, like me, you just want to know that You're Not The Only One, you should bookmark these links immediately.

Please note: as if to prove my point, I am sitting on a couch cradling a baby and typing this with one hand. I don't have the time or the energy to write long, heartfelt pitches as in previous Blog Love posts. You'll just have to take my word for it. This is the good stuff.

TEA & ORANGES


Tea & Oranges is the blog of a woman from New Zealand who is currently on maternity leave. I know no more about her than that, but I know that if I ever ran into her (admittedly not likely) I would give her a hug then give her a high five. Her blog is a combination of thoughts on parenting and society, snippets of her own personal experience, and well-informed rants about New Zealand's parental benefits system, the last of which is surprisingly interesting despite being of no direct relevance to me whatsoever.

I particularly loved this post about being a child of a high-flying career mother. There's a lot of discussion on this topic from a working mother's perspective, but not much from that of the child, I guess because today's children haven't developed the self-awareness or fine motor skills to write about it yet. Slackers.

FLORENCE FINDS


I've mentioned Florence Finds before, back when we were both young and fresh and could sleep for 8 hours in a row. My, how times have changed, eh Rebecca?

Rebecca's beautiful baby Bea was born just a few days after our bairn made her appearance, so Florence Finds is really resonating with me at the moment. From practical posts about slings and nursing bras (in both cases, it's all about the support) to thoughts on body image and the emotional impact of becoming a mother, Rebecca's opinions are always well thought out. I really enjoy hearing her perspective, even if - especially if - my own experience has been different. Her recommendations are also excellent, be they tense BBC dramas or maternity dresses.

In short, she's like a cool mum friend with great taste that you wish lived round the corner. In fact, she's exactly that.

ONE BAD MOTHER


Technically this is cheating, because One Bad Mother isn't a blog; it's a podcast. Sometime I don't have a free hand or even a free pair of eyes ("La la la, looking at my phone, reading a blog, la la la, this is so easy oh whoops the baby threw up all over herself and I didn't notice") so something that just requires my ears is perfect. Bonus points for being sarcastic, honest, informative and highly amusing. 

One Bad Mother takes the form of a conversation between the two hosts, both mothers of small children, on topics including parenting triumphs and failures, the horrors of pregnancy, and why a glass of wine for mommy is not only justified but necessary. Fin can't listen to it on the grounds that they're "screechy," and he may have a point, but they've become my late-night sanity-maintaining feeding buddies so I'll forgive them anything.


So. There are three things that make me feel marginally less alone in this crazy endeavour called parenthood. Fellow caretakers of tiny humans, what else should I be reading/listening to/gobbling up at four in the morning?


SEE ALSO:


Images: 1. Mama Watters 2. Top with Cinnamon 3. Rebecca's Instagram 4. One Bad Mother

14 boats moored

  1. Thank you for Tea and Oranges - that was a great post you linked to as I wrestle with the long term reality of working and mothering. On the plus side, since Iris only 2 months old, I have a way to go before I have to start that.

    In the chilly watches of the night I am also reading:
    - Little Spree. Lovely clothes which feeds my other one handed online obsession, shopping for baby clothes. Since I am still working out how breastfeeding, and clothes I actually like wearing, go together, I've stopped buying clothes for me. They end up covered in sick anyway, so now I buy thing for her - she looks charming in them, its (slightly) cheaper and its easier to love something which has just pooed all over your hand if its' stripy sleepsuit has a fox on it.

    Also, on the topic of free time which isn't free, I loved What Mothers Do especially when it looks like nothing, by Naomi Stadlen.

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  2. I'm glad you have other blogs which make you feel less alone in all this. Maybe less alone isn't right - maybe it's just nice to have fellow travellers.

    Hope you're well xx

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  3. Do you read Suzy Krause's blog? I've lost track of how many months old her son is but she's always hilarious (even to us non-parents): http://suzykrauseandtheskyscrapers.blogspot.co.uk

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  4. I'm assuming the picture at the top is of you and the bairn? I love it! x

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    1. Sadly not, it's from here. I wish I had the photography/breastfeeding skills to pull this off!

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  5. I very much enjoy one bad mother!! although it can get a bit screechy from time to time.
    I just feel like everyone, especially moms, need to be told they're doing a good job more often!!

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  6. Great Post. nice to visit and walk :)

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  7. Anyway, since having A, I have discovered several interesting bloggers as I find/found myself in the same situation - not with free time, but with free hand(s). And so I too turned to searching for interesting reads. I like; The Ugly Volvo - hilarious sarcastic recounts of parenting w/ lovely comic style drawings; Kate Baer - down to earth observations of bringing up a baby, honesty, no bs; Hither and Thither, which is very glamourous lifestyle, but I like her posts about travelling with kids; and Pregnant Chicken for smackdown advice on baby stuff.

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  8. Hmmm blogger just decided to chop the beginning off my comment, which was a longwinded attempt to say that I envy your ability to always write about what I am thinking in a more elegant and eloquent way!

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  9. <3 Sending love. Notes from the future: it gets easier. They stay chubby.

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  10. Check out "The Longest Shortest Time" podcast. I'm a mom-to-be and I've been devouring it.

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  11. just blogwalking.. Nice post and have a nice day :)

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