If you follow me on Twitter, one of the things that you shall notice almost immediately is that I share a great deal of information through retweeting other people or entities’s Tweets. I possess a great belief that what I read and those pieces of information that I enjoy discovering shall of interest to at least a portion of my esteemed followers. Because I consider the tidings or manifestations of others to be important for people to read, I elect to share their compositions of the written word. These minute postings of 140 characters or less are comprised for the most part of Tweets that relate information concerning classical music and opera performances or occurrences. However, since I am a man of diverse interests and experiences, other Tweets shall make their way into your Twitter feed if you do not mute my retweets after your maiden day of following my humble musings. If you are an astute, careful observer, you shall notice pieces of news about current events, an occasional witty remark from an endeared person or organization whom I follow, a great quantity of upcoming or historical stage performance information, a rare fact from the annals of history, stories of enticing vacations and excursions to enticing locales, and, yes, Tweets with links to the “Mom Blogs.”
The mom blogs are blogs for mothers, written by mothers, and designed to appeal to mothers, and their purpose is usually thought to be to help another mom as she embarks upon the noble, illustrious, and lifelong journey of rearing and nurturing her most precious possession, her child. Indeed, we might also add to this general view of this enterprise that some consider it to be a way to passively boast about the achievements of the perfect family that proves most elusive to remainder of us who consider ourselves normal. Nevertheless, while there is a good deal of this that one may witness if we search for it, I am here to discover to you, my dear reader, that nothing could be more erroneous in an assumption than one involving that limited set of criteria.
Therefore, having discovered the oppressive misconception of this corner of Internet literature, what, then, is a “mom blog” exactly? As I have heretofore mentioned, it is written by a mother, it is intended to concern motherhood, and because of this it is designed to appeal to actual mothers, but it is here that we must forget any of our preconceived ideas or mold into which we confine these sources of information. To do this successfully, we must approach the definition of motherhood that is contained in the inner part of our minds in what is perhaps a new manner. If I may be quite colloquial regarding this, “This ain’t your grandma’s version of motherhood.” Indeed, parenting may be considered as educating and preparing one’s child for the world when they are old and mature enough to function within most of its myriad of situations without any sort of negative consequences to his or her character. By that interpretation of it, the enormous responsibility of motherhood does not cease at about the age of twelve when a young adolescent believes that he or she has nothing more of any value to learn from one’s parents. It must continue for the remainder of a matriarch’s life.
As the fleeting path to a child’s adulthood commences, parents must assemble an array of knowledge, wisdom, and morality from nothing to impart to their child. They have no foundation upon which to elaborate, so they must construct this for themselves. This can be both a bane and a blessing. Once the course to follow is elected, a mother must decide to include other elements of life to enhance her child’s knowledge of the ways in which life operates. This is often where the mom blogs are first consulted as authorities or assistance to a mother’s inclinations.
Upon the pages of a mother’s blog, there is a wealth of diverse and extraordinary information to be culled by anyone who shall peruse what she desires to say. Of course, there are the usual posts concerning the tooth her child lost last week, the sippy-cup incident in which the lid magically was removed and cranberry juice stained her new dress in the process, her son’s maiden venture into the realm of purposeful deceit after which she cried more than he did from being punished, or her daughter’s unfortunate encounter with the girls who form the climax of the social landscape in her fourth-grade class as they teased her over some petty, minute article of clothing. However, if you glance at a few other posts, what you find may pleasantly surprise you. As you shall learn, a mother’s blog is never entirely similar to the previous one you have found, and each mother includes a unique element to her blog that you shall not find anywhere else. While you voraciously read the pages of a newly-discovered addition to the library of blogs documenting the commonplace history of motherhood as it continues, for they most often prove to be compelling reading, topics including Broadway, music, literature, art, sports, academics, economics, travel, and cuisine shall present themselves to your curious mind and astonished delight.
Because we have now learned that the mom blogs contain greater diversity than we first were likely to imagine, the question yet lingers as to why I continue to make the effort to pursue my reading of these pieces of literary thought. Though it may not be quite so entertaining, there are certainly other places in which to obtain this information. Why, then, do I continue to loyally read them? I was formerly employed by a community theatre, and I was immensely blessed beyond measure to work on producing and leading two children’s productions for the stage. I assistant directed a Christmas-themed musical for children ages 4-16, and I was one of the group leaders and assistant directors for our production of Disney’s 101 Dalmatians that we staged with children 3-16. I count it as one of my greatest privileges to witness the excitement and pure elation that most children receive in becoming fully acquainted with performing on stage in those early, magnificent years of their childhood that exist prior to the age of about ten. Before they have attained ten years of age, the world still retains a profound element of wonder that is all too often lost as we mature. As I was continually confronted by it every day for two months for each production from those children, it reminded me of what we our veritable purpose in life ought to be. When children are free from the corruption of the world that comes with our experiences in life, they have but one concern, which is to act in perfect, unadulterated kindness toward everyone they meet. Why should we be dissuaded from such a practice? I continue to peruse and recommend the treasures of wisdom contained in the blogs of exceptional mothers because they ultimately encourage us to explore this side of ourselves in discovering the world to a child. We need not be a parent to engage in such an action, nor should we wait until we have been bestowed such a blessing to search for this sort of information. We find interest in exploring some random or previously unconsidered aspect of life. We are encouraged to capture every moment’s full potential as a means through which to help someone else with whatever sort of difficulty we may see. We find inspiration to treat another person, who may even be a complete stranger, as a member of our family so that we may brighten the day of another person in some fashion. I beseech you for the permission to ask what could possibly be better or of greater importance to any of us than this initiative. Do yourself a favor and read some of these “mom blogs,” and never look at them in your former manner again.
This brief list is only a ripple upon the pool of blogs concerning every fact of motherhood on the Internet. I have chosen ones that relate most to my interests, which I pray that you also shall enjoy. I possess the extraordinary pleasure of following all of these exceptional ladies on Twitter, and they are among the most courteous and gracious people with whom one could hope to be acquainted through the marvel of the Internet, and I readily proffer their publications as a place of origin to proceed upon this glittering path to discovery. I am ingratiated to all of them for providing their wisdom and revelations to all of us even if I occasionally disagree with their views upon certain subjects. I leave you to experience them for yourself.
Thank you immensely for enduring this post, and I pray that all of you are well and that God blesses you tremendously of late. I continue to remain pleasantly yours,
Tyler Barton.
