10 awesome blog posts I read this month – July 2016

Every week, I read blogs that make me laugh, blogs that make me cry, blogs which challenge my thinking, blogs which support me as a parent, and blogs which inspire me.

Seeing as you’re reading Cardiff Mummy Says, I figure you like blogs too. So I’m excited to continue my monthly series, charting 10 of my favourite blog posts I’ve read over the past month. A little bit of reading inspiration for the summer holidays.

Here’s my selection for July 2016, not in any particular order. Clicking on each of the titles will take you directly to that post. You can catch up with my selections for previous months here.

Do let me know if you relate to any of these in the comments section below, on the Cardiff Mummy Says Facebook page or by tweeting me on @cardiffmummy 

1. Cloudy With A Chance of a Fournado by Toilets Aren’t For Turtles

This one from Toilets Aren’t For Turtles made me laugh. Forget the Terrible Twos, the Threenage years and make way for the Fournado. She writes, “It’s the unpredictability that gets me – my darling four-year-old is a hot mess, with a mood that can change from ecstatic to enraged in seconds, for no good reason at all. With my middle child six weeks away from turning 5, I relate!

2. Seven Weeks of Summer by Family Days Tried and Tested

This beautiful poem from Deborah of the awesome Family Days Tried and Tested made me cry. Lots. And my children are nowhere near heading off to secondary school. Such tender words about a child leaving one stage of life and heading off to another, carving their own way in the world. Here’s a taster for you – but do go and read it yourself.

“I won’t wait at the gates or wave you off in the playground
I won’t tussle your hair with your new mates around,
But you’ll grow in your character, and you’ll shed primary fast
And you’ll head into teenagehood with your middle years past.”

3. To The Thirty Something Mums by Littles Love and Sunshine

This one went viral earlier in the month and it really stopped me in my tracks because it sums up my life right now. At a trip to her public swimming she notices, “There we all are – the stereotypes we swore we never would be – wading knee-deep in the kiddies’ pool, eyes locked on our littles – and genuinely delighted by their antics.” She contrasts this to the shiny twentysomethings on the hill. “They are rested. They are toned. They are magnificently oblivious to what is coming their way in the future. They don’t even see us. Or if they do, they swear they will never be us.” But, she adds, also up on the hill are the fortysomethings. “They too are rested. They too are toned. They are alone, quietly reading a book. They see us, and they are sympathetic but also a bit smug. They’ve been there and done it and they know it doesn’t last forever.” A perfect summary of life for many of us right now. Go read it!

4. Why I’m not raising my boys to be great husbands by Life With Baby Kicks

In building up the girl power message, Laura from Life With Baby Kicks points out we’ve gone too far and have forgotten boys need building up too. Laura has written this post in response to another blogger who said she was raising her boys to be great husbands. Says Laura. “If an article was written the other way round about raising girls to be great wives there would be uproar.  There would be cries of sexism.” She’s teaching her boys to cook, clean, do the laundry, look after children and so on. “I’m raising my boys to be great people, great adults, great men.  And in doing these things I am sure that they will be great husbands one day, offering their future partners more than just the life skills I have strived to teach them. But first and foremost, they will be great for themselves.

5. My Favourite Child by 21 Grosvenor Close

This post by Louise of 21 Grosvenor Close is just brilliant as she weighs up which is her favourite child. I don’t want to say anything here because doing so would spoil it; just go and read it for yourselves.

6. Peter and Jane go on an Aeroplane by Claire Told Me To Do It

A humorous take on the classic children’s books, Claire Told Me To Do It’s blog is brilliantly funny. In this post, the family are at the airport, getting ready for their holiday.

“Peter and Jane are crazed with excitement about their holiday.

Peter and Jane are demonstrating how excited they are by repeatedly ramming their Trunkis into the ankles of other passengers.

Mummy hates those f***ing Trunkis. They seemed like such a good idea when she first saw them, but they are evil weapons of mass destruction.”

Accompanied by drawings, this had me laughing out loud.

7. No Apologies by Someone’s Mum

Danielle of Someone’s Mum does a wonderful job of writing about her life as a mum of a child with autism. Here she asks people not to tell her they are sorry her son has the condition. She says, “Don’t say you are sorry. I know you mean well. I was once like you. But don’t apologise for the gift that is my boy – for any part of him.” He might not be able to run, climb and jump like other boys, “But he can list the wonders of the solar system, in perfect order. Planets and moons and stars roll off his tongue.” She adds, “You do not know what to say. And so you say sorry. You say, I don’t know how you do it. You say, you must be so strong.  But my child is not a burden. He is the light of my life. And he would be yours too, if he were your child.”

8. Pretending to be the perfect housewife by Mummy and Monkeys

As a mum of three plus a step-child and with a husband who works away, Eilidh of Mummy and Monkeys certainly has a lot to think about. But, as she writes here, she puts an enormous amount of pressure on herself to be the ‘perfect housewife’ too. If her husband comes home to a messy house, she feels she will have failed. Even though the cleaning is affecting family life. “I drove past the country park and thought of stopping but the little voice in the back of my head was telling me all the stuff I needed to do. It’s not the first time I’ve put off doing things to get tidy. I’ve even put off play dates and days out if they are the day before he comes back as I know I will need to be cleaning.” I relate to this. I struggle to keep on top of the housework. But my philosophy is dust can wait; my children can’t.

9. 17 things I have learnt about camping with kids by Hurrah For Gin

37 different arguments before you’ve even left the house; letting the kids stay up late only for them to wake up at sunrise; dancing around the campfire with your friends; using the kids’ potty at 3am. Katie from Hurrah From Gin charts the ups and downs of camping as a family in this brilliantly funny (as always) post.

10. A short rant about the new ads for Cadbury Buttons by Slummy Single Mummy

Jo’s post about the new Cadbury Buttons advert went viral earlier in the month.

“I don’t know about you, but having a small child clamber on me, whilst trying to poke me in the eye with my own glasses, is one of my least favourite things. It is definitely NOT one of those moments where I think ‘Ahhh! This is what having kids is all about! This is better than Cadbury buttons!’”

Instead, she suggests some alternative ideas for their marketing campaign, such as a mum scoffing Buttons in the bathroom while pretending to be on the loo. Very funny.