I have already told you that I love blogs, but now let me tell you why I hate them:
- Blogs take up time. Even with a feed-reader, even skimming the nonessential, reading blogs takes time.
With always connected high-speed internet, I am tempted to read throughout the day, pulling me away from the children that need my full attention. - Blogs make me feel inept. Why isn't my garden as productive as Kate's or Mary's? Why isn't my house decorated as well as Heidi's? Why aren't I crafty like Jo or Michelle? Why don't we have serene preschool sessions like Stephanie? How come I don't write as well as Shannon or Lora Lynn?
Melissa doesn't let her daughter eat Goldfish becuase of artificial colors....am I a poor parent for allowing them?
Tanya painted a mural in her son's room. Why haven't I done anything nice like that for my kids?
Julie is doing such a good job teaching her son core values. Are we doing enough?
The Pisecos have children near our kids' ages, and they are doing in-depth history lessons. Should we?
Instead of cutting them out completely, I have a plan to moderate my internet reading.
- Read fewer blogs. I currently subscribe to 108 feeds in Google Reader. By October 1st, I will reduce this to 50 including news feeds.
- Read blogs only during designated times. There is no reason to have Google Reader open throughout the day. When my 15 minutes of computer time is up, I will close the Reader window to reduce the temptation to check.
- Be content. I will reread and take to heart Julie's lessons on contentment for her son. I am who I am, my kids are who they are, and we are very blessed to be living the lives that we are.
12 comments:
Just to make you feel better, the ONLY reason our garden is so productive is because is a mammoth. It is so incredibly weedy at the moment that you would not believe it. I really should post pictures..
But I hear ya on the time-suck factor...I've gotta stop staying up so late!!
Mary, owner of the weediest garden in town
He he, I love this post :) Blogs do have a way of reminding us of our shortcomings, don't they? People were probably much more blissfully ignorant about such things before blogs came along.
We're all great mommies and we all have our particular strengths... BTW - "serene" is not exactly the word I would choose :)
Oh my friend, thank you for your kind comments, but I have to tell you, I am lacking in soooo many ways... I've been wanting to paint the boys rooms for years - I finally tackled it this summer because I didn't have to chase around a little one wearing a diaper...
Wow 108 feeds! I only have 45 I think and I know half of the people personally.
I always think of this verse when I'm feeling "less than" 1 Tim 6:6 "But godliness with contentment is great gain." If something in particular is causing me to look to others instead of the Lord or creating discontent in my life then those things need to be pruned away. Not easy.
There is too much living to be done than to spend time and energy on things that focus me inward instead of outward.
of course you had to post all the links to the blogs and so I felt the need to follow those links and now as a result I too feel inept (but had to smile at this post!) - so you are totally not alone! LOL!
(Grumpy from the homeschoolpreschool board!)
I hear ya sista!! Love this post.
I spread mine out over the day,
while I have my coffee,while P is busy with work, her tv time, while she is on the computer next to meor before bed.
A few minutes at a time, and I am good.I don't get all of it every day, but I fit it in when I can.
I'll miss you if you cut me off your list!!! Big bloggy love over at my blog for you right now in fact. ;-)
I've never thought about it that way. I always see it as gleaning information and ideas. Some you use, some you don't. Pick and choose what works for your family. I guess maybe I'm a glass half full type of girl after all!
Similar to why I hate blogs....but I love them more...
Please, don't feel inept because of what we do! :D
I walk the love-hate line on blogs too. Because there are SO MANY amazing things to do in this world, it's easy to get caught up in wanting to do ALL of them. But we have to pause, and breathe, and be content in the space we have, doing what we do. (I don't have a garden, my house isn't "decorated," etc. etc!)
And here I am, back from a week's vacation, catching up on my Google reader *before* I post to my own blog. :D
Love this post. I really couldn't have said it better if I tried. :)
So, how's the shutting off the reader at 15 minutes coming along? I always have such a hard time with that and it's such a tiny habit change. Just click the button, Becky... just E-X-I-T already! Oh, I hate blogs. LOL! love 'em, too, though. really I do! :)
I can totally relate to this! I need to weed out my own blog reading.
Also, funny note: I recommend not listing and linking to the blogs you unsubscribe from. I saw another blogger do this recently (I was on the unsubscribe list, so I saw it in the referral stats) and she ended up really offending quite a few people when she detailed why she unsubscribed from each one. I had to laugh because that sounds like something I would do, unintentionally offend a bunch of people. :)
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