iBlog Friday - Our weekly roundup of Aussie Bloggers

At iVillage we’re passionate about supporting Australian bloggers. That’s why we’ve created iBlog Friday.

It's a chance for bloggers introduce their favourite post of the week to iVillage readers and for our community to read what Aussie writers are up to.

Here are the bloggers who have sent their submissions this week. Happy reading!

Toni Welch of Finding Myself Young reflects on her partner's journey into fatherhoodin her post Becoming a Dad.

I have noticed in the past few weeks that T has starting "growing up" a lot more. Hes always been excited to be a dad, but I think he is really relishing the responsibility of it all now that I'm on maternity leave. He likes being responsible for me and its starting to really dawn on him that he is going to be responsible for another little person really soon. A light bulb has been switched on. We recently got our pram and he took great pride in putting it together and showing me how it works. He was so proud of himself once he finished (and he only put one part on backwards – who needs instructions anyway). This coming from a man who left most of the baby shopping to me because he had no idea and now he is showing me how a pram works.

Read the rest of Toni's post here.

Josefa Pete of Always Josefa gives us a glimpses into her constant uncertainty as she navigates motherhood and career in her post Compassion is the thief of joy.

Standing at my kitchen sink, I washed the one dish ten times over. Yet, the pile of dirty breakfast dishes remained untouched. I stood there, hands immersed in the lukewarm, soapy water, turning the sponge on the now spotless plate. With the sound of cartoon shows blaring and two little boys fighting over which channel to watch, my mind shut out the noise and with clarity all I could hear was “you are not good enough.”

Read the rest of Josefa's post here.

Keri Arkell of Awesomely Unprepared shares her thoughts on the crazy world of kid's television in her post The secret life of Jimmy Giggle?

Since having the Little Mister in my life, I have been exposed to the crazy world of children’s television programming. Never have I been haunted by so many catchy theme songs (read: annoying/earwormy) and high pitched character voices. I now know far more about these shows than I would even care to admit. You know that everything’s taking a downhill slide when you know more about the songs on Play School than what’s playing on the radio for the grown ups (if you’re me at least).

If you’re an anti-TV parent, please look away now (after noting that the Little Mister’s TV diet is set at reasonable limits and mostly only so I am able to maintain personal hygiene – a gift for all who know and smell me)…

Read the rest of Keri's post here.

Nicole Moriarty of nicolemoriarty.com.au discusses her struggle to avoid gender stereotyping her children in her posst Ballet? Or Soccer?

But here’s the thing I’m having trouble with right now. There are two things about that type of mum I was going to be that I was absolutely sure about.

1. I would not push gender stereotypes on my children. If I had a son who wanted a doll, he would get a doll. If he wanted to dress up in a pink tutu, that would be fine by me. And if I had a daughter – I’d encourage her to throw on an old blue jumper and jeans and go play in the mud  just as often as she chose to wear her purple skirt and fairy wings.

Read the rest of Nicole's post here.

Zanni Arnot of My Little Sunshine House beautifully captures a magical childhood moment in her post The Red Balloon.

At last, on a gust of wind, it chooses freedom, and leaves the golden maple and the crying girl behind.

The little girl sits on her mummy’s lap, her shoulders heaving. Her mummy whispers in her ear to imagine some of the adventures the balloon will have, and thanks the little girl for letting the balloon go free.

The little girl’s shoulders stop heaving, and her face brightens. She imagines the balloon travelling across paddocks and mountains and valleys and the snow, and at last finds its home. Her home.

Read the rest of Zanni's post here.

Rebecca Bowyer of Seeing the Lighter Side of Parenting reveals who her fairy godmother is in her post The day my fairy godmother came to visit.

I’m pretty sure I had a visit from my fairy godmother recently. It’s the only rational explanation I can come up with to explain how I managed to avoid all housework and child minding on an otherwise action packed day: my first day back at paid work after my second period of maternity leave.

It started out quite normally; I woke to the alarm at 6.00am, dug Son #1 out from under our doona (into which he had burrowed, undetected, in the wee cold hours), wrestled him into some clothes and propped him up at the kitchen table with a bowl of Weetbix and a cup of water.

Read the rest of Rebecca's post here.

Louisa Simmonds of My Midlife Mayhem explains exactly what school holidays are like for working mums in her post Working Women and School Holiday Hell.

As if working ‘around’ children isn’t hard enough, mothers also have to ‘manage’ them during school holidays, whilst trying to maintain a level of professionalism at work at the same time.

And let me assure you, holiday-anxiety gets far worse when kids become teenagers. You see, you can’t shove themnto childcare then, in the knowledge that at least they’ll be safe for the day – you have to leave them to prowl the streets looking for things not to do whilst you try to earn a dollar, engulfed by guilt.

Read the rest of Louisa's post here.

Renee Wilson of Mummy, wife, me prepares for a return to work after maternity leave and decides to slow down and value the little things in her post The Simple Things.

More than ever, now is the time for me to slow down. I need to put those brakes on and take in what is happening around me. Rushing around like a lunatic all the time, I forget to observe the simple things in life. The beautiful things that are happening around me every single day. Special, magical, awe-inspiring things that fill my heart and soul with happiness.

After receiving my wake up call loud and clear, I spent the remainder of the weekend being aware of my surroundings.

Read the rest of Renee's post here.

Flynn Dovey of Reid and Wren makes peace with who their children's favourite parent really is in her post Motherhood Monday – on swapping roles.

When my eldest son was a teeny baby he would watch his father walk around the room. When he developed the ability to lift his arms for a cuddle it would be for Nick’s arms, not mine. When he could talk he would always call for daddy. We put it down to Nick being the ‘celebrity parent’, as he was out at work a lot of the time, while I was always with Reid. We had another little man and I would gaze at him for hours and whisper that he would be mine, imagined that he would always be addicted to me. However it quickly became apparent that he was also enamoured with his dad. I tried to see the positives- while Nick’s arms often had two children in them I was able to use mine for whatever I liked. He was the only one who could put my eldest son to bed, which saved me from reading The Gruffalo a million times.

Read the rest of Flynn's post here.

Julia Alexander of Perfect Wife Magazine talks about married-people-fighting in her post Friendly Fire – the rules for fair fighting.

“Oh you did NOT just say that…”

All wives have (at least once) wished there was an impartial observer in the room during an argument to inform her spouse just how out line he is being. How unfair, rude and foot-stompingly frustrating his behaviour is.  To vindicate her hurt. To warrant her tears and possibly entitle her to a bunch of flowers/takeaway/choice of DVD tomorrow night.

Read the rest of Julia's post here.

Dragana Lolic of Light.Love.Soul talks about warming  your mind and your body in her post Warming your winter days from within.

Winter for me has been somewhat different than previous years.  As I have focused more on inner happiness I find myself cherishing every day, even the cold and rainy winter ones. Does that mean I am without worries and every day is a walk in the park? Far from it and if you have been around me in the last few rather challenging weeks you would know that all too well.  What is different in my life this time around is that even in these challenging and cold days I find things I am truly grateful for and that I find joy in. So if you are looking to bring a bit more sunshine in your wintery days than I hope the next few tips will have you well on your way to basking in the rays of joy.

Read the rest of Dragana's post here.

Kellie Turtu of Mama Pyjama writes touchingly about missing time alone with her husband in her post Two's company.

I miss my husband. 

I miss: spending the whole day just messing around in the kitchen cooking up a storm with him; drinking a bottle of wine each and staying up all night just because we could; fooling around, popping coke bottles with a BB gun; aimless drives in our panel van, Elvis singing effortlessly in the background. 

I miss: the laughter and the banter; watching a movie together, with popcorn, and beer and no interruptions; dinner at strange restaurants watching him order the weirdest thing on the menu as I search for the chicken parmy.

Read the rest of Kellie's post here.

If you're a blogger and you want to appear in our next iBlog Friday roundup please send the link to your blog to us at info@themotherish.com

We will be posting all the blogs we receive in a round up every Friday morning so make sure we get your blog by Thursday at 12 noon.

The winner of the next iBlog Friday will win a USANAHealth Sciences Sensé Basic Pack.

A perfect way to begin your journey to beautiful skin and a more natural, radiant you. This package contains the following:

·         300 Gentle Daily Cleanser (1)

·         301 Hydrating Toner (1)

·         302 Daytime Protective Emulsion (1)

·         303 Night Renewal (1)

To view the full range of USANA Health Sciences nutritional and personal care products visit www.usana.com.