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 to 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!

Shelley Marsh of Money Mummy shares some handy hints on saving money on children's birthday parties in her post 6 ways to save money on your child's birthday party.

If you choose to use the KISS principle anywhere in your life, you should absolutely use it when you are hosting a kids birthday party.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the KISS principle it stands for “Keep it simple, stupid!”  We applied this principle big time when it came to our daughter’s first and second birthdays.  We just grabbed a picnic blanket, a couple of roast chooks from up the road and headed down to our local park with a couple of friends.  Simple, low stress and oh so cheap.

Read the rest of Shelley's post here.

Joanna Lamb of Joanna Writes Here explores the complexity of being a modern woman in her post Is it okay to put yourself first?

A lot of women talk about the ‘guilt factor’ that they associate with juggling multiple priorities.  They manage everything in their lives efficiently, yet are riddled with guilt every time they turn their attention away from one thing to another.  A friend of mine spent her first day back at work after maternity leave crying in the bathroom, because she felt so terrible about leaving her six month old at daycare.  We have so many things going on in our lives that we feel guilty when we don’t devote our attention to one thing entirely.  We might feel that our career is suffering if we stay at home to take care of a sick child, or our marriage is suffering if we work long hours.  But the reality of the situation is that while we lead full and busy lives, it’s important to prioritise things, such as a night out with your husband, or a friend’s birthday drinks, and learn to say ‘no’ to certain things of less importance, like taking on an extra project at work that you don’t really need to.

Read the rest of Joanna's post here.

Lilani Goonesena of LILANI GOONESENA frets about gender stereotyping in her post The homemade fairy.

I’ve been reading a lot of late about the age-old issue of gender stereotypes. Hugzilla talks about sexy fairies and Slapdash Mama encounters a beauty pageant at the movies. It reminds me of how much I hate girly brand name toys and why I try so hard to keep them out of our lives.

I have two little girls, including my preschooler, Maya, who believes she is reincarnated as a fairy. It’s so cute. Who doesn’t love a fairy?

Read the rest of Lilani's post here.

Kathryn Boyd of Katzrambles tries to make sense of the nonsensical in her post I do not understand; but I do hope.

I know that sensationalism wins over heroism in the beast we call the media; however I DO NOT UNDERSTAND it. Let me give you some examples:

As much as it pains me to write this name, she has been all over the world’s media platforms and therefore has to be mentioned – yes, you guessed it – Miley Cyrus.

Read the rest of Kathryn's post here.

Tania Condren of the Rowdy Fairy talks about how aging just creeps up on your in her post Life in my Mid 20's.

One of the biggest things I felt I was failing on was my career. For the longest time I had the idea in my head that I wanted to start my own business. I did not know what that business was but I knew I wanted to start one! So I set to work trying to figure out a business I wanted to start and all I ended up doing was running around in circles, pulling random ideas out of my head, putting 100% into it for a period of a couple of weeks until I realised it was a bad idea or I did not have enough interest in it to follow it through.

Read the rest of Tania's post here.

Louisa Simmonds of My Midlife Mayhem discusses teenagers (gulp!) in her post Teenage Relationships and Emotions.

Obviously, because she is a teenager I am not allowed to pry ask questions about what’s going on and if I do, I get shut down quicker than an over-heated nuclear core. Instead I have to bide my time and wait like a dog for that precious morsel of food to be dropped under the table, to receive what paltry allowance of information I warrant as her mother.

Read the rest of Louisa's post here.

Keri Arkell of Awesomely Unprepared discussed the question we all need to remember to ask in her post R U OK?

I have. Many a time. Let’s face it. I’m Kez and I am sh*t at asking for help. I am sh*t at telling people the deep, dark stuff. Truly. You wouldn’t think it. I’m such a bloody chatterbox and I am generally quite in touch with my feelings. I can talk about feelings quite well (mostly in writing or in counseling) but there’s only so far I can go when I am truly having a rough time. It’s not that I don’t trust anyone, far from it. I get scared that I’m going to be that high maintenance friend. That drama llama. Oh, yes. That Kez. She’s got *whispers* issues. All the time. Or sometimes I’m scared that if I say it out loud, I’ll be judged or worse, hurt even more.

Read the rest of Keri's post here.

Michelle Lewsen of They Call Me Mummy talks about an iconic children's toy and her memories of it in her post The ugliest doll in the shop.

On the bottom row, in a slightly dented box – that had, frankly, seen better days – was the most pitiful Cabbage Patch Kid imaginable. Instead of a frilly pink dress, this doll wore an insipid brown track suit. A woollen beanie slipped down the poor Cabbage Patch Kid’s face, so only it’s mouth was visible. On it’s feet were the ugliest, plainest not-quite-white shoes ever designed. Ever.

Read the rest of Michelle's post here.

Sonia Donaldson of Natural New Age Mum shares her thoughts on raising a teen in her post How to raise a happy, healthy teenager.

So far, the teenager thing is a little challenging but not too bad! I certainly don’t have all the answers but I wanted to share my tips on what is working for us. I would love you to share your tips too, so please add them as a comment.

? Love bomb.  Just because they are all grown up now, doesn’t mean you should stop hugging and kissing and telling your kids how much you love them. Keep it up, even if they resist. Find sneaky ways to love bomb them, like sending them a message on Facebook! Take them on one-on-one dates to the movies or out for dinner. Look for anyway you can think of to make them feel loved, always.

Read the rest of Sonia's post here.

Caylie Jeffery of Distractions of a busy mother takes time out to honour a special teacher in her post Paying tribute to my first music teacher.

This weekend, my Primary School (1976-1982) is honouring Margaret Howard, my first music teacher, who has been working at the school for 40 years. I have been asked to write some words and speak them on the day. I’ll also be playing my flute in the Past Student Band, doing a medley of songs in her honour.

This is what I’ll be saying…

Read the rest of Caylie's post here.

This week's iBlog Friday winner will not only have their blog published on Monday but will also receive a brilliant Cetaphil pack including Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser.

To enter iBlog Friday email your post to [email protected] by midday on Thursday. Good luck!