Don't take advice from blogs

Okay, that was a piece of advice from a blog. So... don't take advice from blogs except this piece of advice from a blog I'm giving you. Okay? 

I first started reading blogs when I saw Stephanie from nieniedialoges.com on Oprah and her blog is still my favorite blog that I check almost everyday. My blog was largely inspired by her blog. With her story and her blog, I realized I was dedicating too much of myself to my job and if I survived a plane crash (like her), my coworkers wouldn't come visit me in the hospital. My friends and family would, and that is who I needed to be investing in. So my blog was about the "small things".

My husband says blogs like nienie's are modern fairy tales and completely fictional. I agree to a certain point and so I try to take them with a grain of salt. I am always questioning whether I spend too much time looking at blogs and whether to cut them out entirely. But then I come to the conclusion they are good, but need to be carefully limited.

Blogs were essential in discerning my vocation to be a stay-at-home mom. Simply because I barely know any stay-at-home moms and few Christian families for that matter. So in our globalized world, blogs are a way to connect with likeminded people... as poor and virtual as that may be.

I still read some mormon mommy blogs like nienie's and what I like about them is that they simply share their daily life and struggles and don't try to give advice. Nienie never has a "10 tips for.." post or "How to do ..." post. Some of the Catholic mommy blogs I read give lots and lots of parenting/motherhood/faith/etc. advice and I have come to the conclusion I need to NOT FOLLOW IT. Hence the title of this post.

The other day one of the Catholic mommy blogs I read, which is very popular and which I like, suggested that you don't need to pray the rosary to be holy. She doesn't like praying the rosary. That was when this realization hit me. I see where she's coming from, but basically she's telling people not to pray the rosary. That's not okay in my book. That's actually very dangerous in my book. Who died and made her more important than Our Lady of Fatima who told the shepherd children to pray the rosary everday?

Then on that same blog she had some posts with the theme of how moms need a lot of "me time" and how many bubble baths she takes and coffee shops she visits without kids. If you don't do these things, you will be burnt out, she said. Again, I see where she's coming from. But this made me stressed out, angry with my husband and kids, feeling bad for myself.. until I talked to my spiritual director and got my ideas straightened out a bit. If I have time for "me time", that's great. If I don't, that's not a problem. Our world says it's all about "me, me, me" but if you are trying to live God's will, your priorities are set a bit differently.

I have also freaked out on various occasions with parenting advice from another blog.

So blogs. Don't take advice from them.