How Does Blogging Help Preserve Family Relationships?

Kellan is a Texas mom of four and small business owner. She is also the writer behind the blog On The Upside where she shares daily stories about the raising of four children and surviving the humorous chaos of their everyday lives. She can also be found writing On The Flipside and a blog for mySA.

I don't think you would meet any blogger that did not agree that blogging is definitely a form of journaling. I think this is especially true for personal blogs and "Mommy Blogs". And, while there is quite a bit of controversy that surrounds "Mommy Bloggers" - where the media and critics are quick to analyze and attack a mother for documenting her children's lives and publishing pictures and stories on her blog for the whole world to see, I think it would be hard to find a "Mommy Blogger" that did not agree that blogging has changed the way we connect with our families and preserve the memories of our children.

Before blogging and digital photography, moms were snapping 35mm photos and then filing those photos in albums that she would then store in a cabinet in the family room or den. She might also have spent many hours scrapbooking to document memorable occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. She would sit around the dinner table and offer up stories of her own childhood for her children to listen to and giggle at and then those stories might quickly be forgotten until such time as the memories were brought up again at a family party or gathering. For most people, preserving of family memories was either something that made it to the page of a photo album in the form of hundreds of untitled photos or was simply random stories recited by family members on special occasions.

Blogging definitely changed the way I document and preserve the memories of my family and the lives of my children. Through the publishing of stories that are detailed and particular (highlight specific events, dates, conversations, etc.) I have managed to document thousands of moments in my children's lives that would have never been written down and remembered if it had not been for blogging those memories daily. And, through the stories (and the photos that are very often attached to these stories), I believe I have offered my children a unique glimpse into their past and our family's history that will one day be a priceless heirloom for them and their own children. Through all of the hundreds of posts that I have published, my children have and will continue to see who they were, who they were to me and who I was, through what they read in my stories.

I think blogging my children's lives is a gift I am giving to my children. The only regret I have is that I have not had the time to blog about every single thing that happens in their lives and also that I did not start sooner. I often feel sad about the memories that might have been saved if only I had started blogging years ago.

When Is Scrapbooking More Than Just Craft?

Elizabeth writes for Mom It Forward today. She is a super-busy mother of three boys, with one new baby due in April. When she’s not chasing after her children, she’s getting paid to sing at weddings, she's knitting, or she's scrapbooking. Elizabeth has been a Creative Memories consultant for two years (MyCMSite.com/egrant). Her blogs are: Suzy Q Homemaker and Suzy Q Crops.

The very first time I sat down to scrapbook, I was probably about 10 years old. My mother had all her old theater programs in a pile with an empty scrapbook and I asked her why she never put them in it? So I offered to do it for her. I spent time organizing each program by date and gluing them to the pages, fascinated that she had done so much before I was ever born. So of course, I had to ask for my own scrapbook.

Over the years, I only added my school awards, concert & theater programs, and movie tickets from my soon-to-be husband’s dates. It wasn’t that I planned to make scrapbooking something I do, I just found it hard to let go of things that meant a lot to me and I wanted all of those things to be in one place.

These days, scrapbooking has taken on a whole new meaning for me. Not only do I use scrapbooking as a means of preserving memories and stories of my growing family, I use it to connect with the people closest to me. Scrapbooking is not “just a craft.” It’s a social event, a reunion, or therapy.

My oldest sister and I are not close in age at all. I was still in elementary school when she graduated high school. We shared a room a few times while growing up, but there really wasn’t much that we had in common other than being a part of the same insane family. But we both started our own families around the same time and she was the one who introduced me to Creative Memories. At that time, I had no idea women actually scrapbooked together. It was always a private ritual to me, something that I never would have thought to do with other people around.

I realized then the importance of scrapbooking with others: it’s about sharing our stories. When my sister and I get together to scrapbook (and we do so on a semi-regular basis—meaning: when our children aren’t sick or driving us crazy!), it’s a time for us to catch up on each other’s lives. Even if we only get one page done during the entire time we’re together, it’s time that we’ve spent together. There’s something special about sitting down to remember those good (and sometimes horrible) times.

Scrapbooking brought me and my sister closer than we would have otherwise been, I think. Sure, we have 7 (going on 8) children between the two of us, and they all drive us crazy. Sure, we both have “interesting” family members to dish about. Getting together to actually create something with those stories is what makes our relationship even stronger.

What Is Mom It Forward?

What Is the Mom It Forward Mission?
Mom It Forward is the newest trend in mom groups and makes giving back fun, sociable, accessible, and stylish—the new “in crowd” of moms where "mom" is a verb. Not only is it fun, fosters friendships, but it is all for a good cause—serving and teaching service to our children.

The Mom It Forward mission is "to change the world one mom at a time." We will achieve that by 1) strengthening women, 2) helping them become the best moms they can be, and 3) providing ideas, opportunities to, and recognition for carry(ing) out the Mom It Forward mission in small and large ways, locally as well as internationally.

Where Is Mom It Forward?
With its unique niche, the Mom It Forward community is the perfect mommy gathering place—both online and in real life through local chapters—to talk about something moms have in common—our passion for making a difference.

Currently, we meet Tuesday nights on Twitter for our Girl's Night Out (#gno) parties and feature community members on our blog daily at Mom It Forward. We are in the process of developing a Mom It Forward social networking site (online community), which will be our online gathering place. We also are forming Mom It Forward Worldwide, which is an international organization moms can take part in with other women in their communities.

What Is the Benefit of Being Part of the Mom It Forward Community?
Members of the Mom It Forward community join for strength and friendship—you know, the adult interaction all of us moms are craving—but leave with so much more... feeling strengthened, uplifted, excited, and with ideas for and a call to action to give back in fun, creative, meaningful ways all while balancing and our role and improving our abilities as a mom.

One of the many benefits of being a part of this group has been meeting such great people and serving alongside them and on some occasions, serving together with our families. To learn about what we've done recently to Mom It Forward, click on Mom It Forward Cares. To find out how you can get involved in upcoming Mom It Forward opportunities, e-mail us at momitforward [at] gmail [dot] com.