Hello my friends! Time for another irregular weekly-wrap up! (I’m not irregular. But my wrap-ups are.) I thought I’d share a few interesting things that I experienced in the blogosphere this week, and direct your attention to an exciting opportunity while I’m at it!

The week started normally enough. My daughter went back to school on Monday (Haaaaallll-elu-jah!) and on Tuesday I joined the Around the World Parenting Blog Carnival for our second to last installment of our discussion of Parenting Without Borders. This week we talked about helicopter parenting; you can read my post Advocating For Your Child Vs Being a Helicopter Parent, and I also urge you to read the other posts from my cohorts as well. They are so smart and insightful. I talked a little bit about interfering in children’s friendships (I’m building up to something here…wait for it…)

On Wednesday, a post that I wrote earlier this year, 5 Reasons Why I Never Want to Eat at a Restaurant With My Kids Again, was on Mamapedia. At last count, there were almost 90 comments on that post. This shocked me- when I wrote it, I intended it as a light-hearted account of how chaotic it can be to dine with children. I certainly didn’t expect to get the kind of intense debate usually generated by a post about spanking or (gasp!) CIO. But the first two commenters indicated that their children had never behaved so poorly at a restaurant. That opened the floodgate, and I was extremely touched by all the readers, friends, and bloggers who sprang to my defense. But I was also somewhat horrified by how easily mothers suited up for battle against one another. The interesting thing was, my children had not actually “misbehaved” at that restaurant as several commenters believed; the point was missed by many, and I was left feeling that some people will look for any opportunity to be oppositional and cruel.

Read the post here, and don’t forget to check the comments for some high quality entertainment. I’d love to hear what you think.

I was a bit sentimental for Finish the Sentence Friday, when I reflected on how much my daughter is growing up. Today is her seventh birthday: Read My Seven-Year-Old and I Grow Up.

In other news, thanks to your collective awesomeness, I met a big blog goal for myself and cleared the 1,000 like mark on my Facebook Page. I was extremely humbled and I am very grateful to have so many loyal friends out there.

Oh, and speaking of friends! (Did you like the build-up and segue-way?) Jessica and I were excited to introduce a new course on friendship this week on our HerStories Project website, a collaborative blog dedicated to finding friendship in motherhood. The course is being led by Shasta Nelson of Girlfriend Circles, and includes 13 experts in the field of friendship. You can read all the details here at The HerStories Project, but here is an introductory blurb from Shasta:

Your soul is made for connection.

Much like hunger tells you when you need food and exhaustion tells you when you need sleep, loneliness tells you when you long for more connection.  And most of us amazing women who are busy, networked, and tired are feeling that desire and trying to ignore it.

This September– International Women’s Friendship Month– let’s stop trying to talk ourselves out of why we don’t have the energy and time to connect, and instead actually just acknowledge that our souls long for more connection.

  • For some of us it’s because we’ve recently moved, changed jobs, or ended relationships– and know we need to start building the relationships that can support our lives.
  • For some of us it’s because we’re introverts or shy and while we know we need a few relationships of substance, the very idea of how to start them overwhelms us.
  • For some of us, we know everyone and have more friends than we can keep in touch with, but the truth is that we still hear that whisper because we know we still need to deepen some relationships and foster more vulnerability and intimacy.
  • And for some of us, to surround ourselves with healthy relationships, we know it’s time to let go of a few, the bring closure, to grieve, and to end what has run its course.

So if you hear that whisper that you’d like more local friends who can add value to your life…then I am excited to tell you about an awesome program that is scheduled this September called:

 “The Friendships You’ve Always Wanted! Learning a Better Way to Meet-Up, Build-Up, and Break-Up with Your Friends.”

This course was created by 13 of the leading experts on friendship and healthy relationship so that this September hundreds of women can all commit together to choosing friendships as their theme for the month!

Let’s tell our hearts that we’re willing to devote some time this month to learning and growing around the subject of friendship with the expectation that our call to have more love will be answered!

This program starts on Sept. 4 with a LIVE call!  For everyone who signs up before that day you’ll be entered 5 times in a raffle for a free airline trip to visit a girlfriend somewhere in the U.S., plus you’ll get a free copy of Shasta Nelson’s book Friendships Don’t Just Happen!  Sign up today and join us!

Friendships Wanted Ads-500x645

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend! Catch you next week! 

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