Since it is difficult to know what to do with vague feelings I decided to spend about a`week reflecting on the pros and cons. The list I am sharing today is what I perceive to be the negative side of children's activity blogging. I would love to hear helpful hints on how other mommy bloggers counteract these aspects as well as thoughts about down sides that I may not have mentioned.
1. Too much time on the computer. There's, of course, the actual writing of the posts, but then once I'm there in front of the computer, it's easy to be tempted by all the other things (Facebook, Pinterest, etc.) The internet can be so addicting! If the development of self control is something I care about in my children it seems like I should at least model it.
2. Sometimes it is hard to be fully present in the activities I do with my children because I am distracted by trying to take good pictures.
3. Gravitation toward activities that blog well. It's easy to want to pick activities that are photogenic, unique, and clever. Those are not always the activities that happen to be best for my children.
4. Temptation to only do an activity one time. After all, you can really only blog about it once. This happens despite my conviction that children often get the most benefit out of something once it becomes familiar and is deepened by repetition.
5. Fun activities sometimes win over things like laundry. Sometimes that's ok, but "more fun" is not always what my family needs. They also need clean socks.
6. Watching the comments, number of followers, and page hits on my blog sometimes turns my focus away from seeking the Lord's approval first and foremost.
7. I'm finding that running an activity blog has meant that the time I spend with my children is sometimes over-structured. My intuition tells me that while there is a place for structured activities children also need parents to spend much child-directed time with them. There need to be long stretches when the parent has the leisure to listen, thoughtfully observe, and to play in a carefree way. Sometimes because of the blog I get impatient with this kind of thing and want to be accomplishing a goal- finishing an activity so I can write about it.
8. There is a temptation to not allow an activity to evolve organically (related to number seven). I usually have a goal in mind for the direction I want an activity to go, and I can sometimes bulldoze other ideas so that I can make sure it will happen "the right way."
For example, one day I noticed that there were several books open and turned upside down on the table. I thought it would be cute for M to find her dollhouse dolls and put them under the open books and pretend that they were camping in tents. It looked very cute that way, and I was about to snap a picture and write a quick post on it, when M decided to flatten all the books and swirl them around the table to pretend they were boats (very not blog-worthy). There was a part of me that didn't want to let her do that.
9. Sometimes I fear that our steady stream of new activities will condition my children to not appreciate simple, classic pleasures. I don't want them to become dependent on novelty.
10. I worry sometimes that readers of this blog might get the mistaken impression that I think that being a good mother is directly related to how many creative activities one does with one's children. Motherhood is of course so much deeper than such an external thing. I am especially concerned that I not give off that impression because I think that our culture is overemphasizes the external. I would not like to contribute to that unhealthy imbalance.
At the end of my week of reflection I did decide to keep blogging for the time being. I'll try to find a time next week to share what I feel are some of the positive aspects of blogging that for me make it worth it despite all of the potential pitfalls.
