I need to read to write: a good ol’ fashioned link post

After several months of completely ignoring its existence, I’m trying to clean up my Google Reader: trim it down, shift it over, and make it reflect the blogs that I actually want to read, but don’t catch in my Twitter stream due to missed timing (or the author — gasp! — not tweeting). I am doing this because I’m coming to realize what should be obvious: that I need to read to write. And while I get easily overwhelmed by an unread New Post list twelve miles long, I also get overwhelmed by the echoes in the solitude of my own head, the standards I construct for myself to live up to.

In the course of this, I am discovering new-to-me-blogs, and new-to-me-posts on blogs I already knew I liked. I’m all kinds of inspired, but since I’m also all kinds of tired (we’re hosting the first virus of the year here in casa de Boychick-Raising), I’ll just offer you some completely-not-comprehensive highlights of what I found (some of these are from weeks or months ago, but I’ve never known a blogger who minded a new link to an old post):

Negotiations And Love Songs ~ by Jay at Two Women Blogging

Courtney mentioned one other point from the book: women have to truly let go of the notion that they are inherently more fit to parent, that they can simply do it better, by virtue of being women. Yes. This. Parents don’t need to be interchangeable – you don’t need to play the same games or have the same approach to soothing the baby. You don’t even need to agree about how to dress the kids. You do have to be able to both take care of the baby’s (and child’s and teenager’s) basic needs, and you need to trust your partner to do so, or the whole 50/50 thing won’t work.

Scripts by my father at Dad Who Writes (I shared this one on Facebook a while back, but it’s worth revisiting)

Dudelet is wailing, terrified by the outburst. It comes from nowhere, is speaking me, is utterly possessing me. I pick him up and carrying him, howling, to his room. I place him on the floor sobbing incoherently and storm back to the kitchen. By now its over and I’m in tears myself.

Mother’s Disability Featured in Custody Dispute at The Curvature

And so, it seems to me that the allegation being made against O’Neill is not that she is failing to ensure proper care for Aidan. The allegation appears to be that she is failing to care for Aidan entirely by herself, without any outside assistance.

This is flat out ableism.

Dances with Discrimination: On “Avatar,” Racism, Misogyny, and Disabled Prejudice

There are some who would argue that “Avatar” is simply a film, and should not be viewed in a broader concept. However, that wasn’t Cameron’s intention, and who better to determine the lens through which we view a movie than the movie’s creative lead? Especially since the film’s anti-corporate, anti-environmental destruction message is being helmed by corporate underwriting of companies that aren’t likely to be eco-friendly, either (sponsorship has to come from somewhere). The chances are pretty high that most viewers, so bedazzled by the swirling lights of Cameron’s cinematic skill, will likely not consider all of the social implications supporting such a movie encourages.

My Picks for Best Breastfeeding Blogs at PhD in Parenting (I swear I’m not including this just because she linked to me; it really is a great list of blogs and posts)

This one I’m just excited about the creation of, and hope talking it up will increase the chances I remember to participate (and that others will too): Calling for submissions for the first Carnival of Natural Parenting! at Hobo Mama

Do you have any posts or blogs to recommend, yours or others’? What were your favorite posts from the last year? What blogs do you think deserve more readers?