It’s been exactly one year since the horrible tragedy that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. I remember first hearing about the shooting on the radio during my commute home. Much like every one else, my heart was in my chest and you better believe I hugged my kids tighter than ever when they made it home from school that day.
This entire week, the media’s been full of stories, photos, videos, memorials and remembrances to all the victims of this tragedy. But one thing that stuck out in my mind was a point made by some of the parents who lost their kids that fateful day. They don’t want everyone just wallowing in pity and depression about this tragedy. Remembering is important, but obsessing is not. Instead, they want everyone to show their support not with flowers or prayers or tears (though, those will certainly all come), but by doing some good.
No matter how big or small the action, take today to do something nice, something good. Show the world that good people do exist. That good people actually do good things. What kind of things? Anything. Volunteer somewhere. Bring a pot of chicken soup to a sick friend. Donate toys to the children’s ward of a hospital. It can really be anything, no matter how small. Just do something good and watch that seed of goodness grow.
I thought I’d do my very small part by using my blog. It’s not the most popular blog on the internet, not by far. But I do have a decent following and I thought I’d start by doing something fairly simple. In honor of the 26 lives lost in Newtown one year ago, I’m going to share 26 parenting blogs with you here. I normally don’t love lists like this, as they’re a popularity contest really.
These aren’t the 26 best blogs out there. Nor are they the 26 most unique, most powerful, most epic blogs. Nope. These are just 26 blogs or bloggers who have touched me in some way. I enjoy reading their exploits and just wanted to spread a little blog love around.
So to help me do some good, I’d love it if you took the time to visit a few of the blogs below. Get to know the bloggers and better yet, leave a comment on one of their posts. To us bloggers, a comment is like a big ol’ virtual hug.
26 Blogs I Love (in no particular order):
1. Momdot – Run by the professional, supportive and incredibly selfless Trisha Haas, Momdot is the blog that really got my blogging career going. You’ll find a wide array of posts covering top brands with a seriously personal touch. Not to mention loads of high-quality (I’m jealous) photos of herself, her kids and her 17,000 pets. Trisha’s a true professional blogger who excels at sharing. That’s sharing in terms of tips, tricks, support, you name it. She’s not just a great parenting blogger, I view her as a “mom” to all us bloggers in training.
2. Shibley Smiles – Colleen Shibley is the main smile behind Shibley Smiles. She is the one reason Mommy’s Busy, Go Ask Daddy even got started. Colleen was my true introduction into the entire “mommy blogger” world, as well as the idea of doing reviews and giveaways on a blog. Shibley Smiles is full of tons of reviews, giveaways and yes, smiles, as Colleen writes about her entire family, making sure to add some real personality, fun and humor to all her posts. She’s not just a fantastic blogger, she’s a fantastic blog mentor!
3. Penelope’s Oasis – Penelope’s one of the first bloggers I had the pleasure of meeting in person and she’s as sweet and down to Earth as she is on her blog. A NYC mom of two (and wife to a great guy who’s as geeky about comic books as I am!), Penelope shares posts about her two boys, along with tons of detailed and personal reviews, giveaways, beauty tips, marriage articles and more. If Colleen was my first blog mentor, Penelope would be my second.
4. Remaking June Cleaver – Kenda’s blog is as diverse and entertaining as she is herself. Yes, you’ll find reviews and giveaways, but you’ll also find loads of opinions, recipes, and just general life tales from this Massachusetts mom. Need further proof that her lifestyle blog’s worth reading? She’s a proud Red Sox fan and yet I still trusted her to cover the Disney Planes Event for my blog.
5. What’s That Smell? – If you enjoy informative blogs with a great sense of humor, then you’ll definitely want to check out Kim’s blog. She’s a label-reading, GMO-fighting, sarcastic mom who never fails to enter. And while she loves spreading the good word about natural ingredients, she’s never preachy, nor does she shove her beliefs down your throat. Plus, she’s got two of the cutest dogs on the planet. Oh, and yeah, her kids are cute too.
6. Gay NYC Dad – I’ve known Mitch for awhile now mostly on Facebook, but I finally had the privilege of meeting him in person recently at the Disney Frozen Junket. If his blog title doesn’t give it away, yes, Mitch is… a dad. He also happens to be gay, happily married and living in NYC. His son’s a little older than my oldest, so a lot of the things he writes about (video games, movies, toys, etc.) are real familiar.
7. The Mom Buzz – Erin is just awesome. She’s the mom of two boys close to the same age as Jason and Ryan and thus she’s always writing about Star Wars, superheroes, movies, and Lego Land! She’s also a gym-o-holic and one look at her buffness and you know she could kick my butt two times to Tuesday. Plus she’s totally into zombies (She did the Zombie Run that Allie wants to get our whole family doing next year) and is commonly known as “the socks woman” at her gym.
8. Sassy Stiletto Mommy – Amy Tippins is not a mom. Not yet. She’s one of the strongest women I’ve ever known though, considering everything she’s been through in her life. The founder of Scars Are Sexy, Amy’s a huge supporter of gaining strength from your scars (mental and physical). She’s way too in love with shoes and recently started her own mommy blog to document her journey to successfully adopting a child one day.
9. Being Alison – Even though she spells her name wrong (there should be 2 Ls), Alison is another mega-smiling blogger. No matter how much life has her down, she’s always there to face it with a big ol’ smile. She’s one of the few bloggers that lives somewhat near me, so hopefully we’ll actually get to meet in person one of these days. She covers the gamut of reviews, giveaways, and general lifestyle posts as she writes about life as a SAHM with two young boys. She also has an adorable dog named Waffles.
10. A Daily Dose of Toni – Toni Patton is the ultimate blogging cheerleader. It probably doesn’t hurt that she was an actual cheerleader. A big Disney lover (and fan of taking leaping photos!), Toni’s the type of blogger to write about attending a Captain America set visit and obsess over the fact that she got to meet Chris “Captain America” Evans and pat him on the butt.
11. It’s Gravy, Baby – Whitney is one strong, sweet blogger whose blog is chock full of recipes, reviews, giveaways, crafts and all sorts of lifestyle posts. She very recently gave birth to her third child (a beautiful baby girl named Brynlee) who was born with Pierre Robin Syndrome, so she could most certainly use any extra love, support and prayers you guys can toss her way. Stay up to date on Brynlee over on the It‘s Gravy, Baby Facebook page.
12. Green Mama’s Pad – I first noticed Marianna when she was blogging about something Star Wars. Her blog’s full of green living, and yes that does include more than just Yoda!
13. Sweet T Makes Three – I’ve never tried Sweet Tea in my life, but if it’s anything close to as sweet as Jenn’s blog, I’m sure I’ll love it. This southern gal shares recipes, giveaways, reviews, and all sorts of fun posts about parenting and southern living.
14. Rowell Reviews – I’ve known Billie online now for awhile and while you’ll find plenty of blog reviewers on the internet, she’s one of the bestest. And not just because it’s in her blog name. Enjoy some great, personal posts (with a healthy dose of sarcasm), giveaways and reviews!
15. Fab Grandma – I already spotlighted Karen’s blog, but this grandma blogger is a pretty darn fascinating woman who shares some highly entertaining views on life, her family, and Gluten-Free RV living.
16. Oy Vey a Day – I don’t know too many other Jewish bloggers out there, so when I stumbled upon Dianna’s blog, I laughed at the title and then enjoyed reading loads of great reviews, recipes, crafts and more, all delivered with a light-hearted, personal touch.
17. The Life of a Home Mom – I only discovered Eliza’s blog recently, but she’s another “what you see is what you get” type blogger with no hidden agenda or anything. Besides parenting and money-saving posts, this Stay At Home Mom blogs about her family in a really sweet and loving manner.
18. Mommy Jenna – Jenna doesn’t fool me. She’s got this tough gal exterior, punky purple hair and piercings. But that doesn’t mean she’s also not a sweet, sensitive gal. She’s a WWE ambassador, but also writes about her family, her struggles with Fibromyalgia, reviews, giveaways, and just being yourself.
19. Sheila Cakes – Sheila is a single mom living in Florida who constantly finds a way to cheer me up when I’m down or just crack a smile. She’s a bit opinionated (in a good way!) and not afraid to share it. Her blog’s full of reviews, giveaways, recipes and more. Oh, and she has a serious aversion to feet.
20. Wrestling Addicted Mommy – With a title like that, do I really need to explain Gina and her blog? Well, besides being a fan of the bodyslam, she also shares plenty of great reviews, giveaways, and other lifestyle-type posts.
21. Nina Says – Nina’s pretty darn inspiring. She’s married to her high-school sweetheart, the mom of two adorable daughters, and yet still a full-time student. Her posts just have that pure innocence to them that’s so refreshing to see from those “kids today.”
22. Resourceful Blogger – Kim’s blog definitely lives up to its name! Full of all sorts of great resourceful posts, you’ll find reviews, coupons, recipes, and loads of advice and resources for just about anything and everything!
23. Diaries of a Domestic Goddess – I just love Leah’s fun, down-to-Earth writing style as she shares reviews, giveaways, recipes, weight loss and other lifestyle posts. Plus she puts up a real good fight in Letterpress.
24. Good Golly, Miss Blondie – Nicole is seriously a hoot and a half. This single mom living in the Boston area just fills all of her posts with life, love and loads of laughs. And yes, it’s another Boston fan that this Yankees fan can still get along with.
25. Moscato Mom – Lynsey’s a single mom (for now…) who clearly loves her wine almost as much as she loves her two daughters. She does a great job of working in her personal thoughts and opinions as she helps connect her readers to some big name brands.
26. Food Family & Finds – If you don’t like getting drool all over your keyboard, then you may want to steer clear of Cat’s blog. I’m always finding insanely delicious looking recipes filled with high-quality photos that make my eyes salivate. She also shares great stories about her family, along with plenty of reviews and giveaways.
These 26 blogs are by no means the end of the incredibly talented and wonderful list of bloggers I’ve gotten to know over the years. If you’re a blogger and you didn’t make this list, consider yourself number 27! In fact, whether it’s your own blog or one you also love reading about, please feel free to share a link in the comments below, so others can click over and enjoy!
What good deeds are you looking to do?
Thanks for the inclusion, Andrew! Made my day.
This is also a good reminder to slow down and hug your kiddos again … and every day. And your friends while you’re at it. And your family. Heck, everyone could use a hug. 🙂
Aww thank you Andrew for not only including me but for saying such sweet things about me. You really made my night! Your not so bad for a Yankees fan 😉
I’m honored to be on this list with all of these fantastic bloggers. Thank you! and…my weird brain totally saw a Batman symbol first in that photo. I was thinking ‘wow…Batman quoted MLK? That’s awesome!’
Have you ever seen Batman and MLK in the same room together? Think about it.
I too follow a lot of those bloggers you have posted,an will check out the others as well,,if you like them,im sure I will too,if I put one up,you would be on my list!
Well if that’s not the nicest compliment I could get, I don’t know what is. Thanks, Vickie. 🙂
Shhhhhhhhh! They’ll find me out 😛
I follow a lot of the bloggers you listed on this list, and I have to agree with you that they are pretty darn remarkable.
This is such a nice thing to do on today especially. Thank you for sharing with us the bloggers that mean a great deal to you. Like you, there is no way I could list all the bloggers who matter to me and have made a difference in my life over the past three years. I’m looking forward to getting to know you in the months to come.
Hi, Crystal. Thank you so much for the kind words. Looking forward to getting to know you too!
Thank you, Andrew, for not only including me in your list but for helping to shed light on the fact that there are truly genuine and good people out there. You, sir, are one of them.
Thanks for including me in your list, Andrew. Thanks also for making this list – I’ve read many of the blogs, but some are new to me. I will definitely be checking them out.
Thanks also for remembering Newtown on your blog.
You are so sweet and I have a tear just reading this. I haven’t talked to you in forever seems like life just gets so busy. You are an amazing blogger your self and what kid wouldn’t love a superhero loving father LOL!
Merry Christmas!
Aw, I made you cry! Yeah, sadly I just don’t have as much free time in the day to ask you a zillion blogging questions anymore. 🙂 Thanks again for everything and for the real nice compliments.