Throughout the month of May, we have celebrated National Tell A Story Month, with our own Parenting Phils spin. Inviting you to come share YOUR story – and what great stories we received!
On the 1st May we published the first of our guest blogs ‘Keep Calm and Foster On’ written by Anna Edwards.
Here, Anna shared with us how she has chosen to devote her life to fostering children, and how this path has led her to opening her home to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC). This journey has led Anna to embrace a diverse number of different cultures, customs and languages, and as she continues to support these children she finds herself in complete awe of the strength these young people have.
http://parentingphils.co.uk/guest-blog-keep-calm-and-foster-on/
Our second blog was published 3rd May, ‘Would you rather… Be in Labour or Watch Labour’, written by my partner, Gary Douglas. 
In this blog, Gary explores what a birthing partners perspective is, and interestingly raises some questions around the lack of support for birthing partners who witness, traumatic births. Gary received a lot of feedback on Parenting Phils social media as well as his own from other fathers/birthing partners, who’d experienced similar and shared the same point of view.
http://parentingphils.co.uk/would-you-rather-be-in-labour-or-watch-labour/
Our third blog launched days later, called ‘Putting Midwifery to the Test’, written by Helen Wright. 
This was such a sweet blog post about Helen’s pregnancy journey, but we were not having that. A midwife on the books, on a parenting blog… we weren’t letting her get away with it that easily! So, Helen’s blog was soon followed with a Q&A from us, which Helen happily obliged and shared some fantastic tips for pregnant women. So, if you’re at your final stages of pregnancy this is a must read.
http://parentingphils.co.uk/guest-blog-putting-midwifery-to-the-test/
Kicking off the following week on the 10th May, Helene gave us a humorous and witty insight into what weaning can truly be like [painful], titled ‘For the Love of Weaning’.
This for me was a great read because I related to it so much and I am sure most of you who are currently at that weaning stage will find it strangely familiar. Aside from the humour Helene does share some great ways of tackling weaning, with things a parent should always think about before reaching this stage.
http://parentingphils.co.uk/for-the-love-of-weaning/
This brought us to our fifth guest blog published 15th May, called ‘Accepting the Past, Loving the Present, Shaping the Future’.
A very moving piece written by an adoptive parent who asked to remain anonymous out of respect for her family. In this heartfelt piece she challenges the attitudes of some in the adoption community on whether it is the right decision to protect your adopted child/children from understanding their past. In her experience she argues the past can shape children’s behaviours. Articulating perfectly, that acknowledging and accepting your child’s past will help shape their future.
http://parentingphils.co.uk/guest-blog-accepting-the-past-loving-the-present-shaping-the-future/
Our sixth blog post came from our friend, Natasha Davidson, ‘Choosing NOT to be a Parent’ published on 17th May.
Here Natasha explains her decision to not become a parent but also highlights that even in this modern age, she still finds her choice being dismissed.
http://parentingphils.co.uk/choosing-not-to-be-a-parent/
Then on 22nd May it was Parenting Phils turn to share a story, which saw Phil share a two-part blog on his adoption journey, ‘Pocked and Prodded: Our Adoption Journey Part One’ and ‘This Thing Just Got Real: Our Adoption Journey Part Two’. Phil shares with us his dream of becoming a father and the journey his partner and himself had in becoming dads to twin boys.
http://parentingphils.co.uk/poked_and_prodded/
http://parentingphils.co.uk/this-thing-just-got-real/
Six fantastic reads!!
For our final share YOUR story blog post, Roberta Cardoso, a Physiotherapist from Greater Manchester, will be sharing with us her journey of educating people on the importance of ‘Paediatric Posture’, and how avoiding poor posture in young children can minimise issues in later life. So, stay tuned as we close this month with a very informative and important piece.
But before we do close our National Share YOUR Story month, Phil and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all who’ve been involved in writing and sharing their stories. We have come to realise that writing about yourself is no easy feat, but our Guest Bloggers have done this perfectly. We would also like to THANK YOU for reading and sharing these posts, and for all your positive and supporting comments shared with our Guest Bloggers on here, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – they’ve been greatly appreciated!
Going forward, Guest Blogs is something we will run on a continuous basis, so if you would like to share your story and talk about anything parenting, then please get in touch and allow us to provide that platform for you.
Thank You!! Love Pips & Phil X
