FAQs

Welcome to the Mom Makes Joy FAQs page! I do my best to respond to as many questions, comments and emails as I can, but unfortunately there are times I can’t get to them all.

Still, I love reading your comments, so keep sending them my way! In the meantime, here are some answers to some frequently asked questions.

FAQs – READER QUESTIONS

Q: What is Mom Makes Joy all about?

A: My mission at Mom Makes Joy is to help moms create a life of calm out of the chaos that motherhood can sometimes be. All of my blog posts and resources are written and created with this in mind. My goal is for you to have the time and energy to accomplish your goals and to be your virtual, like-minded mom friend to support you in your parenting journey. You can read more about Mom Makes Joy here.

Q: I am new to this site. Where should I start?

A: If you want to know more about me and my idiosyncrasies, you can check out my About Me page here.  If you want to dig deeper into some parts of my life that really shaped me, you should check out my type 1 diabetes diagnosis story and learn a bit more about my struggle with anxiety. After that, where you go next depends on what you need! I write about motherhood and parenting, homemaking, health and nutrition (with the occasional recipe thrown in), personal growth, and creativity (especially DIY Bath & Body!).

Q: What is the reasoning behind the 6 Core Values of Mom Makes Joy?

A: I want to be clear, straightforward and honest with my readers about what values influence the content here at Mom Makes Joy. These values are (in no particular order):

Kindness: Because we are passionate mama bears, sometimes kindness can get pushed to the wayside. Mommy Wars get started. An us vs. them attitude festers. I hate that. So I do my best to be sensitive when I share my point of view on a controversial subject. And on the flip side, Mom Makes Joy has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to hurtful, rude, bashing, or shaming language left in comments. These kinds of things don’t get published. I encourage kind disagreement.

Evidence: I have degrees in Psychology and Human Development. It’s my passion! And as a result, I like to try to back as many of my parenting decisions as possible with research. Of course, not all research is necessarily good research–studies might have flaws or might not control for important results-altering variables, so that’s important to keep in mind. Which is why the next core value is…

Instincts: When the research results are unclear, we have to fall back on our instincts. As mothers, there is a certain amount of trust we need to have in our bodies (I say this even as a mom with a chronically ill body!) and ourselves. This doesn’t mean ignoring well-established research and safety guidelines in favor of doing what we feel like. It means trusting ourselves to make the right decisions for our families when faced with uncertainty.  It also means taking a naturally-minded approach when possible and when desired. Being a “crunchy” mom is certainly not a requirement, but natural approaches are embraced as valid here.

Gentleness: I promote Gentle/Positive/Attachment Parenting. I believe in firm boundaries and discipline, I just don’t think that these things have to hurt to be effective. I think that gentle parenting is often misunderstood and unfairly mischaracterized as permissive parenting. I don’t think that parents who spank or punish are “bad” parents who don’t really love their kids. I try not to make assumptions about how others’ kids will turn out and request the same courtesy. I also believe in a “gentle-minded” approach to the way we treat our spouses and other loved ones. Gentleness is (surprisingly and, in my view, unfortunately) probably my most controversial core value, which is why my next core value is…

Empathy: I value trying to view the world from the eyes of someone else. It helps us be kind even to people we strongly disagree with and it helps others be receptive to us. I believe our children need our empathy, and mothers certainly deserve empathy from one another.

Joy: Because we all could benefit from more joy in our lives! I spent years struggling with negativity, and ain’t nobody got time for that.

Q: I approach parenting very differently than you do. Will I still get anything out of Mom Makes Joy?

A: Absolutely! I write about a lot more than just parenting here.

Plus, the good news is I can’t make you parent the way I would, and I don’t even want to try (that would be a LOT of work!). I can share research I’ve discovered and how I apply it to being a mom, but what you do with that information is up to you.

I believe there is value in questioning why we parent the way we do. If your knee-jerk reaction to something I say is immediate disagreement, why do you think that is? Is it because you were raised differently? Is your conscience speaking? Is it because you are familiar with contradicting research? Is it because your experience has shown something different to be true?

How might you view this notion you disagree with differently if you did believe it to be true? Could you charitably explain this different way of thinking and why someone might be drawn to it?

Asking yourself these questions helps us better understand what drives our own parenting philosophy and helps us be more empathetic to those with whom we disagree. In other words, it helps us better understand ourselves and others. I believe this is an inherently valuable mental exercise, even if we continue to see things differently!

Q: What are affiliate links? Does it cost me extra to make a purchase through these links?

A: Affiliate links are a way for bloggers to earn income from their blogs. They are special links designed to track referral sales from the blogger’s website. When you make a purchase through one of these links, the blogger receives a small commission (amount varies) on the sale.

Good news is, it does NOT cost you extra when you make a purchase through affiliate links. Furthermore, NONE of your private information is made available to anyone other than the website from which you make the purchase. Bloggers are required by the FTC to disclose that their site may/does contain affiliate links, so be on the lookout for this disclosure! I will usually post this disclosure in a “P.S.” at the bottom of a post; my disclosure policy can also be found in a link at the bottom of my site, again under my “policies” tab in my blog’s menu bar, and again at the top of this page :)

Q: Why are comments moderated? / Why has my comment not been published yet?

A: Great question! I moderate my comments for a few reasons. 1)  I love reading your comments! Moderating each comment means I get to read and relish in each and every glorious one. When they’re published automatically, I might miss one. 2) Spam. Sometimes spam comments swim through the net and I don’t want these automatically published to my blog. If you’ve left a comment/question that hasn’t gotten a response, do feel free to give me a nudge by sending me an email!

I will not publish a comment if it contains vulgar, offensive, shaming, unkind, derogatory (etc.) language, if it is overly promotional of content unrelated to the post in question, or if it would be more appropriate in a private email to me. Mom Makes Joy is my happy place, so rude comments towards me or any of my readers will also not be published.

Q: What is the best way to get in touch with you if I have a question that is not answered here?

A: The best way to reach me is by email! You can send me an email through my contact form here.

FAQs – BLOGGER QUESTIONS

Q: I want to share your blog post with my readers. What is the best way to do this?

A: I’m so flattered you would like to share my post! Thanks so much!!

In sharing my posts with your readers, I ask that you do not reproduce a post of mine in full or copy and re-post text word-for-word from this blog without my explicit permission. Please include no more than two photos from my original post onto your blog or website and please do not alter my original photos in any way (including cropping out watermarks) without my explicit permission. Lastly, please include a clearly visible/easy to find crediting link back to my blog somewhere in your post. That would be swell! :)

Q: Can I submit a guest post to be published on your blog?

A: While I thank you for your interest, currently I am not accepting unsolicited guest post requests. I also am not accepting guest posts from businesses or requests for guest posts that contain links to a product or service, as this is considered advertising. If you are interested in advertising, please have your individual sponsors contact me directly to see if they would be a good match for my readership.

Q: I want to share a free download of yours with my readers. What is the best way to do this?

A: Thanks for your interest in sharing! The best way to share a freebie of mine with your readers is to leave a link to the post on Mom Makes Joy that offers the freebie sign up.