Sun 27 Jan 2008
I read a few blogs almost every day - Her Bad Mother, Alex Year One, My Merry Way, Julia at Here Be Hippogriffs (who just had TWINS for gods sake - and here I am about to whine about not having time to blog), A Parent in Silver Spring (an awesome new blog for parents in Silver Spring, MD btw) - and I am constantly amazed at how often these ladies blog, and how good their blog posts are - full of wit and insights and compelling content that keeps me coming back for more.
I hate that more than a week has gone by since I blogged. Maybe if I didn’t work full time I would be more consistent? Or maybe if I didn’t work from home full time - because ironically I think I would have plenty of time to blog if I were in the office five days a week. My days are filled with chasing Emma, cleaning up breakfast/lunch/dinner, getting ready for breakfast/lunch/dinner, checking work email whenever I can so as to put out any fires, and trying to keep up my job when Emma naps.
I think about blogging constantly, but somehow I find myself at the end of each day completely exhausted and wanting to just curl up and go to sleep. I compose wonderful, witty essays about my experience as a parent and about Emma’s adventures. But I compose them in my head, and by the time I get to write them down, they have disappeared, along with this week’s grocery list that I neglected to jot down when I had the chance.
So, for those of you who blog, here is my question for you - how do you do it? How do you find time to raise your children, keep your house in order, possibly work an outside job, take care of yourself (by which I mean take a shower occasionally) AND write those great blog posts that you write with inspiring yet daunting regularity? I really would love any tips, thoughts or pointers you might have.
January 27th, 2008 at 2:27 am
Oddly enough, I find it gives me *more* time. When I have something I need to say, I can’t turn to my confidante in the next cubicle for a coffee break, so I blog it, and it clears my mind to move on to the next task. Most of my daily chores are not intellectually taxing — I cook, I clean, I bathe, etc. — so being able to write is an outlet for emotions that would otherwise be festering and distracting.
Or so I tell myself. Maybe it’s just highly rationalized procrastination!
January 27th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Well 1st - Thanks
2nd - This is the closest thing to a paying gig I have right now - the tiny check from the BlogHer Ads is like my modern day egg money.
3rd - Since my job is take care of Alex and that’s such a constant, as is the laundry and the cooking and occasionally cleaning, I’ve found that I *really* need to be responsible to something that works my brain a little bit - learning a bit of code, stringing together a coherent sentence, a deadline to make sure I have something to post.
4th - That said, my secrets are 1. once you are ahead, it’s easier to keep up - Way back in October I sat down and wrote out a weeks worth of posts, then as I thought of something new, I’d just keep sticking posts to the back end, now I have a handful of non date specific posts in the hopper so if I can’t get to the blog, I know there is something there waiting to publish anyway.
January 27th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
First of all, I’m *honored* to be on the list. As an honest answer, I find that blogging helps me. I enjoy the interaction with other moms, despite that it is all cyber-interaction. And I enjoy being able to voice concerns, worries, and dreams besides just in my own head. I think that is how I do it - it makes me feel more balanced to put out what I do.
But I do stay up at night thinking of blog posts and then never get around to posting them. And I hope that I will remember them as days go by.