I am many things…. A woman, a teacher, a mom, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a wife, a friend, and in recent years I’ve been trying another title – a blogger.
The things that I put on my blog could easily be written in a journal. Why, then, would I air my dirty laundry as opposed to tucking it away in a locked notebook in a shut drawer? Perhaps it is because I am narcissistic enough to think someone else may care? Perhaps it is because I have family and friends living a distance away and they have indulged me to say they really DO care? Perhaps it is because maybe, just MAYBE, a fellow mom somewhere out there in the blog-o-sphere will read something I write and think “me too.”
When I first began blogging back in ’09, it was a way to communicate to family and friends in faraway places on the health of our unborn son. Having spent 14 weeks on bed rest before giving birth to a preemie requiring time in the NICU, I had plenty of time to blog! This method of communication also resolved the issue of needing to repeat myself hundreds of times to the many good-intentioned well wishers on the daily status and updates. Once the health scares were over and our handsome son was safely in the world, my blog transformed into a mommy diary, of sorts. On a daily basis, I wrote about poop, sleep (or lack thereof), and the parenting woes (ya know, #firstworldproblems) of raising a kid without a manual.
In addition to my firstborn, I have gone on to have two more successful pregnancies resulting in perfect babies! I have used the blog – and at times when I am too tired or too lazy – my husband chimes in. We can share pictures, stories, triumphs and tragedies with the world, right from the comfort of our own home. In the past 5 years, I feel as though I have felt (and subsequently written about) everything under the sun. I have experienced the miracle of birth (x3), the death of my mother (or in the words of Meredith Grey and Christina Yang, “my person”), the devastating loss of two babies in utero, major life surgery, questioning my every move as a parent/ wife/ sister/ daughter/ friend, loved my place of employment, hated situations I have found myself in and been blessed beyond words.
Today, I mostly blog in my brain. By that, I mean I write wonderful tales… In my head… While in the shower…. That never see the light of day 🙁 I typically have a tiny human greeting me at the doorway of the bathroom right as the water turns off and immediately my “mother duties” begin. It is my hope that my enrollment in Blogging 101 will force me to sit down at a computer and get me back into writing. Because again, wouldn’t it be cool if another mommy read something I wrote and thought “me too??”
