One year ago, I decided to take up the figurative pen and start blogging about my family once again. I had chronicled my journeys as a single mom with my daughter Emilia on the blog Moms at Work when I was a Tribune employee.
That time ended in June of 2011 and I refocused all of my energy on launching a freelance writing career and adjusting to my new combined family of five. But by November, I was ready to start blogging again.
I had always liked the variety of voices on Moms at Work and so I wondered if I could come up with something similar for Mumbling Mommy. I sent out a few emails and reached out to a few friends to see if they would be interested in sharing their parenting stories too.
Rachael signed on, and then so did Tricia. Rachael suggested two of her friends in St. Louis — Heather C. and Elizabeth. My good friend Maddie also said she would like to contribute. Heather N. reached out to me through a friend that read the blog. Just last week, my college roommate Lori started blogging and this week you will meet my sister-in-law Maura.
A few others signed on, were generous enough to let us in on their lives, and then decided that the responsibility of blogging was too overwhelming due to time constraints or family issues. Every post you see here is unpaid; these bloggers take time out of their hectic schedules to write about their hectic schedules. Rachael takes it a step further and serves as the associate editor — graciously letting me bounce ideas off of her and giving me insight on ways to improve the blogging experience for writers and readers.
My mom has blogged. My cousin has blogged. Rachael’s husband Josh has blogged. My middle school friend Candice wrote a series about the tragic loss of her son Alex. My neighborhood friend Lindsey recently started blogging about the challenges and triumphs of parenting a child with autism. I have written about my problems with an eating disorder and received scores of emails from strangers, telling me how much my story of struggle rang true in their own lives.
When I look back at my life over the past year, so much has changed. Just as I adjusted to my life as a stepmom to two, wife to one and full-time, stay-at-home mommy to my daughter, our baby Erinn arrived, shaking things up around here. I learned the meaning of “high needs baby” and found that my patience had no bounds when it came to my crying, clinging, bottle-refusing infant.
Through it all, I blogged. I have gained friendships through this medium that sustain me on the very tough days as a parent, wife, woman, worker and citizen of the world. I’m so thankful every day for the gift of the written word and the way it has brought so much contentment to my life. I look forward to the future of this blog and await with anticipation for what comes next.
So thank you for reading this blog. For those that write and comment, thank you for your participation. I am encouraged daily by what goes on within these pages.
Happy Birthday Mumbling Mommy. And here’s to many more returns.
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Category: FeaturedTags: 1 year birthday
