Sunday, March 2, 2008

Kick starting the week with comedy

I'm working on another project and I need some help and inspiration. One regret I have about my first year as a mother was not starting this blog sooner. Truly, it is the most substantial mistake I made not for any other reason than I wish I had something to go back to and read about what I was thinking or feeling. I want to read about how happy I was at least ONCE.

Instead, I have a lot of memories about how hard it was, about how tired I was, and, unfortunately, how miserable and lonely I was without any extra hands to juggle it all.

So, I need you to cheer me up. I'd like those of you who had a blog when your baby was an infant -- or invite your blog roll to participate -- to share a link of a post you wrote that shared something meaningful about that first year whether it be funny, sad or blissfully happy. Leave a comment and link in the comments to either your current post or a previous post and I'll link to you in a post later this week or next week.

Oh, and for those of you who hadn't started your blog then, do you wish you did? And, if so, what do you wish you could go back and read about right now?

Or, have you written about something you wish you hadn't? Any mistakes learned along the way when writing about the kiddos?

Happy Monday!


Thank you for visiting today.

Did you like this blog post? Please consider subscribing here:

Subscribe in a reader

12 comments:

Shelli said...

I started my blog in September, just after A turned one year old. I don't think I could have managed it before that. It took a year to get used to mothering and get him on a schedule that allowed me some free time. Still, I always keep a journal, so I'm sure I wrote down some important moments. I should go check and fill in the gaps, shouldn't I? Since it's still pretty fresh.

Part of me wishes I had started blogging sooner, but I really didn't know about it, so I guess I began when I was supposed to.

I write very little about my son in my public blog, so I have no regrets...at least yet!

Anonymous said...

Well, I wish I had something to share to cheer you up. I didn't start blogging until my son was four, and I don't even blog about parenting. There are several reasons I don't, but one surely is that I would do complain too much, and I don't want to put my complaints in writing.

But how about this--pick one day a week, say, like make it Memory Monday or something, and write a post about a happy memory from that first parenting year. If you start trying to think of some and write one or two, a bunch of memories might come back to you, and then you could write them down, and ta-da! You'd have them for later.

jena strong said...

I started Bullseye, Baby! when Pearl was nine months old (January 2007). Many of last year's posts capture or reflect moments both trying and transcendent in my adjusting to life with two kids. I didn't write much when Aviva was a baby, and when I did, much of it was angst-ridden and inside out. The name of the blog actually came from an a-ha moment I had while nursing Pearl: http://bullseyebaby.blogspot.com/2007/01/practice-what.html

Here's a simply happy moment:

http://bullseyebaby.blogspot.com/2007/05/goddess_12.html

xo Jena

Candace said...

I didn't start my current blog until Anna was 14 months old but I did another one that I have since deleted.

I posted a few of my favorites for you.

http://candacej73.blogspot.com/2008/03/in-beginning.html

Hope it helps!

LauraC said...

I started my blog the day I found out I was pregnant. I've learned two mistakes/lessons along the way:

1. Write for me. While comments are great, I write primarily for myself. I'd like to reread this when the boys leave the house and remember these times. Writing for an audience is not the same as writing for myself.

2. Write about the good and the bad. I am an optimist so my initial blog writing tended to be overly positive. Then when I got hospitalized with PTL, no one took it as it was... my boys could have been born too early and died.

Fave posts... they are all my favorites because they each evoke a specific memory of a point in time.

A bad day:
http://jonandlaura.blogspot.com/2006/07/on-our-own-again.html

A good day:
http://jonandlaura.blogspot.com/2006/08/i-am-supermom.html

Good parts about having newborn twins:
http://jonandlaura.blogspot.com/2006/09/upsides-of-having-twins.html

Deep thoughts:
http://jonandlaura.blogspot.com/2006/09/watching-tv-at-casa-case.html

Actual deep thoughts at a year:
http://jonandlaura.blogspot.com/2007/05/magnolia-trees.html

And my favorite chair photos, the ones that made me want to do the series:
http://jonandlaura.blogspot.com/2006/07/two-month-photos.html

And this post helped me through a tough time. Now that I think about it, this may be my favorite post.
http://jonandlaura.blogspot.com/2007/01/my-letter-to-alex.html

bella said...

I'm still a blogger newbie. I didn't start until Leo was three.
But I do sometimes go back and read my journals from that first year.
I am struck by how intense it was.
The frustration and exhaustion AND the joy and contentment.
It is good to remember.

Carey said...

I started last May when my daughter was about to turn 2. I think it would have been nice to have written about her firsts. Those are moments that are sweet, innocent and truly amazing!

Lesley Barr Photography said...

Like Laura I started my blog the day I found out that we were pregnant. I just had my 2 year blogversary.

I am SO glad I started it for my babies and for myself. Those first months are a blur, I'm glad I have something to look back on to help me remember the good times, the bad times, and the really scary times.

Some of my favorites:

http://barrbabies.com/2006/12/09/how-do-they-know/

http://barrbabies.com/2006/11/10/poop-poop-and-more-poop/

http://barrbabies.com/2007/04/15/freeze/

FlippyHolz said...

Hi Shelly! I just found your blog by total Google accident (searching for some Winter Sucks blog fodder of my own actually - loved the pic of the girls in snowsuits). Love the blog and will be checking back in from time to time! Keep it up! --Kristi

FlippyHolz said...

And that would be Shawn... strike the Shelly part. Wow. Sleep deprivation at its finest.. I mean wow. Profile right there and everything. Grrrreat. :) SORRY!

Lisa said...

I haven't been doing it that long and am not sure how it will all pan out. So, I am glad to hear you wish you had started sooner. Maybe I will feel that way too.

Cheryl said...

Hi Shawn,

I just posted a post about these early days ... things to remember. Looking back, with my first two, I don't remember so many of the good things or the bad things - just too little sleep to remember much of anything. Kept a baby book with firsts for the first, but the second baby book is still nearly empty.

One thing that stands out from when the first was small - having peaceful baby sleeping on my lap while I enjoyed a novel. Ha! Wish I knew then that would be some of the last devoted reading time I would have for years. One thing from when the second was little - playing with hands and feet, singing songs and saying silly rhymes while changing his diaper. And, that he was a quiet baby, at least compared to his big brother. This one appears to be somewhere in between, on that scale.

In any case, thanks for the reminder to remember. :) I spend a lot of blog time in my mind. Think I'll try to post about the boys more often.