No More Blogging Guilt...EVER!

I'd like to preface this post by saying that it's going to be all over the place and I'm writing off the top of my head so you've been warned and God help us all. :D

You know, I've been really banging my head against the dreaded blogging block with no end in sight. Although I don't get paid to keep up this blog, I do feel a certain responsibility to those of you that are kind enough to visit with me. Is there anything worse than finding a cool blog and then have it go dormant? I hate when that happens! lol

Some people blog to show off their creative genius, some blog to share recipes, post pictures of their dogs, cats, kids, etc etc or rant at the world and some people blog just to feel like they're not alone. The internet is an infinite blank canvas that you just can't help adding your footprint to it and hope someone notices it before the Ocean of Everything Else drags it away.

There's nothing better than the knowledge that you have a couple of regular readers that actually look forward to visiting your humble blog. It's good in a way, it makes you excited to share things and look for more interesting things to write about, hoping you'll keep them entertained and happy to visit.

So what happens when all that goes down the toilet? I've read countless posts on other blogs, full of apologies and reasons why they haven't been able to write new posts or go visitin' to other blogs. I've been one of them, especially lately. I tend to be one of those people that excessively apologize for every little thing anyway so add some major non-blog-love guilt to that and you have one OCBD Maggi going on there. lol (P.S.-OCBD=Obsessive Compulsive Blogging Disorder)

I love this blog and I love when you visit me. I love hearing about what's going on in your life, good or bad. I've clapped for your triumphs and cried for your tragedies. I treasure each and every comment because if you're anything like me, you're also trying to keep up with about 3 million other blogs so I know if you take time to leave a comment with me, it means something.

I could easily blame my lack of spectacular content on the pregnancy, being busy with Toot or a million other things and I know I would get 100% support and understanding from you, which I appreciate. But the truth is, sometimes I just don't feel like blogging. It's nothing personal and I don't think so highly of myself that I imagine people gnashing their teeth and bawling likes babies at my absence. Lately I have just found myself...not there. I think of blogging and my brain goes blank and my eyes glaze over.

So here's the conclusion I've come to and I write this in hopes that those of you in the same situation will repeat this to yourself over and over and take comfort in the fact that:

It's okay!

If you want to blog everyday, do it! If you want to blog once a month, that's great! If you've been blogging your fingers off and one day wake up to find that you don't feel like blogging for a week, take the friggin' week off and don't you dare feel guilty!

Apologize for it if you want to but don't feel like you have to! Unless you're getting paid for this, remember it's your blog and you can cry if you want to. (Wait, is that right?) Be courteous of course but remember that you're doing this because you like it, because you enjoy the community and want to share. And if you don't have anything to share or don't feel like writing about, take a step back until you do.

Sure, you may lose a few readers and your comment numbers may go down but who the heck cares? Don't define your blog by the number of comments, define it by the content you produce. The #1 way to get comments on your blog is to leave comments. Period. Leave 200 comments in one day and you're lucky to get 10 in return. That's just the way it works. Very few bloggers can write a post and leave their blog on autopilot.

So break the chains and claim your bloggy freedom! No more guilt for not writing, no more apologies for being "too busy"! Go live your life so you'll have something to write about in the first place! Got a headache? Go lay down and tell us about it...later. Kids have soccer? Be the loudest mouth there and then take pictures so we can see them....later. Feel like becoming a hermit and vegging out in front of the TV? Do it and let us know what happened on Grey's Anatomy....later.

Where in the Wide Wide World of Sports am I going with this anyway???

Listen, I just want you to remain confident in what you post and how you feel about your blog. IT'S OKAY to step back to live your life. IT'S OKAY to not feel like blogging or visiting. IT'S OKAY to let it go for a little while. Those that really are interested in what you have to say will always be there, not because you're amazing or the best writer or the most creative or the best mom or whatever. It's because you're you and there's something there they identify with, something about YOU that brings them back.

So you know what? You can't blog worth crap if you're loaded down with OCBD guilt and general bad feeling-ness. So if you don't wanna blog, don't! We'll all be here when you get back and will be excited to find out what's been going on. As Braveheart would say, "FREEDOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"

Maybe I'm just talking to myself here. Could be I'm the only one that feels this way and just need to get over it. But that's okay...It's my blog and I can post when and what I want to. :)

And The Mother of Year Award Goes To...

Hey everyone!

First of all, I want to wish my husband (and myself I guess, lol) a happy anniversary as today we've been married for 3 years! Go us! lol :P

You know, being a first time mom (and now being of course an expert at raising children in the 22 months I've been doing it), I have discovered that there are 2 types of first time mothers:

The first type writes down every feeding, every pee-pee, every bowel movement (with a description of its consistency and color). They pack everything but the kitchen sink when they go out on a 20 minute trip and can tell you down to the second how old their child is and where they fall on the averages of height, weight, etc.

The second type is lucky if they remember their baby is with them before they go into a store and will hopefully run into another mother they can borrow a diaper off of when something unexpected happens.

I am the second type. Now I love Toot more than life itself and know without a doubt that if someone tried to hurt her, I would be able to literally tear them in half with my bare hands...but let's look at the evidence, shall we?

1. At 3 months old: "Maggi, she's so beautiful! How much does she weigh?" Maggi says, "Uh...43 pounds?" (I hadn't weighed her since her 2 month check-up when she was 10 lb something or other so I've got no clue...she was 7lb 15oz when she was born)

2. We went to the Renaissance Festival for my birthday and after she started screaming I discovered that I remembered her formula but forgot to bring a bottle and of course there was no where to buy one...stupid Renaissance period, no stupid bottles invented yet...

3. At her one month check-up, they were weighing her (naked of course) and handed her back to me. The nurse says, "She pees!" and I said, "Well of course she does!" to which the nurse replied, "No Ma'am, she's peeing on you right now!" So after wiping their carpet, I go to put a fresh diaper on her only to realize that I had not brought her diaper bag...*sigh*

4. On our first stroller ride through the park, I stop to take a picture of a beautiful turtle basking in the sun. I hear a noise beside me and when I turn around, I see my baby rolling down a hill towards the lake because I had forgotten to put the brake on...But hey, I got the picture so that counts for something, right?

I've learned so much in the past (almost 2!) years that I feel like I've got a good handle on things.

Of course, just when you think you've got it all figured out...

Just when you think you've got nothing left to master...

...