Posted on October 10, 2008
I think the difference depends on the purpose of your blog. I started this blog because we were moving to a new state with a 6 week old baby, and I felt guilty about taking my child so far away from her extended family. I wanted to make sure that her grandparents, aunts and uncle could keep up with her day to day, so they could feel like they really knew her, even if they didn’t get to spend much time with her.
Over time, it has developed into a way for me to express myself as well, but the original purpose is always right underneath the surface. What isn’t seen by looking at my posts, is my relatives and some of my friends don’t post comments on my blog, instead they call or email me. They worry I am depressed, or bored. My mom loves to give advice (this is a nod to Dina who commented on my last post.) And my in-laws get a kick out of the pictures.
Now, imagine what would happen if I wrote a post about “finding a hot guy at the Harvest Festival and wanting to jump his bones!” (That’s a slightly modified quote from my review.)
I love to READ the so-called public diary’s of people I don’t know. I have found a lot of blog’s through Ask and You Shall Recieve that I find hilarious and visit every day. However, I don’t think that I could personally air my dirty laundry as openly as they can. I am also not sure of the wisdom of telling the internets all your personal demons, even if it is anonymous. My friend, Matt, explained that nothing is truly anonymous on the internet and if people really want to find you, they can.
So, this may not be the most salacious reading, but it’s what I can feel comfortable with.
I would love to hear other opinions. Should blogging be a forum for people to share information, or should it be more of a public diary, or both? And which do you enjoy reading most?
Posted on October 8, 2008
One of the things the reviewer of my blog mentioned was that I seemed bored and I should go back to what I was doing two years ago, whatever that was. Well, I thought a lot about that. Actually, I have been thinking a lot about that over the last few months. But to really digest it, I need to go back about five years.
(Cue flashback music sequence)
Five years ago, I was still working in the day treatment facility, and I was getting more and more frustrated. I was watching my program disintegrate EVERY time we brought a new student into the mix. I think a professor I had in college said it best, “If you have a student that bites, and you put them in a room with five other students who bite, kick, fight, cuss and are rude, you develop a kid who bites, kicks, fights, cusses and is rude.” And its true. We would have a group of relatively innocent students, we would bring in a kid who did drugs or was sexually promiscuous, and suddenly all the kids where doing drugs or having sex. I saw a major flaw in the way we were running things.
Add to that, my commute was becoming more and more unbearable.
As day treatment costs were becoming even more astronomical, many of the public schools were opting to create their own programs within the schools with the hope they could avoid “farming the kids out.” I was offered my own program at a brand new middle school, and I jumped at the chance. I mean, this was my DREAM job and I thought it was finally going to be my chance to actually make a difference.
Well, I quickly realized that even though the district was in support of my program, the administration and the staff at the school still believed that students with behavioral issues should be kicked out of the classroom. So, I fought for THREE years trying to get respect, and trying to convince teachers who had been teaching 30+ years that my way of doing things was better then just kicking the kid out of the class. I had some supporters, especially in the special education department, and I eventually won the respect from the administration. But, every day I had to but heads with teachers who not only wanted my kid gone, but they wanted me gone, too. To say it was a hostile work environment would be an understatement.
When I finally got pregnant, I knew that I wanted to stay home. Not only because I thought it was best for my family, but because I was on a downward spiral professionally. The teachers, not the students, knocked all the fight out of me.
I was always very passionate about teaching. I thought it was one of the most noble professions one could enter into. We certainly don’t get paid enough for the crap we go through, and so people who do it must be in it because they love kids as much as I do, right? Well, it turns out that isn’t necessarily true. My blind idealism slowly bled away those three years at the middle school. I limped out of there, and I wasn’t sure if I would EVER go back.
When it comes right down to it, I am a type A personality who ran my own program in one form or another for 6 of the 8 years of my professional life. Now I am planning play dates and coming up with lesson plans for a toddler. I would be lying if I said I don’t get bored.
But my other life, though not boring, was destroying me. I am okay with being a little bored and boring for awhile. I feel like I am slowly recharging my batteries, and when Chloe goes to school full time, I will be ready to advocate for kids with disabilities again. In the mean time, I am going to embrace my reality as it is now. And, just maybe, try to get a hobby or something.
Posted on October 7, 2008
Yeah, so a couple of months ago, probably while I was drunk or high or something, I submitted my blog into Ask and Ye Shall Receive for a review. After I submitted, I started reading the site more thoroughly, and realized very quickly that they were going to tear me apart. But, I couldn’t remove my name, so I just sucked it up and waited for the aftermath.
All in all, the review could have been worse. If you don’t want to read it yourself, they basically accused me of being a bored housewife writing to keep family updated. Which, quite frankly, is true. Which, if you aren’t friends or family, is boring. So they gave me a “Meh” rating. Like I said, it could have been worse. I have seen people get flaming fingers and a “Fuck You” rating. Meh is definitely better than that!
So, again, I am embracing my “Mommyblogdom” and I appreciate those of you who do come back and read my blog, even though I am apparently boring.
Oh, and yes, my kid is damn cute, thanks!
(They did like a couple of my posts, though. That’s something, right?)
Posted on September 10, 2008
Everybody I know is writing about politics. I have been batting around my own post, working and reworking it in my mind. But, when it comes right down to it, I just don’t DO political banter. I learned YEARS ago that there were two major topics of conversation that are a waste of energy to discuss: religion and politics. You are either preaching to the converted (pardon the pun), or its an exercise in futility because it is extremely rare for people to change their minds about either subject. Instead, all you get is a scream fest that usually degenerates into, “You suck!” “No, you suck!” and then somebody will accuse someone else of being a Nazi. Its an utter waste of time.
I do have strong opinions when it comes to my political beliefs. And I do feel like I am well informed. But, I don’t feel like I need to share those beliefs with the blogosphere just so I can appear more intelligent than I am (I have no delusions of grandeur here!)
However, if you feel like you are undecided and you feel like you aren’t informed, or you just feel like you need more information, Miss Britt did a nice overview of the issues on her site. So, I am just going to shamelessly link to her instead of writing it on my own. Hey, I am lazy like that.
Posted on September 4, 2008
I had John fix my comment section. You no longer have to log in to leave comments. You should just be able to type and go.
Thanks for letting me know it was broken!
Posted on September 3, 2008
people are having technical difficulty leaving comments. I have put John on the case and I will let you know when things are fixed. Sorry.
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