All about Mom Bloggers
so each week we are going to tackle the questions of motherhood.
Next week check out Naptime Review to discuss kids and Halloween candy.
Do you ration how much candy your kids eat
or do you give them more freedom around the holidays?
If you have some thoughts or advice on next week’s topic please email
Cassie at twoindiapers@gmail.com
We would love for you to be part of The Mom Connection!
Now on to this week’s topic!
We took a poll on Facebook, and readers wanted to know more about balancing blogging and motherhood.
Here is what a few of us had to say:
Welcome! I’m Julie over at Naptime Review. I am a mom of 2 wild, crazy and beautiful girls. My oldest is almost 4 and my baby just turned 1. This is how I balance blogging and motherhood:
Awhile back, I posted some tips on how to get 1,000 followers in 4 months. In my post, I mentioned that I spend 2-5 hours a day on my blog. I received an anonymous comment suggesting that I neglect my children and blogging isn’t worth the sacrifice.
my littles in front of the television with some Cheetos, and I’ll tell you. Nah,
just kidding.
went from writing a story about kids every couple of days to out-of-control
busy, co-hosting, guest-posting, giving away, photo taking, reviewing,
and writing about my kids, all over a time period of what felt like
overnight. I actually told my husband one night, while frantically typing away
and trying desperately to keep up, that I had gotten sucked in and couldn’t
stop.
load of his own laundry. And I’m only slightly joking when I tell you that
this was when I knew just how badly I’d been slacking. The next day, I
sat down with a calendar in front of me and literally picked apart each hour of
my day. I divided my day up between morning, evening, naptime, late afternoon,
and evening. I wrote in even the silliest things, such as “cook dinner” and “pay
bills”. I also blocked off sections of time for my hair clients and fun outings
with the kids. I sectioned off each hour of each day until I had a section of
time for everything.
although it’s become habit enough that I don’t have to look at my calendar to
see what I’m supposed to be doing each hour anymore, I’m SO much more focused at the playground with my kids or working on my four-year-old’s preschool book with her when I know that all the things I need to do have another time slot in my day. It’s still a work in progress, but I definitely feel more like the mommy I need to be… and that is most important.
When I first started blogging I had no idea how much time and energy blogging required. It wasn’t long before I realized I was in over my head. Blogging became just another chore – just another item on the old to-do-list. That is when I resolved to implement a few changes. They made all the difference and I can say that I now have genuine harmony in my home again – at least most of the time! Listed below are few of the ground rules that saved me and my home.
doing 1 post a week plus Mom’s Library Link-Up. I will break my rule and do an
extra post only for an important news story or I won’t do a post at all if one
of us is sick. I also get on twitter, facebook, and pinterest for only
1hr on the days I am not working on a post. I even set a timer. That is
a Hard rule to keep, but it really helps!
learned that I need to chill out, pat myself on the back for doing what I can,
and remember that there will always be dirty laundry to do.
My name is Debs from Learn with Play at home and I the mother of 2 gorgeous
kids. Our daughter is almost 4 years old and our baby boy just recently turned 1
year old. I balance blogging and motherhood by continuing to keep my children as my number 1 focus and the blog as something I do if I can fit it in. Generally, this just means that once the kids are in bed, it’s writing time for Mummy! I also try to set aside a couple of hours on the weekend dedicated specifically to blogging and my husband uses that time to have special one on one time with the kids and to let me have a bit of uninterrupted writing time.
My name is Trisha from 3 Four and Under
I skip blogging that day and write a post the next day.
Now, how do YOU balance blogging and motherhood?
Would you like to start blogging?
I would love to hear your comments.
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Christina Morley says
We blogging moms lead crazy lives! The blogging has been really good for me, but the social media side can take too much of my time. I want to spend more time on my posts.
Thanks to all the moms for sharing!
Tina – American mom raising 4 kids in South Africa and the author of 4 blogs and sharing a 5th one with Hubby
http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com
Becca @ The Earthlings Handbook says
This is an important topic! It’s easy to get carried away by the “need” to keep up a posting schedule, promote your blog, or just read some of the thousands of fascinating things on the Internet that might qualify as “research” for a future post!
The one thing that’s missing from your article (as far as I can see) is the perspective of a mom employed outside the home. I work in an office and do my blogging mostly at lunch break and coffee breaks. Sometimes I work on it at home, too, but because I am out of the home so much I need to spend most of my time there doing housework or resting. So for me, balancing blogging with motherhood is rarely an issue–I struggle more with balancing blogging with my paying job, as it’s tempting to drag out my lunch break when it’s taking me a long time to write a post or I’ve found something really interesting to read!!
To keep blogging from taking over life in general, for me one of the most important things is to avoid setting a lot of goals. I am the kind of person who feels terrible if I don’t do something I said I was going to do, so it’s best for me just to say, “I will write when I have time and post it when it’s finished.” Even though that means it sometimes takes me literally years to finish a post on some complicated topic that I really want to get right, my sanity is more important.
Tulip TrueAim says
Great insight. I totally agree. Setting unrealistic goals or promises can get you into a lot of trouble. Thanks so much for adding your view!
Tulip TrueAim says
Great insight! I totally agree. Setting unrealistic goals can get you into a lot of trouble. Thanks for adding your view!