I cannot help it.
Despite putting my writing 'out there' for public consumption, I cannot get over the fact that certain parts of my private life should remain private.
So, I've taken down my more recent efforts at autobiography.
Sorry to disappoint, but Midwest Moms was never supposed to be solely about me. It is a platform to for me to translate my parenting experience into a form that could help other parents. Putting my own story into narrative form serves an entirely different aim. And while I may continue that writing privately, I feel uncomfortable with making it available here.
My apologies to those friends who have been so encouraging. But sometimes second thoughts make sense. This is one of those cases.
- Julia
Showing posts with label Midwest Moms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Midwest Moms. Show all posts
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Celebrating One Year of Midwest Moms
These days, it seems like everyone is starting a Mommy blog -- that strange hybrid of family scrapbook, confessional, parenting manual, and late-night comedy routine.
We're a hundred thousand Erma Bombecks.
Who knows why we do it? I can answer only for myself.
I started Midwest Moms one year ago because I was the only one in my family raising children far from home. The transition from single life to married motherhood was one of the toughest life-altering transformations I have ever experienced. Through the highs and lows, after the tremendous the changes I underwent on the outside and the inside, I became stronger and tougher and more loving and patient than I ever thought I could be. Motherhood was like a trial by fire; it transformed me, not because I wanted it to... just because that's what becoming a Mom does to a woman. And once it did, once I was a Mom, I was surprised to find I had gained entry into an amazing sisterhood of strong women who had all undergone the same metamorphosis.
But motherhood is isolating work. It makes a grown woman spend the entire day speaking in two-word sentences, just to be understood. It turns a woman with a master's degree into a trained parrot, teaching her son or daughter to speak by repeating every phrase twice. It forces former professionals to resort to discussing the consistency of their little ones' diapers, the price of bananas, and how to get our whites whiter instead of using our time together to talk about the real challenges of mothering -- balancing love and discipline, raising responsible resilient children, fostering communication in the home, battling our need for appreciation with the reality that true appreciation most often comes only from our sisters in the trenches.
We don't talk about those things in the produce aisle. Or at PTA meetings.
We blog about them instead.
We blog to give a voice to our family journey, to document the challenges and the victories, if for no one but ourselves. In the process, we find friends we never knew we had -- women who live in other places, but who understand the people we are and were and hope to be. For me, blogging is a way to reach through the isolating work I do, to move past the everyday even as I write about it.
In the process of writing Midwest Moms, I have found a voice I didn't know I had, an outlet for my weird sense of humor, a way to convey my experience of the world. I find it hard to believe I've only been at it for a year -- it has become so much a part of who I am.
So, thank you for coming by Midwest Moms and sharing this strangely, surprisingly meaningful journey with me. I never could have imagined the past year of writing would be so, well, important. But it is. It continues to be.
Many thanks for a wonderful year.
- Midwest Mom
We're a hundred thousand Erma Bombecks.
Who knows why we do it? I can answer only for myself.
I started Midwest Moms one year ago because I was the only one in my family raising children far from home. The transition from single life to married motherhood was one of the toughest life-altering transformations I have ever experienced. Through the highs and lows, after the tremendous the changes I underwent on the outside and the inside, I became stronger and tougher and more loving and patient than I ever thought I could be. Motherhood was like a trial by fire; it transformed me, not because I wanted it to... just because that's what becoming a Mom does to a woman. And once it did, once I was a Mom, I was surprised to find I had gained entry into an amazing sisterhood of strong women who had all undergone the same metamorphosis.
But motherhood is isolating work. It makes a grown woman spend the entire day speaking in two-word sentences, just to be understood. It turns a woman with a master's degree into a trained parrot, teaching her son or daughter to speak by repeating every phrase twice. It forces former professionals to resort to discussing the consistency of their little ones' diapers, the price of bananas, and how to get our whites whiter instead of using our time together to talk about the real challenges of mothering -- balancing love and discipline, raising responsible resilient children, fostering communication in the home, battling our need for appreciation with the reality that true appreciation most often comes only from our sisters in the trenches.
We don't talk about those things in the produce aisle. Or at PTA meetings.
We blog about them instead.
We blog to give a voice to our family journey, to document the challenges and the victories, if for no one but ourselves. In the process, we find friends we never knew we had -- women who live in other places, but who understand the people we are and were and hope to be. For me, blogging is a way to reach through the isolating work I do, to move past the everyday even as I write about it.
In the process of writing Midwest Moms, I have found a voice I didn't know I had, an outlet for my weird sense of humor, a way to convey my experience of the world. I find it hard to believe I've only been at it for a year -- it has become so much a part of who I am.
So, thank you for coming by Midwest Moms and sharing this strangely, surprisingly meaningful journey with me. I never could have imagined the past year of writing would be so, well, important. But it is. It continues to be.
Many thanks for a wonderful year.
- Midwest Mom
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Mom-Blogging Basics at BlogCatalog
Some of you may know I'm a frequent participant over at BlogCatalog. There is a great (and varied) core group of bloggers there from whom I have learned a lot.
psst... If you're not listed there already, you should be.
At any rate, the bigwigs at BlogCatalog recently asked me to write a piece about Mom-blogging for them. I was honored to do it. It was fun to sit back and reflect about why I write and how and what I've learned from writing Midwest Moms. If you're interested, head on over and let me know what you think. I love thoughtful comments.
Have a great four-day week!
- Midwest Mom
psst... If you're not listed there already, you should be.
At any rate, the bigwigs at BlogCatalog recently asked me to write a piece about Mom-blogging for them. I was honored to do it. It was fun to sit back and reflect about why I write and how and what I've learned from writing Midwest Moms. If you're interested, head on over and let me know what you think. I love thoughtful comments.
Have a great four-day week!
- Midwest Mom
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Web Safety for Kids
My kids have learned a lot from Mommy's blogging.
They have learned that:
1. People can choose whatever name they like when they are on the computer. No one called me "Midwest Mom" before I started blogging.
2. Every time you click on something, you're telling the computer that you want to "go somewhere" on the web. They've learned to be careful so they don't wind up someplace they never wanted to be.
3. All websites have a person behind the scenes -- the person who types in the blog entry, creates the graphics, programs the sound. Because of #1, they understand that the person behind the site is someone they don't know. Even Mommy's site has some unknown people -- advertisers and google techies -- who can read what gets typed in.
Learning these things from Mommy's blog has made it easier for my kids to understand the basics of how to keep themselves safe when they're on the computer -- at school or at home.
We have a few basic rules:
Kids shouldn't share their real names on the Internet. I tell mine to create a fun character name if they ever have to login or register at a site. And they are never to type in any information without my approval.
Kids shouldn't "chat" about their home, their town, their school, or their friends. They should not share their age. No legitimate website for kids is going to ask this information, so I've taught mine to be suspicious. (To remember that all sites have people behind the scenes, and they don't know who those people are.)
Kids and Parents should work together to make a list of approved websites. We keep ours in a special file in our "Favorites" tab. I give my children choices, but only from the list that I've set up in advance.
Kids should not click on advertisements. I've shown my children what ads are on the web and they know that you can click something and lose what you've been working on. They know they are not to click willy-nilly. And if a dialog box ever comes up, Call Mom! I want to be sure to keep my computer safe from unwanted downloads. My kids know that unwanted junk ruins the computer for all of us.
There are some great websites out there for kids -- sites that we approve of and use. If you're just getting started with your child on the computer, give these a try:
PBS Kids
ABC ya!
Cool Math 4 Kids
Jump Start World
I'll be writing more about Jump Start tomorrow (and psst! I'll be having my first giveaway!)
So, stay tuned and stay safe on the computer!
- Midwest Mom
They have learned that:
1. People can choose whatever name they like when they are on the computer. No one called me "Midwest Mom" before I started blogging.
2. Every time you click on something, you're telling the computer that you want to "go somewhere" on the web. They've learned to be careful so they don't wind up someplace they never wanted to be.
3. All websites have a person behind the scenes -- the person who types in the blog entry, creates the graphics, programs the sound. Because of #1, they understand that the person behind the site is someone they don't know. Even Mommy's site has some unknown people -- advertisers and google techies -- who can read what gets typed in.
Learning these things from Mommy's blog has made it easier for my kids to understand the basics of how to keep themselves safe when they're on the computer -- at school or at home.
We have a few basic rules:
Kids shouldn't share their real names on the Internet. I tell mine to create a fun character name if they ever have to login or register at a site. And they are never to type in any information without my approval.
Kids shouldn't "chat" about their home, their town, their school, or their friends. They should not share their age. No legitimate website for kids is going to ask this information, so I've taught mine to be suspicious. (To remember that all sites have people behind the scenes, and they don't know who those people are.)
Kids and Parents should work together to make a list of approved websites. We keep ours in a special file in our "Favorites" tab. I give my children choices, but only from the list that I've set up in advance.
Kids should not click on advertisements. I've shown my children what ads are on the web and they know that you can click something and lose what you've been working on. They know they are not to click willy-nilly. And if a dialog box ever comes up, Call Mom! I want to be sure to keep my computer safe from unwanted downloads. My kids know that unwanted junk ruins the computer for all of us.
There are some great websites out there for kids -- sites that we approve of and use. If you're just getting started with your child on the computer, give these a try:
PBS Kids
ABC ya!
Cool Math 4 Kids
Jump Start World
I'll be writing more about Jump Start tomorrow (and psst! I'll be having my first giveaway!)
So, stay tuned and stay safe on the computer!
- Midwest Mom
Friday, January 23, 2009
Midwest Moms on Twitter!
I've just taken the plunge and joined Twitter.
What a fun tool to keep in touch with friends, one sentence at a time. ;)
You can find me by searching my username: MidwestMoms (no surprise!)
After I figure out what the twitter craze is all about, I'll be sure to give it a review.
For now, though, I wonder... Do you Twitter? What do you like or not like about it?
- Midwest Mom
What a fun tool to keep in touch with friends, one sentence at a time. ;)
You can find me by searching my username: MidwestMoms (no surprise!)
After I figure out what the twitter craze is all about, I'll be sure to give it a review.
For now, though, I wonder... Do you Twitter? What do you like or not like about it?
- Midwest Mom
Friday, January 2, 2009
Welcome to the Midwest!
If you're new to the Midwest, especially small-town Midwest, here are a few things you should know...
- You can always tell where you are by reading the name on the nearest water tower.
- All roads intersect at right angles. As a result, directions are always given in cardinal directions [go north 2.4 miles, turn east…] Funny thing, though, a road named 2800 East is actually a north-south road.
- A town actually can have more miles of road to maintain than it has residents.
- Don't trust the Governor as far as you can throw him... especially if he has more hair than your Aunt Matilda's persian cat.
- The land here is so flat you can actually see the curvature of the earth as you look at the horizon… as long as you can see past the grain elevators.
- Housing bubble? What housing bubble?
- Where we live, there are three donut shops but no Starbucks. We manage just fine.
- Yes you may let your dog ride in the front seat... Heck, you can let him drive if you want.
- December music programs at school actually can still contain the word “Christmas”.
- It’s okay to play with your food. Dried corn is a great substitute for sand in the sandbox. (Castles are tough to make with it, though.) And corn mazes are an essential part of fall fun.
- It can be just as thrilling to see $3.60 corn prices as it can be to see gas prices go down below $2.00 (we heat with corn, by the way… another Midwest reality. It’s nice to know that my energy dollar is going to a local farmer instead of a conglomerate.)
- Here, sunsets and storms help you understand just how small you really are. And a little perspective can be a good thing.
So, welcome to the Midwest... and welcome to a new year of Midwest Moms.
- Midwest Mom
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Spotlight on Healthy Moms
I am happy to announce that Midwest Moms is the spotlight blog on Healthy Moms Blog!
If you get a chance, be sure to head on over. Cascia, who writes Healthy Moms does a great job giving tips on raising healthy kids and helping parents keep ourselves sane and feeling great. She has news for parents, product reviews, and links to parenting blogs from all over.
Thanks, Cascia!
- Midwest Mom
If you get a chance, be sure to head on over. Cascia, who writes Healthy Moms does a great job giving tips on raising healthy kids and helping parents keep ourselves sane and feeling great. She has news for parents, product reviews, and links to parenting blogs from all over.
Thanks, Cascia!
- Midwest Mom
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)