Pick Up and Dust Off

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them.

- George Bernard Shaw

Lately, I have been a terrible coward.

It's difficult to admit it, but there it is.

You see, this Fall, I took a chance to do a kind of writing I haven't before. I wrote a weekly feature article for an online publication. It was work I enjoyed, and my writing was well-received.

My feature highlighted blogs and bloggers whose work deserved to be showcased. In return, I was supposed to receive compensation. But benefits promised never materialized, and my sense of trust in the people I had devoted time and work and energy to promote eroded.

In the end, I stopped writing my weekly feature. Stopped cold. The response?
Silence.

Looking back, I understand that I was taken advantage of. It's awful to have to admit that, because it was the most recent of many failures 2009 held for me. But worse than just 'not panning out', it truly made me feel foolish to have trusted untrustworthy people.

Afterward, I lost my motivation to write altogether. Even though I wouldn't admit it, in some way I blamed myself for the dishonest behavior of others. (And thanks to Stacy at 4everMom for picking up on my funk almost immediately. You're quite an insightful friend.)

But it's time to stop moping.

So, here I am again. Back at Midwest Moms. And, quite honestly, it feels good to be writing in my own space. Here, I write to my own deadlines and standards. My work is driven by my own sense of creativity and purpose. And the friends who come to visit and leave a note are exactly that -- friends.

So, let's agree to pick up and dust off. I have a feeling 2010 will be a better year.

- Midwest Mom

Over the Top (and I don't just mean the Stallone Movie...)

Look what my friend Green Girl in Wisconsin gave me (that lovable galoshes-wearing gardener!) I'm so grateful to have her as a friend and to read her writing. She brings out my inner Cheese-head. :)

Now, it's time to pass along the fun. Here are the rules:


1.) Thank and post URL to the blog that gave the award. (Check!)

2.) Pass the award along to 6 brilliantly over the top blogs. Alert them so they know to receive the award. (Check!)

I'll pass this along to some of my favorites:

Me-Me at The Screaming Me-Me! Whose writing never fails to make me laugh. [MadMadMargo on Twitter]

Rayne at Rayne of Terror, who -- like me -- loves to garden. [devivo on Twitter]

Leighann at Multi-Minding Mom, the greenest of my greenie girlfriends and a terrific blogger. [LeighannMMM on Twitter]

Stacey (Mom24) at 4everMom, a fantastically frugal meal-planning mom, whose life is so full, it's hard to keep up! [Mom24 on BlogCatalog]

Lesley at My Turn to Talk, a new friend I'm so glad to have. [Latest post, which I love, Blink.]

And

Susan at Erasing the Bored, a talented writer with a positive perspective on life. [Another latest post I love, Do Be a Do-Be]



3.) Copy and paste this quiz… Change the answers and use ONE word (whenever possible). (Check!)

1-Your cell phone? Mythical (I don't have one.)
2- Your hair? Shiny (Gotta love Fall!)
3-Your mother? Graceful
4-Your father? Protective
5-Your favorite food? Tomatoes
6-Your favorite drink? Baileys
7-Your dream last night? Bizarre
8-Your dream/goal? Balance
9-What room are you in? Den
10-Your hobby? Writing
11-Your fear? Loss of a Child (sorry, not one word)
12-Where do you want to be in 6 years? Michigan
13-Where were you last night? Home
14-Something that you aren’t? Tall
15-Muffin? Pumpkin
16-Wish list item? Laptop
17-Where did you grow up? Suburbs
18-Last thing you did? Brewed (chai black tea -- yum)
19-What are you wearing? Bare Feet
20-Your TV? On (sickies are watching Max & Ruby)
21-Your pets? Spotted (my kids have adopted every ladybug they see)
22-Friends? Dear
23- Your life? Full
24-Your mood? Content
25-Missing someone? Mom
26-Vehicle? 1995 Eagle Vision (I know you're jealous. It's a classic.)
27-Something you aren’t wearing? Make-up
28-Your favorite store? TJ Maxx
29-Favorite color? Yellow
30-When was the last time you laughed? 7:20 a.m.
31-Last time you cried? Yesterday
32-Your best friend? Joe
33-One place you go to over and over? My Garden
34-One person who emails you regularly? Melissa
35-Favorite place to eat? Home

Many thanks to all the wonderful friends I've met here and on BlogCatalog and Twitter. You are truly amazing women and my life is fuller for knowing you.

- Midwest Mom

BlogCatalog Blog Spotlight: We are THAT Family ... you know the ones

As some of you may (or may not) know, I have been an active member over at BlogCatalog since I started blogging. It has been a great place to learn about the art and craft of blogging, to have technical questions answered with precision, and to enjoy a diverse and colorful group of bloggers from every blog genre and practically every country, too.

Recently, I was asked to help BC add an additional Member Benefit -- weekly Blog Spotlight pieces on great blogs and bloggers in the Family and Home & Garden sections of the directory.

So, today, I'm proud to announce my first Spotlight piece and to introduce you to Kristen Welch, author of We are THAT Family... you know the ones. If you enjoy clever writing, you are sure to enjoy Kristen's humorous take on her family's (mis)adventures. She also has very thoughtful pieces on blogging and online community. So, her blog is absolutely worth a visit.

If you haven't joined BlogCatalog yet, I wholeheartedly recommend it. It has a great (and growing) group of Family and Parenting bloggers who are truly worth knowing.

- Midwest Mom

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

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

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

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

Christmas Gifts for some Fabulous Bloggers

I usually don't give out awards on this blog, but since it's the gifting season, I thought, "If not now, when?"
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My good friend Abby at my sweet baboo has given Midwest Moms a lovely award that looks shockingly just like me! (Who knew I could be so Audrey Hepburn? ... wait til' my husband finds out!)

I just love being fabulous!

So, I'll pass this along as a little present to a few other fabulous bloggers I know.


Me-Me of The Screaming Me-Me is down-home hilarious. If I lived closer to Arizona, you bet I'd want to be friends with this woman... that is, as long as she managed to control the live turkeys running around her house and kept the carrot sticks well off the Christmas buffet. Me-Me, your blog is fabulous!

Kevin at Always at Home and Uncool knows what it means to be Jack Bauer -- really! (And why do I have the feeling his daughter won't mind this lovely award?) Speaking of his beautiful daughter, Kevin and his wife are raising awareness and, more importantly, money for Cure Juvenile dermatomyositis, a condition which his daughter has been battling for six years. He has recently written a (hilarious) guest-post about how to keep your figure at the holidays to raise money for the cause, and he and his wife have their own Cure JM fundraising page where all funds donated go to researching a cure for this potentially fatal condition. Please, if you can, click on over to Kevin's blog and drop a little holiday coin. He is a work-at-home-dad who totally deserves your readership -- oh, and this award, too.


Michele at Rocky Mountain Retreat (Photos) has a beautiful photo blog that I visit as often as possible. Michele lives in British Columbia, Canada and takes gorgeous photos of sky, water, the mountains... even weeds and wildflowers! My husband and I honeymooned in Banff and Jasper in Alberta and briefly traveled into British Columbia during our stay. We truly feel like it is God's country. Michele's blog helps me keep my eyes open to a beautiful time in my life every day.


Laurie at the Playground Observer is one of my favorite bloggers from "Back East". Laurie writes about life in Worcester, MA with her hubby and son. Having recently survived a visit to Santa and a wicked huge ice storm, Laurie continues her warmly funny chronicles of motherhood. I really love reading her blog. (Merry Christmas, Laurie!)


And, finally, my most fabulous, shoe-buying friend from Texas, Kellan at On the Upside shares her life raising her four terrific children. She writes about holiday stress, strange gift requests, but my all-time favorite has to be Sarah Palin's last interview. Priceless writing! Hers is a fabulous blog not to be missed.


Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! (Hope my present fits... )


- Midwest Mom

p.s. I'm off for a while, but am sure to be back writing after Christmas. I hope you all have a peaceful, joyous holiday season. ...now where is that tray of Christmas treats...

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

My Interview at 5MinutesForMom

Recently I was interviewed by 5MinutesForMom. It was fun to share my thoughts and have them published.

So, if you're interested in my take on motherhood and why I started Midwest Moms, please pay a visit. The site is a great place to find other blogs on parenting from moms across the country.

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

- Midwest Mom

Time to Give Thanks

My mother always said, "Don't put off 'til tomorrow what you can do today."

It was never more true than it is right now.

Since this is Thanksgiving week, I thought I would start off by giving thanks for the fantastic friends I have made during my time at Midwest Moms. Some of these 'thank-yous' are quite belated. But belated thanks can still be heartfelt.

Tricia at Papercages gave me a lovely award in -gasp- October, and I still have not acknowledged it.

Shame on me.

Papercages is a witty blog written by a wonderful woman who, while plagued by fits of firework paranoia and bouts of falling down, manages to keep her readers entertained and laughing about even the tough side of living. It is a great read.

So, thank you, thank you, thank you to Tricia for thinking of me and recognizing my writing on your blog. I truly appreciate it and apologize for the delay.


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In keeping with my title, I would like to acknowledge other fantastic bloggers who have given awards to Midwest Moms.


Many thanks go out to Elaine Fontana at My Life as a Stay-At-Home-Mother. She does a wonderful job blogging about issues and events that are important to her and her family. I am very grateful for her friendship and readership. She writes from Iowa, our neighbor to the west and fellow corn-growing state. So, you understand, I feel a certain kinship with Elaine. We midwesterners have to stick together! Especially when we're moms!




Thanks also to Court at Kaiya's Laughter Heals for the Proximidad Award. It is good to have close friendships with other parents who are doing their best to raise their children. It is also a tremendous blessing to share the joy of our kids and their silly stories, too. Thank you for recognizing that closeness. And best of luck with your blog!

And heartfelt good wishes and gratitude also go out to Me-Me King at The Screaming Me-Me.

The "Lemons into Lemonade" Award makes me laugh. I think you have my sense of humor pegged. Thank you very much for the acknowledgment. (And be sure to duck those bullets in the Arizona desert, won't you?)

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I am very grateful for all my readers. There are times I can't believe what an amazing group of smart, thoughtful people Midwest Moms has brought into my world. I am honored to be among such wonderful writers and faithful readers. Thank you.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

- Midwest Mom