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Diane
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| Posted: April 09 2006 at 9:26pm | IP Logged
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I am seriously beginning to feel out of my league on these forums. Okay, I seriously began to feel this way a long time ago, but I am just now willing to admit it. First it was all of the inspiring ideas for real learning, the excellent books you are reading (to your kids and to yourselves), the fabulous nature outings and notebooks…..and now it is all of these beautiful blogs. I love how each one of them is so unique, an exquisite glimpse into your personalities and homes.
Once in a while I toy with the idea of starting a blog as a way to express some of the random soliloquies that take place within my brain. I always rule it out for at least three reasons:
1. I can’t think of a single thing to say that anyone else would care to read. (Pretty big reason.) And if I could, I don’t know where I would find the time to craft it in a poetic or entertaining or (let’s be honest  ) even coherent way.
2. I am virtually computer illiterate; I don’t have a kind, smart friend like Lissa who’s overdue and looking for something to do; and I don’t know where I would find the time to figure it all out.
3. I can cook, I can clean, I can launder, I can spend time learning with my kids, but never can I accomplish all of them well on a single day. I can barely find time to read the new posts and blog entries---and the time that I do find is stolen from the above tasks---so I don’t know where I would find the time to write anything meaningful.
You are all very savvy hsing moms, so I’m sure you’ve picked up on the pattern. I admit that I’ve never been very good at time management, self-discipline, or multi-tasking---always very good at sloth, procrastination, and perfectionism (as much as a mom with 6 kids can be). But still, I think I must be missing something. How in the world do you all find time to do all that you do? Just reading about it makes me want to go take a nap. 
Lissa is the biggest mystery to me. I’m convinced she must have a Time Fairy that grants her extra hours each day. And now Elizabeth is doing it all from a sickbed. Amazing.
Please, if you have any secrets to share, I would love to hear them. (Notice that I am posting this at 4:25am Belgian time, and it is not because I am an early riser!  )
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Peace,
Diane
Mom to five fair lasses and one bonny prince
The Journey of a Mother's Heart
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Maddie
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| Posted: April 09 2006 at 11:23pm | IP Logged
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I can't help you, Diane, but I'm with you. Blogging isn't even on my radar screen, ever.
I can never do everything well in one day. I can cook really well one day, but then the house is neglected and school is done pretty well. Another day, I'll do school really well, and the house and cooking are neglected.
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~Maddie~
Wife to my dh and Momma of 9 dear ones
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JSchaaf
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 12:33am | IP Logged
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I'm right here with you Diane! I started a blog-but suffer serious blog envy at some I've seen. I've realized there's three main things to do each day:
1. Educate the children
2. Some sort of housework/chores
3. Relatively well planned and executed dinner on the table.
I can only get 2 out of 3. And somedays the two I do aren't done well. I would love to know how others manage to get everything done-I do know that prepregnancy Elizabeth rose at 4 or 5 am in order to have some time alone on the computer. I have tried so many books and systems-I just can't seem to get my act together. Doesn't help that I'm on the computer way too much and have an aversion to housework. Any remedies for that??
Jennifer
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Diane
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 2:18am | IP Logged
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Diane wrote:
| Lissa is the biggest mystery to me. |
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After reading my post in the real morning light (which never gets all that bright anyway here in Belgium), I want to make it absolutely clear that I was in no way referring to the present size of Lissa's tummy, posted on her blog last week.  I should have used words like "greatest," "grandest," or "most magnificent," instead of "biggest,"....I guess such a faux pas is bound to happen when you compose at 4am. I'll keep this in mind for future blogging. (yeah, right)
Mon apologies, Lissa, you beautiful pregnant woman. For the record, just in case God is reading, I must say that I would give just about anything to be standing in your painted toes with a big bellyful of baby. God bless you!
I also want to say that I don't think I'm comparing myself to anyone here, at least not in a way that makes me feel bad. Most of the time. Okay, so sometimes I do walk away from the computer a little depressed, but I always get over it. Well, most of the time.
Anyway, I just want to understand the Mystery of Motherhood Time a little better, so that I can maybe get some laundry done, forget about the blogging.
One last thing, my post was meant to be written in a somewhat humorous tone, but I think it came across as rather serious. Perhaps this is a sign that I should surrender any dreams of being entertaining and aim to be poetic or (let's be honest) simply coherent.
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Peace,
Diane
Mom to five fair lasses and one bonny prince
The Journey of a Mother's Heart
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Dawn
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 5:02am | IP Logged
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Diane, I know how you feel. When I joined this amazing list almost a year ago (I lurked for a while before registering ) I was in constant awe and admiration (still am). I felt intimidated to speak up and contribute (not by anyone intentionally! Just by my own feelings of inadequacy).
But I found once I started talking and sharing and asking and suggesting, the responses were *so* kind and encouraging, I felt more comfortable sharing of myself. I just recently worked up the courage to add photos here, because now I feel so at home. 
Blogging ~ I felt the same as you! I only started a blog a few weeks ago, but it is not nearly as time-consuming or overwhelming as I thought it would be. Before I started I asked here about how everyone managed their blogging time. As usual, there were lots of great, helpful responses.
All this to say ... if you feel in your heart that you would like to try a blog, do! I had no idea how uplifting it would feel to share my thoughts, observations and feelings ... and I'm a *rambler* (case in point here) so I am probably not always coherent, but still people stop by and read and share comments ~ it's a wonderful community to be a part of.
Anyway ... I know you are not alone in your feelings. I am sure others will have more encouraging words and ideas for you. Asking is the first step ~ it was for me!
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys
By Sun and Candlelight
The Nature Corner
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Dawn
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 5:33am | IP Logged
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Hi again, I just went back and re-read your post and realized I really kind of danced around your main questions ... let me try again:
Diane wrote:
1. I can’t think of a single thing to say that anyone else would care to read. (Pretty big reason.) And if I could, I don’t know where I would find the time to craft it in a poetic or entertaining or (let’s be honest ) even coherent way. |
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Diane, you have expressed yourself here quite eloquently and with your own sense of style. Also, once you start writing regularly, you'll find it much easier to get your thoughts down quickly. In the beginning I sweated over every word; now not so much.
Diane wrote:
| 2. I am virtually computer illiterate; I don’t have a kind, smart friend like Lissa who’s overdue and looking for something to do; and I don’t know where I would find the time to figure it all out. |
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I am not techno-savvy at all. I usually rely on dh for computer-related things - like uploading pictures etc. - but I was able to set my blog up mostly myself (and that's saying something, believe me). I use Typepad and find it very easy to maintain. And when I have a question, I post it here, and someone always very kindly responds.
Diane wrote:
| 3. I can cook, I can clean, I can launder, I can spend time learning with my kids, but never can I accomplish all of them well on a single day. I can barely find time to read the new posts and blog entries---and the time that I do find is stolen from the above tasks---so I don’t know where I would find the time to write anything meaningful. |
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I will admit, blogging does impede a little on my other household and mothering routines ~ and I am still working on that. But I do find it has fired me up. I get a real nice energy from this new creative outlet and I find it injects itself into my other tasks. If I am folding laundry or doing dishes, I am musing over my thoughts and ideas ~ something I haven't been plugged into in a while.
The boys are up, so I'd best be off. Hope that helps a bit.
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys
By Sun and Candlelight
The Nature Corner
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 6:14am | IP Logged
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JSchaaf wrote:
| I would love to know how others manage to get everything done-I do know that prepregnancy Elizabeth rose at 4 or 5 am in order to have some time alone on the computer. |
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And now I frequently write with my head on the desk, but still at 4 or 5 AM, because I can't sleep .
My house is not perfect and I'm not nearly the creative unschooler that Lissa is, nor are things as serene here as they are at Alice's.
There are absolutely things I don't do: I don't co-op. I don't do any homeschool group activities. I don't ever go to home sales parties (you know, Creative Memories, Stampin Up, Pampered Chef). I don't belong to an organized apostolic movement that requires meetings and retreats out of the house.
And here's another one that is a paradox: My husband is gone about 80% of the time lately. One would think this would give me less time in front of the computer. And sometimes it does. Unlike Lissa, who has a schedule worked out with her dh, there's no one minding the ranch if I'm sitting here. OTOH, there's no adult in my life to talk with on a regular basis either. If I were chatting on the phone, I couldn't hear my kids. If I were meeting a friend for coffee (Utterly impossible right now ), I wouldn't be here at home. So, y'all are it: my homeschool support group, my spiritual support group, and my friends to chat with. I do have some IRL friends, but often my time with them is very limited because my reality is that I have seven (eight) kids and that makes me less mobile and less available. They do things on the evenings and weekends with entire other families or with other couples. I don't. It's incredibly lonely to be at those things without my husband.
I try to have rule about being at the computer only when the house is under control. That's not a very effective rule. OTOH, I let myself be here when everybody is asleep, pretty readily. If I do housework in the morning when they're sleeping, it awakens them. The computer is quiet.
I don't read all the new posts--I can't. I rely on other moderators to flag things from their boards if I need to see it and then I have certain threads flagged. I reply much less frequently than I used to, also (imagine that!). I also don't read all the blogs on the blog lists every day. I check in with a very few on a daily basis and save the rest for a treat when the house is clean and it's raining outside (how rare is that?). It's a matter of accepting that the world can go on very nicely without me out there in the blogosphere, but that it absolutely requires me to function here in my home.
My daughter (9) is more likely to check the 4real blog roll than I am. Do you women know how much influence you are having on the next generations?? It's astonishing the things we talked about together just this weekend! The robin at Alice's house, Montessori in the kitchen, Lissa's toenails, the Lapazfarm pond adventures...
I'd love to think that I could have figured out how to set up that blog if I weren't so darn sick, but I know better. And so does Lissa and Tim, and MacBeth, and Michele--all of whom are computer geniuses who have enabled me to have a medium to express myself throughout the years.
As far as expression, well, that usually IS easy. Sometimes, it's too easy. I'll think of something and lie awake until I can put it on paper (or a screen). It reminds me of my child who needs to hole himself up for hours with graphite or watercolors until the picture is on paper. It's a gift and a blessing. My challenge there is to remember that it's a secondary gift. My primary gifts are my children and I do try hard not to let my writing take from them. And that includes not letting my writing take from laundry or cleaning. It can take from MOm's Night Out. It can take from going to the PE co-op (I don't think my kids suffer in the physical ed department), but it can't take from the relationships. And it doesn't!
And lo and behold, as they get older, it's something we do together. My dd frequently reads over my shoulder. She totally "supervised" the blog construction (including picking the banner picture). She has a private blog and she has struck up friendships with some other girls whose moms also blog. It tickles me to watch them write so happily and it reminds me of that time many years ago when their moms and I found each other and were giddy to have discovered kindred spirits across the country. Never did I imagine a scenario where we'd share this with our daughters. When CCM began, my daughter wasn't even two!
DH expressed concern that taking on a blog would be too much. It's pretty rare for him to worry about something like that. We talked about it. Actually we IM'd about it. And I assured him that the blog would have its place, behind plenty of other things. And he trusted me with that decision because I'm the woman who has never been to a Pampered Chef party. I've proven myself pretty good at prioritizing with my family at the top. I know it's okay not to blog every day, because I have the example of Alice, who can blog along happily for several days in a row and then skip just as many days (I often wonder if those are the days when her dh made it home early from work and so took up that time after the kids are in bed). I fought the idea of journalling online for a long time. And the decision to do it was a prayerful one. But I came to it with the counsel of several women here, women who know my real strengths and weaknesses and assured me it would be okay.
Setting up the blog would have been really hard and really time consuming and quite the study in frustration. I promise you that my blog looks NOTHING like the template Lissa started with when she intervened ! Writing will be easy. It's easier for me than talking. That's just how I'm wired.
Okay, 'nough of that. People are still sleeping but I can't sit here anyway, because I need to go fight that fight with the refrigerator and figure out which unappetizing protein source I have to eat this morning.
Have a glorious day!
__________________
Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Lissa
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 6:15am | IP Logged
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Diane wrote:
| Lissa is the biggest mystery to me. I’m convinced she must have a Time Fairy that grants her extra hours each day. And now Elizabeth is doing it all from a sickbed. Amazing. |
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Oh Diane--I *do* have a Time Fairy, of sorts--remember, my husband is also a work-at-home writer! Whenever people ask me how I can write books AND homeschool etc etc I always hasten to point out that I have a unique situation with Scott home all day. When he made the decision to go freelance 8 years ago, we divided up the housework between us so that both would have time to write.
So here's my not-so-secret secret: I don't do the laundry.
Or much of the shopping; Scott's the errand guy. I only go to the grocery store once every two-three weeks to buy the stuff that stresses him out--some of the fresh produce, mainly. After eight years he still breaks into a sweat at the thought of tapping a melon.
Oh, and the vacuuming, that's one of his jobs. I do all the decluttering & daily tidy-up cleaning, including the Flylady daily chores (though many of those have passed to my older children now), but Scott does the stuff that involves heavy-duty cleansers because he doesn't want me exposing myself and/or in-utero babies to chemicals. (After one of your kids has had cancer there are certain things that make you jumpy.)
We split the cooking fifty fifty.
Basically, both of us write for a living part time and keep house part time.
My official writing time (for novels, etc) is from 3-6 pm. Scott works from 9-3 and then comes up to hang out with the children while I write.
During this pregnancy I have become something of an early riser and did most of my blogging before the kids awoke. I'm SURE that after this baby is born, I'll find myself with much less pre-dawn blogging time--I'll be too wiped out from nighttime feedings!
So now you know how I"m able to do it. I know without a doubt that if Scott had a fulltime out-of-the-house job, I could NEVER pull off writing on top of my wife & mom duties. And it's those duties which must come first, always. They are the most important and most joyful part of my day, and it's just icing on the cake to be able to write about it as well.
Lest it sound all sunshine and roses, I must hasten to clarify that the freelance lifestyle has one very big & serious disadvantage, and that is financial security. We are ALWAYS living check to check, and sometimes it is months between the checks. Publishers never pay up as promptly as they demand manuscripts. And there's never any guarantee of that next assignment...we live on a knife's edge! And of course our health care costs are through the roof. The little bit of income I make from my blog (via ad sales & merchant referrals) goes to pay the electric bill. Believe me, there have been plenty of times where I've wondered if this starving-artist thing is worth the stress. But then my husband will burst into the room where I'm reading English history to the kids, and they all erupt in squeals and giggles as he chases them around the house, and I know how very very blessed I am!
One other little secret--there have been many times over the years when I have read the beautiful posts by all you women here on the board (and the CCM list before it), and I felt very guilty for being a part time working mom. I have often fantasized about being able to quit until the babies are big. But that would mean Scott would have to change careers and give up the work he loves, and I truly believe that supporting him in his dreams is part of what I am called me to do, and that's why God put LIttle House and other work in my path.
Diane, I learn more from moms like you than you could ever imagine. I am always in awe of how much YOU all are able to accomplish in a day!! If I had to do the laundry, I can't imagine how I'd ever have time to write.
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Lissa
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 6:19am | IP Logged
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ROFL! Lissa and I were writing and posting on this almost simultaneously. And as I was writing, I was thinking about how different her response would be than mine!
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Lissa
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 6:21am | IP Logged
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Diane wrote:
Diane wrote:
| Lissa is the biggest mystery to me. |
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After reading my post in the real morning light (which never gets all that bright anyway here in Belgium), I want to make it absolutely clear that I was in no way referring to the present size of Lissa's tummy, posted on her blog last week. I should have used words like "greatest," "grandest," or "most magnificent," instead of "biggest,"....I guess such a faux pas is bound to happen when you compose at 4am. . |
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Bahahaaha!!!!! Diane, you just made me laugh so hard I'm surprised it didn't jump start my labor!
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Lissa
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JennGM
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 7:47am | IP Logged
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Dawn,
I could have written your post...from a different perspective, but in a similar vein. I love this forum...but I'm intimidated, also. I have one son, not school age yet. We read and read beautiful books and talk and play...that's pretty much where it stops. I'm constantly playing catch-up with the house and myself, especially this year.
I tell myself I can't and won't blog until I get things under control, more of a routine, spiritual life straightened, exercise daily at hand and not taking any time away from the family. So, blogging isn't a likely thing. Unlike you, I can't even get up early to squeeze that time in the day....
I have toyed around with Elizabeth's original idea of a private blog. I started to journal this year, but I'm having a hard time gripping the pen for long stretches of time (I think arthritis is already creeping in), and it takes longer time to write than type, so I write less frequently, because I can't find the chunk of time.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 9:29am | IP Logged
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First of all, things DO get neglected around here at times. I wish I could say they don't but that wouldn't be honest. Laundry is the biggest issue that I often let pile up. But if I were not blogging, I can't say I wouldn't find another excuse to put it off.LOL!
On my old blog I wrote apost about why I blog. That may give you some insight into what drives me to do so. Here is the text from that:
"I've been reading alot of blogs lately that discuss the reasons why we blog. Thought I'd go ahead and put in my 2 bits...
Blogging for me started out as a an attempt to hold myself a bit more accountable for what I do in our homeschool. At the time I started I was not as confident about our methods, materials, schedule, etc, and thought if I write it all out in public for the world to see, it would inspire me to do my very best. And it did help.
I am beyond that stage now, thankfully, having gained much confidence over time and trial and error, and yet I keep blogging. Why blog now?
I think now it is my attempt to connect with the outside world a bit. I used to be a school teacher. I connected with the world all day (for way too many hours) and I am glad to be done with that life. But as a homeschooling mom, surrounded by my dear children, books, a computer, and craft projects all day, it can be a bit lonely at times. I wouldn't trade the life for anything, and certainly hope never to go back to teaching public school, but there is one thing I miss, and that is the professional comraderie between peers that I had with my fellow teachers. That sense of shared mission, shared struggles and triumphs, shared coffee breaks and chats around the copy machine. I think that is what I am trying to get back with my blogging, and by visiting the blogs of other homeschooling moms. I want to tell someone (other than my husband) about lesson plans that worked out great, or not, about books that inspire, about all the daily doings of homeschooling. I want to mine ideas from others and share in their ups and downs, get a glimpse of what life is like in other homeschools.I want conversation and batting ideas back-and-forth, and I want it to be with someone who understands, has been there, and is at least a bit like me.Blogging gives me a bit of that.
I think blogging is the homeschool version of the teacher's lounge. Yea. That's what it is."
Anyway, this is also one of the main reasons I visit this forum. Due to life circumstances our family has moved around alot. So I am at a point in my life now where I have no IRL friends. Sad, but true. The people on this board and whose blogs I visit are my friends. 
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 10:05am | IP Logged
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lapazfarm wrote:
I want to mine ideas from others and share in their ups and downs, get a glimpse of what life is like in other homeschools.I want conversation and batting ideas back-and-forth, and I want it to be with someone who understands, has been there, and is at least a bit like me.Blogging gives me a bit of that.
I think blogging is the homeschool version of the teacher's lounge. Yea. That's what it is."
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Great answer, Theresa.
I was just thinking this morning while visiting Louise's new blog how often we say, "Gosh, I wish we could just visit each other for a cup of coffee."
Blogs allow us to visit each other's homes and enjoy a cup of refreshing fellowship.
__________________
Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Genevieve
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 10:27am | IP Logged
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lapazfarm wrote:
I think now it is my attempt to connect with the outside world a bit.
Anyway, this is also one of the main reasons I visit this forum. Due to life circumstances our family has moved around alot. So I am at a point in my life now where I have no IRL friends. Sad, but true. The people on this board and whose blogs I visit are my friends. |
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I don't blog but this really spoke to me because that is how I feel often. Last year, I was in a 'new' place and dh was home one day every three weeks. Needless to say, I clung onto the forum. Now it's much better with him home everyday at 4:30pm! Who knows what next year would bring.
Although I post and try to connect with the lovely ladies here, I do feel a little inadequate writing online because my oldest is only three. I can relate completely to the "other stuff" though, like my spiritual journey, marriage and motherhood. I also tend to post when I'm struggling with something in my life, so I fear that I come across as selfish, impatient and unloving. 
So I don't blog because although I have a strong desire to connect to someone, this forum has helped satisfy that need. In addition, I try to scrapbook/journal once a week and that takes up a lot of my time each entry. Words just don't flow so easily for me.
Another issue I have is that I have more mess makers than mess cleaners. It makes all the difference in the world if any woman can attest.
So I say blog if it helps nurture your soul. Blog if you would like connect with someone through this medium. Don't worry if it takes too much of your time. There is no deadlines and certainly no one is going to hold it against you if there hasn't been a post for a while.
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Genevieve
The Good Within
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Rebecca
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 10:36am | IP Logged
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JennGM wrote:
| I love this forum...but I'm intimidated, also. I have one son, not school age yet....I'm constantly playing catch-up with the house and myself, especially this year. |
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Jenn, I think in many ways that having one child is harder than having several. I remember being the only other person around when my oldest was little. He naturally expected me to play and include him in everything. There was no down time, no "go build a fort with your brother" time. It was just as hard to keep the house clean then as it is now with four. I do have more laundry now but all else is the same.
Jenn wrote:
We read and read beautiful books and talk and play...that's pretty much where it stops. |
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You are such an inspiration to me and to many others here, I'm sure. Your strong faith and your loving kindness toward your son are things I've admired so often from your posts.
God Bless,
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Rebecca
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 10:57am | IP Logged
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For me, blogging is a way for me to sort out the things I want to remember from the rest of the chaotic  whirling that takes place in my brain the remainder of the time. I am of the opinion that my brain is at capacity (not with intelligence, just information  ) and if I can empty some of it now and then, there will be room for more to take its place.
I do almost all of my blogging in the wee hours of the night which is why I do not post the time on my blog, (just the date) or readers might say, "What in the world is she doing writing THIS at 3:00 am!" (Which might explain why I had to post this) Also, I have trouble finding time to do it during the day as well.
I feel as though this forum and all of your blogs are my sanity. They inspire me to keep moving ahead and not to give up.
God Bless,
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Dawn
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Joined: June 12 2005
Location: Massachusetts
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Posts: 3191
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 10:58am | IP Logged
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JennGM wrote:
| I started to journal this year, but I'm having a hard time gripping the pen for long stretches of time (I think arthritis is already creeping in), and it takes longer time to write than type, so I write less frequently, because I can't find the chunk of time. |
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Jenn, I have always kept a journal. Nothing fancy, just a plain old 5 subject notebook. I still keep it open on my counter for when I need to jot down something quickly. Everyday I mark the date and write down anything that comes to me ~ an idea, a quote, clippings from magazines, lists of things to do, etc. It all gets dumped in there. It's not very pretty, not very organized, but it's all there in one place.
I found lately though, after reading all the wonderful blogs kept by 4Real friends, that I wanted to write more, and more creatively - to do more than just jot things down. But physically I can't do it; I'm too slow a scribe and my hand wears out!
I've always been verbiose, so I tend to over-write my posts here, and I also post a lot on my blog. I get a bit embarassed sometimes, but I have found everyone to be very patient and kind.
It's only been 3 weeks, but my blog has been, as Meredith said it would be, a *blessing* ... I love chatting with all of you here and with those whose blogs I visit, and those who comment on mine. Like Theresa described above, it is truly my lounge or my watercooler. And dh likes that I have you all to use up some of my verbal energy!
I for one would be thrilled if you started a blog ~ you are such a wonderful inspiration and always have so much to share. Maybe someday.
__________________
Dawn, mum to 3 boys
By Sun and Candlelight
The Nature Corner
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mumofsix
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Joined: April 07 2005
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 11:09am | IP Logged
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Diane, I think you are a good writer with a nice turn of phrase and a good sense of humour. I am with you though on the time squeeze problem and I have really enjoyed reading this thread so thanks for starting it.
Elizabeth: I have attended two merchandising parties in my life, neither recently. (I only had one child at the time. He is now 24. ) The Tupperware bowl and the purple eye shadow that resulted are still going strong, though the former is getting more use than the latter at present. I also absolutely do not do organised apostolates that would require me to live as if in the cloister and/or as a Missionary of Charity. Any attempts to rope me in to anything of this kind make me bristle.  I react as a mother bear would whose cubs are being threatened (they are). I do however attend a homeschooling co-op once a fortnight and travel quite some way for the privilege: in fact the journey there and back plus the meeting takes up most of the day. I also get together with real life friends and family on a regular basis and couldn't cope without this human contact. Email and message boards and blogs, enjoyable though they are, do not substitute for flesh and blood quite. For the first time this past year though, I have experienced what you describe as being less mobile and less available because of having a large family. It has hit me rather hard and given me a new appreciation of those really large families (7+ ). Still, life is long and there will be plenty of time in the future to be more free. I am certainly enjoying all my little ones right now.
Lissa: thank-you for your honesty. I suppose there is no perfect life this side of heaven and the secret is to appreciate and enjoy what you do have, and you certainly do that.
I enjoy reading some of the blogs, but like Elizabeth have to limit it to my chosen few or it would overwhelm me. I loved this sentence from Louise's blog: "Dear Ambroise do you remember last year now?" That so perfectly captures the way time seems to snap closed behind the heels of our little ones, making us feel perpetually elegiac. I will not be starting a blog as I simply don't have time right now. The technical side doesn't worry me as I have a very techno-savvy husband and son, and the writing comes easily and fast. The problem would be editing as I go to take into account the public nature of the medium: that would take time, or maybe one would get used to it. A private journal simply doesn't need to be edited so is quicker (and maybe more revealing, at least privately, if that is not a contradiction in itself!). Reading the blogs has given me more enthusiasm for my own journal though, so has been fruitful for that.
Happy blogging everyone!
Jane.
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Cay Gibson
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Joined: July 16 2005
Location: Louisiana
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 11:12am | IP Logged
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Genevieve wrote:
| I also tend to post when I'm struggling with something in my life, so I fear that I come across as selfish, impatient and unloving. |
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Oh, Genevieve, no, never! I love your posts and have never thought of you as selfish, impatient and unloving. Never! 
Genevieve wrote:
| So I say blog if it helps nurture your soul. Blog if you would like connect with someone through this medium. Don't worry if it takes too much of your time. There is no deadlines and certainly no one is going to hold it against you if there hasn't been a post for a while. |
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Wonderfully put!  No deadlines! That frees everyone from feeling any stress or pressure.
__________________
Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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JennGM
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 11:24am | IP Logged
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Lots of thought provoking posts here...I don't have the time to quote from them all. But Theresa and Genevieve, your points are well-taken that the blog is for ME. If people can benefit, all the better, but only do if for my reasons. That's why I'm reconsidering doing one, at least privately at first. I don't do much outside things, except with my family. This forum and your wonderful blogs is "adult conversation" outside of my family, but since so many of you are like-minded, it's inspirational and motivating for our own family activities.
But lately inactivity has been my "blessing" -- slow recovery and complications from a surgery has left me mostly with big thoughts and plans but nothing put into action. I can't -- I know my limitations right now. That's why you see so many posts from me lately...I've got all sorts of things swirling in my head and compiling them into writing does help make for future plans...I hope. It also helps me see it visually and then compile a digest form for a 2 1/2 yo and a very tired Mama.
__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Time in a Bottle
