Writer, Where Art Thou?

I might seem delinquent on this blog lately. But I am not gone. I have merely shifted my energies... the irony is that in my rediscovery of blogging love, I actually neglected the blog that started it all - this one! I began this blog, A Writer Within, to motivate myself to do more writing, be creative, express myself, share my opinions. Sometimes this has been misunderstood, and even used against me (maliciously, and inaccurately). That is not my problem. As the years went by, I discovered I was writing a significant number of entries on sub-topics I felt were in and of themselves "blog-worthy," and I started other blogs to encompass those topics.

Today, I'd like to introduce you to my most prolific blog: A Year With Mom and Dad - a parenting and family blog that also features product reviews and giveaways for families and kids.

I wanted to start a blog primarily focused on our growing family - as we added a new baby boy to our lives in February 2010, I realized I had a lot to say about all things mommy and parenting! I wanted to write them down, but found my handwritten diary wasn't working for the topics I had in my head - I couldn't organize my ideas into categories, it was messy, and I wanted to SHARE my thoughts. I wanted to use my new motherhood experiences to help other moms, not merely to be recorded in a book for just me. So I started A Year With Mom and Dad in March 2010 to record milestones, photos, and of course talk about all the ideas, opinions, and products that come my way!

What I love is that my husband is so supportive of my new venture, and he also sometimes writes a "Dad's Log" feature that I love to read - it is a blessing to see how parenthood looks from his perspective (and he's been holding out on what a good writer he can be!). I also love doing product reviews. It's exciting to try new products - some of which have barely hit the market! I enjoy voicing my opinions and sharing ideas for how moms can use these products. I also needed an outlet for my favorite mommy topic: cloth diapering. Since I didn't want to bore my IRL (in-real-life) friends to death, I decided to have a weekly feature of cloth diapers on Fridays on my parenting blog. It's worked out really well, and I've done several "events" that feature and promote cloth diapering.

Overall, I am happy with the blogging strides I have made in the past year - I am writing more, I am writing for an audience, and I feel I am keeping my writing and editing skills sharp despite being away from the professional world of teaching. I wish I had kept up a bit more over here. It just seems all the mommy-thoughts crowd out other ideas! But I know I will have opinions, concerns and ideas that are non-mom that I will need to share here. So don't worry - I have not gone away... and with any luck, you'll be seeing more of me!