My Top Six Favorite Blog Posts. Because Five is Too Few And Seven is Too Many

Occasionally I run out of words.
For those who know me in person, this may come as a shock, but ’tis true.
I love to talk.
Mostly about my kids because I think they are great but I do love to talk.
By the way, Ella scored her first goal on Saturday!
I AM SO DAMN PROUD.
She loves soccer and so I am sharing because her life is full of worry about school and friends and such so for her to be thriving at this, well, I am boasting.

I also feel I need to share with you that I am no longer writing for Chicago Parent.
I know a lot of you don’t read my stuff over there but a lot of my local friends do and so I am putting it out there on here because I just don’t have the balls to talk about it on my personal Facebook.
I made the decision to stop for many reasons but here is one: I need to focus on my family.
My girls are really busy right now and it seems to me that it is kind of ironic to write for a parenting website when I really need to be in the trenches of parenting myself.
This blog doesn’t require me to be on a deadline, keep up my numbers etc. so it isn’t a “job” per se.
I do have the money making sources on my own time that help me bring in extra income but they are on a schedule that works for me.

This isn’t to say it wasn’t a hard decision.
I cried when I sent the resignation letter.
I cried when the reality hit.
But I am really happy where I am now, in the throes of motherhood, working the concession stands, cheering from the stands, helping with the homework, being there for my girls, hanging out with my family, OMG I AM SO DAMN HAPPY.
It is all good.

Here is a blog post I have had in the hopper since last spring.
It is one of those posts that I used to laugh when I would see bloggers share.
They don’t have any material so they are using up old stuff.
Yep, and damn proud of it.
Oh, and I will be sharing those old Chicago Parent posts every once in a while.
Because I wrote them, because I am proud of them and because I can.

1- The Curtains From Hell

This post will always be a favorite for many reasons.
Because I worked so damn hard at these curtains.
And they lasted, like, two years.
Yes, they are now gone.
Guess I need to work on a new curtain tutorial.
Or buy them at the store like normal people.

2- My Baby Is Growin’ Up

When my oldest daughter (who is now 15) turned 12, I wrote this post.
I had no idea how much harder it would get each year.
Not really harder just my heart is heavier, more bittersweet because her time at home is dwindling.
It’s so interesting how we get so excited when they gain another year when they are itty bitty.
Then around age 9 or 10, it starts to sink in.
THEY ARE GETTING OLDER.
Sigh.

3- Kindergarten Sucks

struggling with kindergarten

This was one of the hardest posts to write.
Because I wrote it as I was going through it.
When I read my words now, I can feel the pain of both Ellie and me.
And THAT is why I am so glad I blog.
Because when she is going to college, she will see how amazing life is and how much change is involved.
Now that she is doing better in school, it is a little easier to read this.
But I couldn’t re-read this post until a month after I wrote it.

4- They Say You Can’t Go Back

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I am a sap.
A big old sappity sap sap.

And for some reason, this time of year, I get weepy about where I grew up and who I grew up with.

So, of course, I write about it.

But I am lucky in that I have great friends who keep “home” in my heart all the time.

They know who they are.

5- Why I Blog

When I started writing in 2010, I never realized how much I loved putting words on a screen or how cathartic it would become.

It was a stress reliever in a very stressful part of my life.

Because of blogging, I have handled situations in my life so much different than I have in the past.
And I am such a better person because of it.
Here is my 2011 reason for blogging.