Tag: mom blog

Mommy Bloggers are Crazy

For many years I had a blog for my shop. Boutique news, convention wrap-ups, costume stuff, etc. So I thought I knew what I was getting into with the new blog thing, but noooooo. Just like everything else that relates to parenting, I was wrong about the Mommy Blog.

crazy mom blogger

Mom blogging is a different world. There are networks, tribes, pods, loops… and you have to learn to navigate through them. It’s easy to get sucked into the networking thing and then next thing you know all you are doing is posting and liking and commenting in exchange for the same on your stuff.

And these people aren’t necessarily interested in what you are actually posting. They’re only interested in the reciprocal like or comment or share. It’s all a big numbers game where people want tons views and followers so they can be seen as an “influencer.” The more influence you appear to have, the more likely you are to get paid for things and get more free stuff.

I lasted about ten seconds on an Instagram follow loop. And most of the follows I earned from that have already unfollowed me anyway so it was a total waste of time. It seems like Twitter has a never ending supply of parent bloggers tweeting and retweeting every little thing. I’ve been pretty stingy with my blog follows, only following back the blogs that appear to have content I’m interested in reading on a regular basis.

I’ve been able to stay out of the mama drama for the most part. I participate in one Facebook group with a small group of blogging ladies that are pretty awesome. Our rules are relaxed and we haven’t had to do the dreaded Facebook ban on anyone.

I don’t plan on getting sucked into it since I don’t have the time to go leave fake likes and comments all day. And I prefer my readers to be real as well. So if you are reading this, liking and commenting, then thank you! I really enjoy reading the comments and knowing they aren’t just some reciprocal compulsion.

I still have a lot to learn in the business of mom blogging and blogging in general. My goal is to keep things fun and keep enjoying it and definitely Not get too obsessed with stats and shares and how many likes something gets. Of course I pay attention to that stuff! But really, it’s just exciting to be writing something people are actually reading. So again, thank you for being here!

thBFGA1IHA

My Favorite Things This Week

It’s Tuesday and I actually started this as a “things I love this week” wrap-up last Friday so that’s an indicator how my week has been going… Mother’s Day is pretty busy in the mom blog biz. Lots of activity!

So here’s a few things that I’ve been excited about this past week:

Making my gel nails last a little longer! –  I actually got this idea from a blog post on ThinkingCloset.com. I took a way more simple approach and just used a little scotch tape and some glitter polish but had to give credit for the idea. Although I’ve gotten zero compliments, I think it looks pretty snazzy. At least it looks better than my nail polish half-way up my nail.

Before & After

Cobra Kai on YouTube Red – If you loved the Karate Kid when you were younger, you are going to love Cobra Kai! Also, you’re old! Ha, just kidding. But I’m guessing you’re over 30. I totally loved this series and actually signed up for the free trial after watching the first two free episodes. It takes place 30 years after the infamous All Valley Karate Tournament and reignites the feud between Johnny and Daniel-San.

Baking with the kiddo. I hope to be doing many more cooking posts! I love cooking and am excited my son is finally showing an interest. His interest seems rooted in sugary desserts, which are not my specialty, but I can adapt! Check out my awesome cookie-fail photos for proof. I actually just invested in some baking soda and baking powder today since it seems those are two things that keep popping up in these baking recipes. I also created a special shelf on my spice/oil rack just for these random baking requirements like vanilla extract and rainbow sprinkles. I am expanding my own skills to accommodate the toddler sweet tooth.

Happy Mother’s Day to all you momma’s out there, getting by, making it work, and rockin’ the mom thing. Hope you had a good one. Mine was…eh. Lol. I just wanted to sleep in, go to brunch and have mimosas and then take a nap. My husband was not on board with the sleeping in plan and proceeded to let our son have a screaming tantrum in his room right across from our’s without even bothering to shut our bedroom door. When I complained, I got a crappy “He’s 3, what can I do about it?” response. While there are many things I wanted to tell him he could go do…I just grabbed K and put him in bed with me until he stopped crying. Way to mom it up on Mother’s Day right? I did eventually get my mimosas and a nap so I won’t hold a grudge, although I am seriously considering staying in a hotel next Mother’s Day eve and then meeting up with the family for brunch. I think a night and morning to myself sounds divine. Also, I was the only one who tried to get any photos so here’s my awesome selfie that really sums up my day:

candy keane and son

Nap time! And finally, my favorite thing that has happened TWICE in the past week is the super elusive magical nap experience. This is something I took for granted back in early toddler-hood. Then it was taken away suddenly when my son just started refusing to nap. I miss it SO BAD. I used to get stuff done during nap time. As soon as he went down I’d spring into action and get a million things done. Now when it happens I feel like getting on my hand and knees and thanking God and shouting halleluja and I’m not even a religious person.

So that’s the highlights of my past week! How was your’s?

Back to Blogging Basics

I spent some time yesterday crafting a post about how toddlers are assholes. It was basically just me ranting about my tremendously crappy day that resulted in me crying while my son ran off to pee on the floor. (#momlife at its best 🙄)

But I didn’t post it because it wasn’t a full article type post with a point and perfectly prepared pics. Ha! Try saying that 5 times fast.

My original blog, the anonymous one about my IVF experience, really gave me an emotional outlet. I didn’t care about stats and likes, I just shared to get it all off my chest. But things changed when I decided to do a “real blog.”

My posts became more planned out. I started thinking of them more like magazine articles. And sometimes I’m doing paid posts and it starts to feel like a homework assignment!

It’s making it all more like work and less like the emotional and creative outlet that attracted me to blogging in the first place. So while I still plan to keep that part going, I’m also going to just pop in here with no big agenda, no sponsored links and just write about life and enjoy myself.

So the blog continues to evolve… even if it is something of a step back to a simpler time. A time before I knew what an Amazon affiliate was… lol

blog-humor

Good Morning! Just a little update

IMG_2233It’s Tuesday and I don’t have anything particular planned to post today. It was a busy weekend with two birthdays and family visiting so there was very little computer time. I even took the entire day offline Sunday and just worked in the yard. Not even one Facebook update about all the new things I planted. It felt good to just do things and not try and get a perfect photo and share and tag and hashtag.

There’s a lot of things I need to catch up on and do a blog post about – My son turned the big 3 on Saturday and I threw my first kid party. His birthday is almost the same as his dad’s, so they’ve been having combo parties until now. Birdy Boutique sent me several cute things for the party, including the awesome birthday crown I’m wearing in the photo. It reminded me of Max’s crown in Where the Wilds Things Are. Of course my son refused to wear that, or the bow ties, or super cool dinosaur capes they sent! So I’m still working on pics of all that.

My grandmother brought me a Copper Crisper air fryer thing and I gave it a try with sweet potatoes. I wasn’t blown away by the results, but I did take pics of it all, so plan on a riveting review coming soon.

House renovations are still in full swing. We are currently working on adding pavers and a fire pit to the big jungle area we have in front. There’s probably a blog post in there somewhere…

And we got a pile of great books from Good Night Books but seem to be stalled on the first one. I was really looking forward to trying to get a bedtime story reading thing going but Keelan just isn’t having it. I haven’t managed to get all the way through one of the books without him skipping to the end and throwing it. Starting to suspect this kid does not share his mom’s love of books. All I can do is keep trying right?

Well as usual, if it links to Amazon, it’s an affiliate link. I’m off now to go do a Skype interview for an infomercial casting for a new Ninja cooking system. I’ve actually done a lot of Skype casting interviews for reality type TV shows always wonder if I’m just wasting my time. This is my first commercial casing! But just like with reading books to my son, I figure if I just keep trying and not expect too much, maybe something will come out of it, lol.

Hope you all had a great weekend! Wish me luck on my interview 🙂

 

Humpty Dumpty Was My Best Friend

I was scrolling through Instagram and ran across a cute pic of a toddler and stuffed animal and it got me thinking of my favorite stuffed toy. The one that I carried with me everywhere and cuddled up with every night. But mine wasn’t a cute little plush animal. My best friend was a stuffed egg.

humpty-dumpty-doll
Not my actual Dumpy, but I Googled ’70s Humpty Dumpty and this is Exactly what he looked like!

Humpty Dumpty and I were inseparable. I called him “Dumpy” and couldn’t get to sleep without him by my side. As I got older and he started to fall apart, my mom kept trying to take him away. One time she threw him in the trash, only to have to retrieve him and give him a complete makeover. By then he had lost his floppy arms and legs, so she covered him with fresh fabric and drew on some striped pants and a new face.

I have no idea at what age I gave up Dumpy, but I’ll never forget him. My son has two stuffed dogs he calls his “woof-woofs.” My husband actually still has his favorite stuffed animal from childhood. It’s a teddy bear named Fuzzy. I made the mistake of putting Fuzzy in the washing machine and had to give him some extensive facial reconstruction, but he’s OK now and has been adopted by our son. We just don’t mention his Elvis like sneer.

So I’m curious, what was your favorite childhood snuggle toy?