Looking Back And Moving Forward; Blogging Lesson Plans?

Six months ago on February 21, I decided more than six hours of sleep a night was overrated, and jumped head first into the competitive sport of mommy blogging.

I registered a domain and designed a site despite not being entirely certain what I would write about on a regular basis. Would people really want to keep reading about how much I suck at homeschooling and all my ramblings about the ugly, vintage items scattered in my house? How many photos of a stranger’s children dressed in mismatched clothes can people look at? But yet, I kept going. I wrote stuff so I wouldn’t forget it and I wrote stuff because reading it made me laugh (and maybe snort/ geese honk laugh.) I poured my heart into a few posts when I needed to, and people responded with prayers and words of encouragement. I even finally got around to organizing all my history notes and posting them online for others to download and use.

I’m still a small fish in a large pond, but unless I’ve got one or two really persistent stalkers, I racked up a nice amount of page views. I keep telling my husband I’m writing because I like it, not for approval or to make money, but certainly, knowing other people are reading and enjoying my work is satisfying. And the $4 from Google Ads will buy a box of gluten-free brownie mix, which isn’t too shabby either.

The next six months holds the start of another school year, our birthday crunch season (eight birthdays in four months), my husband’s first business trip overseas (GASP!) and Christmas, plus weeks of shower skipping, late entrances and banging my head against a wall.  And, I predict, at least one brush with a stomach virus, because October tends to hate me. My life is really too busy for blogging but yet, my life is too full of good material not to blog.

I feel like I should outline goals for the future of my blog, to keep it on track and focused for those moments (days, weeks?) when the craziness of life leaves me gasping for air and exhausted. I’m really good at writing out lesson plans that look beautiful on paper. Perhaps I need lesson plans for my blog? I already have the perfect binder for them!!

I’d have to establish subjects to cover, materials needed, daily assignments, frequent exams and routine evaluations. First year blogging subjects could include “Weekly Memes; More Fun Than NFP Charting”, “Sincere Comments; Not Just For the Sincere”, “Creating a Filter From Your Head to Your Keyboard” and “The Bloggers 10th Commandment; Do Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Blog Stats”. Materials would be a computer with a super-duper high-speed connection so you can open 30 tabs with all your social media outlets at once, a patient (or absentee) spouse, independent children familiar with basic first aid and a pen to jab into your eye when WordPress/Blogger/”Technology”  unapologetically swallows hours of work with a blip.

This would be schooling I could really enjoy! Too bad I need to focus on the needs of my children, rather than my glorified diary. After all, that’s my job, being a mom and teacher and all. If I didn’t want to do that, there’s a whole building full of teacher’s eating up my tax dollars eagerly waiting to mold my kids from the early morning free breakfast program until the after school programs wrap up.

So until the ideas run out or all the kids graduate, modest goals it will be. Posting three times a week, connecting with more great bloggers online and brainstorming ideas for a really awesome homeschooling book (I’m thinking maybe ‘Homeschooling; The New Ball and Chain and How to Offer Up Your Endless Sufferings’ or some other uplifting/ spiritually edifying title.)

And now, despite it being late morning, won’t you raise a glass with me (or sippy cup  if that’s closer at hand); to six more months! Cheers! Thanks for sticking with me.