1- Thank you for your thoughts on yesterday’s post. I truly appreciate that no one made me feel ridiculous (even though I completely get that fretting about monetizing one’s dear hobby actually is exactly that, to some degree). I have no plans to change things in any significant way to gain more visibility — I could never sell “skinny teas” (OMG) as someone mentioned. I guess I could sell Hobonichi planners, but I don’t think it’s in the cards.
I think I just need to keep on keeping on and if I am able to create content that is truly valuable to others then maybe some of those things will eventually lead to a minor but viable side hustle of sorts. But if not, I think I am okay with that too. I may not have hundreds of thousands of page views, but man — those of you that do read here are really wonderful! Thank you.
2- Exactly 7 years ago, this happened. My baby is 7 today. I have big feelings about this, and there’s something about your oldest child racking up years that is extra poignant — I guess because it’s also one’s parenting anniversary! My life before and after that day are so different, and while both were wonderful I am just so grateful that I’ve been able to spend these past 7 years being a mother, building a family, and watching this girl grow up.
Here are the links to her 3-part (mildly dramatic) birth story for fun: 1, 2, 3.
8 teeth gone
Favorite activities: drawing (current genre: superhero comics), picking up and carrying around Genevieve, crafting things out of random pieces of ribbon and tape, and leading Cameron in elaborate play scenarios often involving “jumping over lava.”
3- Link share of the week: Beth of Parent Lightly was kind enough to email me after yesterday’s post, and I realized that somehow I had never added her blog to my feed reader (error now amended). She has a great post out on how she makes and maintains a master list of tasks – her approach is somewhat different than mine (I tend to kind of purposefully wait until I am triggered to do certain things — thank goodness for that “DUE FOR OIL CHANGE SOON” light that pops up in my car!), but there are some really great ideas here.
4- We have entered Q2, and one of my goals is to take an Instagram vacation. Honestly, I need to. That app is hideously addictive, and I think a break will help me reevaluate its place in my life. I feel pretty sad about the idea, which means that I totally need to do it. I think I am going to bite the bullet and take April 8 – May 7 completely off of Instagram other than creating & posting the weekly podcast posts on the BoBW account. I do plan on returning, but I cannot have it be available to me at all times. Yesterday, Josh took A&C to a school production and I had approximately 90 minutes that I could have done a number of nice things with. Yet someone approximately 82 of them were spent scrolling.
I left Facebook in January of 2016 and it was one of the best decisions I made. I do not want to leave Insta for good, but I think I need at least a taste of what that might be like. Wish me luck.
5- I’m off today and greatly looking forward to this 3-day weekend! Josh and I are both off, and we have Annabel’s birthday party, the local Diabetes Walk, a date night at a play, and more.
Today I get to bring treats to A’s lunch at school AND take G to her ‘baby class’ at My Gym. I also have ambitious goals of completely clearing out my physical/email inboxes (ie doing a proper weekly review) AND balancing our YNAB budget (a monthly task). BUT FIRST, a workout (21 Day Fix Total Body Cardio, which has become a classic for me — even if round 3 is torture). Happy Friday!
19 Comments
My boys play something about lava too! Funny. Happy birthday to Annabel!
It may be a universal kid thing 🙂 I think I played it when I was a kid!
Happy Birthday to A! I was also planning another social media (FB and IG) vacation this month but haven’t started yet.
I did 21 day fix total body cardio EXTREME this morning and OMG. I may need to work through the whole extreme 21 day fix, the workouts are way harder.
I know I’ll want to post for Annabel’s bday party and mother’s day, so I figured 4/8-5/7 would work 🙂
I am scared of ‘extreme’! But I have been making the regular fixes more challenging progressively by upping the weights. I started with 5 + 8s and now I usually am 8 + 12 (used 10 + 12 on TB Cardio this AM). I will consider myself victorious when I need to borrow Josh’s 15s for anything other than dead lifts!
Happy Birthday to A! 🙂 I also have a new 7 year old. I love this age!
And thank you thank you for linking to my post!!!
YES! It does seem to be a great age – and I am a big believer in Survive Until 5 🙂
I clicked over to your A birth story posts (because who can resist a good birth story?). I am so jealous of your knowledge of the medical details surrounding the birth. I don’t know enough and/or wasn’t with it enough but in retrospect I really want to know why things were done and how my labors progressed. (Both of my births were totally fine, I’m just curious!)
Facebook is like that for me… such a time suck, and I don’t even feel good about it afterwards! I always have intentions of giving it up but I think I really will try it for a while.
I don’t miss facebook AT ALL, like not even a little bit. So I do wonder what would happen if I just gave up instagram entirely. I know Cal Newport would approve. But — unlike with FB — I don’t really want to totally give it up. I do find some positivity there. It’s just too addictive.
I support whatever decision you make about monetization/not, as writing here does obviously take time & effort away from your other projects/priorities. I am jealous of your archives in that you have so many memories at your fingertips from your life, especially those of when your children were teeny. I find that way more of those memories are lost to the haze of the next thing than I expected in a full life w/ 3 kids & two working parents. So, selfishly, I will hope that that, and the general processing of things which seems to be helpful to you in writing out your thoughts, is enough to keep you writing. Between your blog and Lag Liv, I can honestly say that I consider them real treats (in Gretchen Rubin terms) and I am always excited to see a new post in my Feedly. However, now I realize that it’s likely you are not receiving my page views since I often read through Feedly, so I will try to click through to read to do my small part to say thank you!
Aww, referring to posts as a treat for you – that is such an honor! And I DO know what you mean, because I also feel that way about LagLiv posts, and Ana’s (anabegins.blogspot.com) posts too!
I left Facebook in 2015 (after med school) … I still have an account solely to find tenants for our rental property, so I use it approx 1-2 x per year and have no friends. I took a “break” from Instagram in 2017 (I think?) and never looked back … social media is toxic for me. I never reactivated my account. My choice is reinforced because the rare time that I ever do go on Instagram (ex if I am with someone and go on via a friends account); it leaves me feeling sad, empty and unsure about myself. I do miss some parts of Instagram but it has more negatives than positives for me. The comparison trap is too real for me!!
If my monthlong break results in a permanent one I’d be surprised, but I guess it’s always a possibility!!!
I totally agree that Facebook is super easy to let go (although I do sign back on to use the marketplace to sell baby stuff and household items that we no longer need – the temptation to scroll FB is gone though) while Instagram is just so fun always! A break is good though, accidentally getting caught in the endless scroll always frustrates me too. Good luck!
Happy birthday to Annabel!! I hear you on Instagram. I quit Facebook in 2014 and have never missed it, but feel conflicted over Instagram. It does bring me joy to share pics and to see snippets of others’ lives, but it is definitely way too easy to spend thirty minutes on it rather than three!
you inspired me to delete facebook app from my phone. I need a break from it. I love instagram-I have been more specific about who I choose to follow on that one so I don’t feel the same way about it as I do Facebook. I hope I get to a point where I will give up FB for good!
I have zero thoughts of rejoining facebook, which is interesting!! Quitting was oddly freeing. I’ll have to see how I feel about IG a few days in!
Give cold turkey (on FB) a try for a while perhaps with a date to reassess?
That’s so funny: I just deleted Instagram yesterday after yet another scroll-fest. I too quit Facebook and haven’t missed it a bit, but I just love Instagram even when it sometimes makes me feel badly! It’s just so enjoyable to look at, I suppose?
Anyway, my real purpose in writing this message is to say: I’m a lurker who has been reading your site for a decade. In between planners, priorities, reflections, and organizational tidbits, I can safely say you have profoundly influenced my life. Every time I go check your blog and there’s a new post, I count it on my habits tracker as a one of my “blissers”! Seriously!
So, thank you for sharing your life with us, and I hope you continue to do so. May we both enjoy our Instagram vacation!
that is just unbelievably nice to hear!! Thank you!