Blogging--Get Real

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and it has actually come up in several conversations recently too...so I just need to think my thoughts out loud (sort of) . I started out blogging about a year ago because it seemed like a fun way to share our family moments with people. The funny, random things that happen in our lives, and to share a few pictures along the way. I think that is why most people blog. I think. Some people think blogging is a waste of time, or that they're being "bad" by blogging or spending time on the computer. If you are neglecting your child--yeah, you're probably right. You're a bad person (kidding)...but for some, blogging is a great way to reflect on all your blessings and realize that even if you didn't get much done that day--you still have something to show for it, or at least an entertaining moment to share.

Does anyone else ever feel like after perusing blogs for a while that you don't "measure up"? I sometimes check out all the blogs on my google reader and then feel like I suck. I'm serious! "So and so" just got into a newer, bigger, better home, and then the "X" family just bought a Hummer, and then the "XYZ" family just graduated from Medical School and are raking in the money and have beautiful children and don't have struggles...or so it seems.

While I know and fully agree that it would be terribly awkward to read blogs full of trials and wo--it seems to me like it would help humanize people in my eyes if they didn't always insist on making every aspect of their lives look flawless. Of course I don't want to read peoples' blogs that depress me, or have that "debby downer" attitude, OR that share private, sensitive information but at the same time--let's be real people. It's like getting a Christmas letter every other day that says "Things are perfect here. Couldn't be better--you?" Guess what? I'm sitting in here in my pajamas as I type. I don't have any makeup on, and I've been changing diapers, cleaning the kitchen and doing laundry all afternoon. My life really isn't all that glamorous. Most days. ;)

What is my point? Just this: I like real people. I love reading blogs that talk about the good, the bad, the ugly, the disappointments, the successes and the hilariousness of life. And hey--you should be glad I'm not spilling all our tragedies...the blog would be much longer, and much more depressing...so while I'll leave the private stuff where it belongs (in the walls of our own home), I will share this: Life would be so much harder if I didn't have Danny for eternity, and Cole to make me laugh every day. So--with Thanksgiving upon us, I think I'll focus on all the things I do have, and not on the things I don't.

*If after reading this you're wondering if I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning...I really didn't--I'm actually in quite a good mood. Just felt like blogging--rae style. * In FACT, I will even post a picture...



November 2003
Washington D.C.
Michelle, myself, Val and Natalie
good times...