Blog = Web Log?

As I was driving to dinner with the “girls” from my mom’s group, it hit me.  I want to start a blog.  Now, I’m not the type to freely weely go around and give advice, so the thought of writing a blog never seemed appealing.  I also never really thought I would have anything interesting to write about…( Great, I just lost half my readers).  I’m just your average Joe but without the English skills and wittiness that make blogs exciting to read.  I also tend to write like I talk which according to my high-school English teachers does not make for good writing.  (Just lost the other half – come back! I take it all back, I’m an amazing writer and studies show your life will improve if you read my blog!*) I also had to double check with the girls at dinner that it is in fact called a “blog” – which turns out actually stands for “Web Log” – who knew?  Needless to say, up until 24 hours ago, I never picked up blogging.

My life changed once I became a mother (Ummmmmm Duh?)  I wouldn’t say my life got more interesting, but I became more vocal.  I’m one of the first of our close friends to have a baby, and I found people asking me a lot of questions, and me telling them EVERYTHING.  And I mean, everything.  Normally, I’d say that I’m a listener more than a talker.  In fact, my best friend of 15 + years, has always accused me of not telling her enough about my life.  She would have to ask me the right question at the right time in order for me to tell her things (“oh ya, my sister-in-law is pregnant and she’s due in a week”, or “oh ya, we’re flying to Hawaii tomorrow, I didn’t tell you?’).  And this is my best friend!  I’m not sure what it was about motherhood, but it opened me up.  Maybe it was the lack of knowledge of what it was really going to be and feel like, or maybe it’s the fact that it isn’t at all as glamorous as I thought it would be, but I felt compelled to share my story with others.  Not that my story is unique, and by no means does my experience resemble anyone else’s, but I found that a lot of people didn’t talk about what they really felt and were going through post pregnancy.

I feel that now is a good time to start the blog.  My son, Kyle, is turning 15 months in a few days, and I had time to reflect on my first year with him.  I’m also, “unofficially”, a stay-at-home mom (SAHM).  “Un” because I’m just on an extended year leave of absence from my work, “officially” because I’m a mom that stays home.  Also, a lot of my good friends are now either pregnant, just had a baby, or are trying, and a lot have come and asked me questions about my experience.  Instead of repeating myself, I thought, “why not just open myself up completely” and here I am!

On the 30 minute drive to dinner and back home I thought long and hard about what I would call my blog.  I came up with “Motherhood and other stuff” and “Motherhood and other fantasies”.  As my life now revolves around my son, I figured most of my blogs would be about him, or how I am as a mother.  But there is a small % of my life that does involve around other things, and sometimes those things are funny or interesting, so I figured I’d write about those as well.  Hence, the two names I came up with after much deliberation.  I was so excited to share the news of my idea for a blog with my husband.  When I told him the two names that I had came up with so far he said “Why not call it ‘Mayahood'”.  Damn my husband!  Why is he so much more brilliant than me?  And so, the name stuck.

I guess I still don’t really expect people to read this, but maybe if one person does, and it helps that one person feel “normal” and “not alone” in this crazy world of parenthood, then I feel like I’ve helped in some way.

Anywho – welcome to Mayahood!  A blog about motherhood, adventures, stories, laughter, love and me writing like I’m talking .  I will try to make my stories enjoyable.  Hopefully you will read my blogs.  At least I know of one person who will (yes, my husband, but only because he’s my “editor”).

*Studies yet to be conducted, this is my first blog remember?