Apologies

It's such a fine line to walk when writing a blog...between stating my opinion and coming across as a know it all. Or between writing about what I do and it coming across as the only way to do something. 

I've slowed on the blogging recently because of two things. One, I'm participating less online. While I've always known, it's become more apparent recently, how vicious the online world can be. With the Presidential race upon us and candidates all over the news  there have been so many more "I'm right, you're wrong" mentality posts on Facebook. I've seen sides of people I truly wish I had never caught a glimpse of. I've backed away from that world. 

Two: I was cleaning up some old posts and comments from this blog (like, years old) and saw some of my own statements that I cringed at. I'm not sure how I came across to you long time readers. I hope not as a know-it-all and more as just sharing my own life. But if I ever did come across as someone with a superiority complex, I apologize. I see that in some of my past posts. I wince at some of my blanket statements from years past. I could say that it's age that has matured me, but I know it's more having been to hell and back. I've changed because my life has changed and my soul (I meant sole but typed soul and will leave it...as that really IS what is at stake here) purpose is to be a better person.

I hope to continue on blogging as a small window into my life for you. If I write about homeschooling, or natural birthing, or being a penny pincher, or anything else that I do or I believe, it will never be to say that you should live that way or believe that way. It's just a peek into someone's life, which is why we all love to read blogs afterall.      

 

Picture Thoughts

Every single morning I find Amy and Mr. Bean snuggling on the couch for a bit. 

Though he is a sweet cat, he usually won't come willingly to cuddle, except for the mornings for some reason. So this is the daily morning scene.

Smiles in pictures are rare for this girl. Though she is all smiles before, as well as after, the camera is in her face - she immediately poses for a photo by not smiling when she sees a camera. I call her my natural born model because she always does the model face when she sees a camera. Funny girl.

I've had people comment on where pictures of the other kids are as their photos are few and far between. I respect the fact that Becca often doesn't want her picture taken and even more rarely wants it to be posted to Facebook or my blog. And Joe is becoming much the same. We adults grew up without the easy access to cameras and immediate photos. I think that's a good thing. I'm not going to force my kids to get their photo taken if they don't enjoy it or post it online without their permission. I'll take photos as long as they will enjoy it and then keep the majority of their photos for family albums without plastering them online.

There is a balance between oversharing on a blog/Facebook. When it comes to my kiddos they do have a say in what I will or will not share about them. As goes for my husband as well - I will ask him before posting a photo or sharing thoughts which involve him. :) It's just the way we roll. In case you're wondering.    

This & That

** spoiler alert ** I thought this was a chick-lit book, happy and carefree. Boy was I wrong! As a mother I can relate to being pulled in a million directions and finally asking yourself, "What's the important things in life?" 

 I was confused, and annoyed, with the business plan in this book. Too much lingo and jargon made some pages hard to follow along. But the actual business proposal was somewhat amusing so I'll look past that.

 But more so, I related to the health issue of a parent in this book. Because it happens...we will all probably have to say goodbye to our parents in our lifetime. Reading about Alice's father brought back memories of my own father. I stayed up until 1:30 am to finish this book and bawled through the last 1/4 of it. I think Egan wrote these feelings/emotions/issues out perfectly and made it all so believable. Because the father in this story had no voice (due to a cancer operation) I think it made it easy for me to imprint my own father into the story. Any book that can make me cry is a good book. 

 “When you're a kid, you think you're going to have this deep well of time with your parents when you grow up and you're all on equal footing. When I had kids of my own, I thought that time would come when my kids grew up and I had a little more freedom. I imagined myself as a fifty-year-old woman, strolling around the duck pond with my eighty-year-old dad. I might have looped my arm through his.
Now I knew, this was not to be.”
A Window Opens  by Elisabeth Egan

*Remember all the rainbow profile pictures in support of gay marriage on Facebook? Well, September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and I would love to see people "go gold" in support of that. And please read this article to learn more about Childhood Cancer. We need more awareness, more funding, more support!!

*I've heard people say "Why bring a child into this horrid world?"
I think, "What if that child changes the world?" 
I loved this picture on Humans of New York. This boy brightens the world around him, like so many others do in their corner of the world.

* This article makes me feel sick to my stomach, and quite confused as I don't really see the authors point. She's glad she has her daughter now but wishes she had had the chance to abort her? She didn't sign up for a child with health challenges and doesn't think other parents should have to parent a child with varying health ailments? 
Becoming a parent to ANY child means the possibility of parenting a child with issues...autism, cancer, child falls down the steps and gets brain damaged, teen gets in a car accident and is paralyzed. What would we think of a parent who walked into a hospital room after that and said "I didn't sign up for this!" and walked out forever.
 That's what parents do - love their children no matter what, take care of them no matter what. This women, holding her child in her arms, feels angry that she didn't know beforehand when she could have done something about it. This is so, so sad. What happened to our society to make some people "less than"?

*On a happier note, some blogs of family and friends that I enjoy:

~A DIY blog with fun projects Laura Ann's Home 

~A book blog for bookworms Pursuing the White Whale

~My mom and her co-author's blog Mary & Me 

~Another stay-at-home mama blog The Space Between This and That
 

Speechless

Can I really be out of words? Is it possible that after five years of blogging my thoughts have run out? No, I think not.

I'm just tired.

June was a terribly hard month for me. The month of Jacob's birthday, without him here, left me emotionally exhausted. And it continues...because memories from July pester me. 

Memories from three years ago, when Jacob was in the hospital with his stem cell transplant. 

Memories from two years ago when he was nearing the end.

The past affects the present. It sucks the energy, the life from me. 

Grief is powerful. 

Inspiration

Just this morning as I logged onto the computer I felt a sadness about this blog. My inspiration has left me. My motivation is not there (not only when it comes to my blog but most things in life at the moment). I wondered what would become of it as my readers dwindle and if it was possible to resurrect it.

After lunch the kids and I stopped at the charity shop and found a lovely magazine about Journaling (total eye candy for a lover of paper!). On the very first page was an advertisement for a magazine titled Artful Blogging.  

I did a quick search to see if it was still in print (it is!) but I'm not willing to pay $14 per issue. So I bid on one on Ebay. Maybe this is the inspiration I need - and it couldn't have come at a better time!

So, help me out here, what do you most enjoy seeing on my blog? What keeps you around?
 

January

With going days without having something to say (I know, that's so unlike me!) I thought that the January Photo-a-Day Challenege that My 1/2 Dozen Daily is following from The Idea Room sounded like a good idea. I'll try to post a photo each day corresponding to the subject of the day.

Today is a goal and I kind of had to copy Carla, just because it is the only goal I set for myself this year. Daily devotionals.   

This Hope in the Mourning Bible is fantastic for someone dealing with grief. My goal is to make it a part of my morning ritual. 

Life Goes On...

It feels strange, to see the world around us continue on with normal lives when a big piece of ours is missing.

With hubby back at work and the normal day activities needing attention I have to get back into the groove of things whether I want to or not (I don't want to - I'd rather stay in bed all day but with three kids that's not going to happen!).

I have some reviews that are way past due so will work myself back into blogging by posting those in the coming week. And, on the days that I can form some tangible words, I will write about life without our little Jacob. Something that is still so hard to comprehend.  

 

Blast From the Past

I've become conflicted recently on the direction I've wanted to take my blog. Should it be only updates on Jacob? Everything else seems so trivial compared to that. Yet, a whole blog only of updates could get depressing or mundane. Life happens even during cancer, after all, so after much deliberation with myself I have decided to go on as usual. I'll be my random self and talk about whatever is on my mind at the time...whether it be my sweet Jacob or something completely different.

Jacob is feeling good, this time around the nasty cocktail is treating him more kindly. We did have to spend all day at the hospital yesterday getting TPA placed in his hickman line to break up a clot and to get platelet and blood transfusions (his platelets were down to 3 and his Hemoglobin to 6.9!). 3 hours in the van and 6 1/2 hours at the hospital with all three children was an adventure, to say the least! If Jacob's counts continue to rise this week we will be back at the hospital on Friday for another 5 day chemotherapy course and a repeat of the CT scan to see if the nodules have disappeared (please God, let them be gone).

Life at home continues on. Sunshine has made for several days of outdoor fun. Bike rides, working in the garden, sitting on the porch, hanging up laundry, and realizing a renewed love of nature has been our week long activity. We've also done a little garage sailing.

I've started a small collection of vintage Pyrex dishes and had to pick this little dish up for a quarter.

I'm not sure if I'm getting old (well, of course I am, I'm turning 30 this summer!) but I'm loving finding items from my childhood. This green Tupperwear pickle holder got me all excited as I remember eating countless pickles out of one when I was around 4. The three colorful Tupperwear cups are exactly like the ones I drank out of, though I was disappointed they didn't come with the sippy cup lids I remember oh so well. The matching little bowls with lids remind me of the Cheerios that my mom packed in similar ones for my little brother and I to eat in church on Sunday mornings.
The tote was a fun find for $1 and will add some color this summer and even the vintage tablecloth was from a sale.

One of my favorite finds was this hutch which came from a church sale.

As I find items that I love I am hauling items that I don't need/want out of the house. Spring cleaning came a bit late for me this year but I've been hauling bags and boxes of items to the local charity shop. Even the kids are getting on board and going through their toys and books in order to simplify. We are starting to notice a tiny dent in the "stuff" around here and it's freeing!

Use Me

I had someone ask how they could find an older post of mine. I mentioned the "search" function on the side of my blog and they were happy to hear it was that simple. For those who aren't familiar with my blog options, let me point them out for you. You will find all the info you need on the right hand side ------------->

You'll find the "About Me" section, where you can get my e-mail address if needed.

You will find my blog button.

You will see my twitter feed. Click on it if you would like to follow me. If not, feel free to just stalk it on the side of my page. I don't update often, but occasionally I'll write something of interest on twitter.

My Facebook page is also listed. We are at 99 followers at the moment. I often link when I have a new post up, but occasionally conversations or odd comments are posted on there by me. Join the craziness!

If you are afraid you are going to lose this link, you can become a follower in order to have it in your reader. Or you can become a follower just to see your happy little thumbnail photo on my blog!

The Blog Archive will take you to a certain month or year if you choose.

The Labels section will take you to a certain topic.

Next comes the search button. If you are looking for a particular post, type in the keyword, hit search, and scroll to the top of the blog - it should show the post you are looking for.

Keep Connected

For those of you on Twitter or Facebook, Trenches Of Mommyhood is also linked up to both of those sites. Keep updated with recent blog posts, as well as updates on Jacob, fun little tidbits from our life, and updates to our daily happenings. :) Just thought I'd share in case you are interested. You can find both links to follow in the right hand column ---------------> (just scroll down a bit!)

Can Blogging Make Money?

Ask the Pioneer Woman, who made over 1 million dollars on her blog last year.

Ask your average blogger and the answer will be "maybe".

The number one rule in blogging is 'Do not start a blog in hopes to make money'. Because it just won't work. You need to be passionate about something and love what you write about. You need to blog for fun, for an outlet, for joy...blogging for money won't work out.

It takes years to start to earn money through writing a blog, and unless you love what you are writing about, you won't have the followers nor the backing to be able to start to earn an income - your blog needs to take off before your blog becomes noticed in the big circles. Your blog won't take off if you are posting drivel or posting sporadically.

You need good advertisers. It is difficult to find individual sponsors who will advertise on your blog and the pay is often small. Google AdSense is readily available to post to your blog but the payout is slim. It pays per click, so unless you are getting loads of traffic to your blog with one or two clicks on the ad a day it isn't worth it. I've had Google Adsense for close to 2 years now. They don't pay out until you reach $100, which I've done once. My account is at $50 right now do instead of taking the ads off my blog, I will wait until I reach my next $100 payout and then cut ties with them. I've heard of some blogs getting several visitors and clicks on their Google ads and being told that the activity looks suspicious and Google closing their accounts, with the unpaid funds never being seen. That looks suspicious to me!

Unfortunately, the better paying and more prestigious advertising companies have waiting lists a mile long and it's extremely difficult to get your blog approved. One of the biggest known blog advertising groups is Blogher, which I happen to have on this blog. It took over a year after submitting my application for this blog to be approved. It's an excellent circle to be in and the pay is per impression, not advertisement clicks. Most of the top bloggers make their big bucks through Blogher, but you really need a huge readership to make a nice income off your blog. Some bloggers are lucky to make enough to support their family, or even have their husband become a stay-at-home parent just because of their blogging income.

For the average blogger, such as myself, it's not worth it to blog if you are merely blogging for money. I did not start my blog to earn revenue so anything that comes my way is an extra perk and helps my family out. Some months I'll earn $60 from blogging, and some months I'll earn $15. It depends on how much traffic my blogs has (which relates to how often I post) and also depends on the amount of advertisers that Blogher has each month. It's a perk...it's not an income for us.

The biggest perk of blogging, for the average blogger, are the reviews that are offered up. Many companies know that one of the best advertising is not a blatant advertisement, but rather an honest review put out there on the world wide web. Any google search of their product name will bring up the review and many women reading blogs find the reviews to be helpful when choosing a new product to try. Many blog owners, myself included, are showered with items to test out and keep, all for the sake of writing a review and publishing it. It's a nice perk - to be able to try out products before anyone else and to be able to share the product with my readers. I'm careful to only test items that I would be interested in myself and that would fit the demographic of my readers.

Can the average blogger make a decent income from blogging? No. In a world of mommy blogs you are just another fish in the sea. It's good to branch out from "mommy blog" and find your niche, which can bring a bit more awareness to your blog, but unless you are incredibly lucky, it is doubtful that you will become the next Pioneer Woman.

That is not to say that you can't make money from your blog. It is possible, after years of blogging, having a decent readership, getting connected with the right advertising circles that you could make blogging both fun and profitable. There are many blogs that have an income of $200-$500 a month and that's nothing to laugh at. It just takes time and work - which is why starting a blog with the idea of getting rich won't work. You need to love what you write in order to make others love what you write. Whether it is about your own family, saving money, living green, and so on...you need to love writing about it.

After writing a blog for 2 years...I am just getting started!

Homeschool Blog Awards

Imagine my surprise to learn that I was nominated for the Homeschool Blog Awards. I am up against quite a few big blog names so feel quite honored.

Want to vote for Trenches Of Mommyhood (or another of your favorite blogs)? Click on the button below and then search for #16 "Best Variety". You'll find me there. :)

Exhausting!

The past three months, with these money challenges, have been exhausting. I had a reader leave a comment the other day saying that it seems that I think about saving money every hour of every day and I will disagree by saying that I "typically" don't but the past three months I have. When setting myself up for such a limited budget it is not only stressful but also quite time consuming. Planning my shopping takes double, or triple, the amount of time. Deciding plans for the day revolves around figuring out if we have enough money for this or that. It is truly exhausting to have to "think" so much about every little thing.

We do live on a small income. We do have to watch our spending and give up several things in order to live within our means. But we have enough leeway in our monthly income that we do not have to watch every little purchase that we make. It lifts a heavy burden off your shoulders to have that little leeway. These months that I did the $1,200 challenge I was stressed to the max. I felt like I spent hours each week figuring out what to spend and where to spend it and how to save. It was like a full-time job just trying to manage my spending to keep it below a certain amount. I truly feel for those families who have to live like that every single day. Who have no leeway to give them a little relief. Experiencing that has given me a new appreciation for those people who truly have to juggle every single penny they spend.

I've been asked if I will be doing another challenge next month. I need to take a break! With homeschooling added to my plate it is close to overflowing and I feel that I just can't handle the stress of another challenge next month. I do see another budget challenge, or another type of challenge, in my future but I do need one month to rest! :) My blog will be back to it's regular scheduled programing of mommyhood, my daily life, and recipes and frugal tips thrown in here or there. Just thinking of my regular schedule is a weight lifted off my shoulders!

There are also many plans for changing the blog around, so please excuse the dust if I do a little remodeling. I'm considering doing away with third party advertising on here and will be marketing some sponsored advertising. If your business or blog would be interested in advertising on the right hand column please e-mail me at babys_mama1 "at" yahoo.com The first month special is a steal!

Lots of changes and exciting things to come as I begin the second year of blogging; be sure to stay tuned!

Comment Moderation

I just want to let you know that I have now put comment moderation on all posts that are 2 days old or older. Not because I *need* to moderate them, but because I often only check comments on my newer posts and just realized that several people have been commenting on my older posts, which I never realized and therefore never read. Now I can be notified when an older post is commented on. Just wanted to clarify why some of your comments on older posts will now need to be "approved" before being published.

Why Do You Blog?

Blog is a word that used to be unknown but is slowly gaining popularity. Almost everyone knows what a blog is now. For some it is an online journal. For others it could be a way for them to keep in touch with family and friends. Others use it for a source of income. The reasons why one blogs can be vast and varied. I started this blog as an outlet for my writing. It has turned into so much more.

I have started a community of sorts for myself. I have learned a lot through comments left from my readers. I have learned when to speak up and when to keep my mouth shut. I have learned that maybe my life or thoughts are at least a bit interesting, as my readers come back looking for more. So thank you dear readers! I know some of you, know of some of you through your own personal blogs, and realize that there are several lurkers who must find one thing or another helpful or entertaining that I write.

I don't blog for money. I do have a few advertisements on here of course, but haven't even cashed in on one of them yet. That is not the purpose of this blog. I don't blog about controversial things just to get clicks, I don't make things up in order to draw in more readers. I feel that it is my responsibility as a mother to keep it real. I will blog about my good days as well as the bad. I'm not a supermom and will never pretend to be. I'm just a real person sharing real things about my life.

I can tell you that blogging is fun. I love receiving comments and I suppose it is a bit of an ego boost to realize that people actually choose to come back day after day to read my daily drivel. I started this blog back in August not sure what direction I would be taking it in. I have changed layouts several times. I have learned a lot of computer design work just by messing around on my blog. I've been using it as an online journal and love going back through the older posts and see what I was working on back then. It's been an adventure and I just wish I had started one sooner!

If you have a blog, what enticed you to start it? If you read certain blogs, what keeps you coming back to them again and again?

Awards!

I am skipping today's "Wholesome Wednesday" as I just didn't have the time to put together a detailed post. It will resume next week as regularly scheduled.

Today, instead, I will be handing out some awards to bloggers that I enjoy reading. This is not an exhaustive list, as there are several more blogs that I enjoy, but I can only award ten blog today...so will hold onto the other ones for next time. Thanks to Penniless Parenting for awarding me the Sugar Doll blogging award! How this award works is I need to list ten things about myself that you may not know about me. Then I need to list ten blogs which I read. So here it goes...

1. I have always wanted to learn to play the guitar. I am actually considering taking some lessons at some point to learn the basics.

2. I have also wanted to learn to ride a horse ever since I was a little girl. Now that a friend is starting up some horse riding lessons this spring the kids and I will be signing up.

3. I love folding laundry. Strange, isn't it? I don't like washing it or putting it away, but the folding part makes me feel good.

4. I had only been to two states (my own and the Minnesota border) by the time I was 18 years old. Once I turned 18 I traveled to 6 different states (and flew above several others) in less than a year. I long to do more traveling and hope to go out West within the next few years.

5. I think it would be awesome to take a year to just travel around the United States in an RV. Of course, that takes money...so I don't see that happening. But I still think it would be cool.

6. I love the color green.

7. I am 5'6" tall

8. From the time I was 10 to the age of 14 I swore up and down that I was going to be a police officer when I grew up.

9. I am a rarity in this town. There are just very, very few stay-at-home moms where we live and NOTHING for stay-at-home moms to do. No MOPS, no playgroups, nothing.

10. I love music and seem to turn it up even louder when the kids are being bad. I listen to everything from Enya to Everclear to CCR. We have a huge range of music Cds.

I now award the Sugar Doll Award to:

Mama On A Mission

Mary Potter Kenyon

Simply Sonita

The Path of Frugality

Random Thoughts

Not Quite June Cleaver

My Thoughts In Color

Cars Trucks And Teething Rings

Just An All American Girl

Out On The Ranch

Do you read any of those blogs? Which are your favorites? Go check them all out...there is something for everyone!

Making Money As A Stay-At-Home Mom

I've said it before and I'll say it again, in order to be a stay-at-home mom we have had to sacrifice certain things. We don't own new cars, don't take yearly vacations, do without cable and various "frivolous" items that some may take for granted. Yet we gladly do without certain materialistic things in order for me to stay at home. I understand that there are some mothers who are not so lucky to be able to stay at home, and others who wouldn't want to stay at home even if they could. For us, we have found a set-up that works.

With that said, we are living on a smaller wage than the average American family. Our bills are paid and our only debt is our mortgage (which is not "bad" debt). We can live off of one income and do for the most part but I do like to find ways to earn money from home. I feel that I do my best when I find ways to save money, because saved money is just as good as earned money. Having a little extra cold hard cash on hand is nice too though.

There are a lot of various ways to make money from home. There are many actual jobs with a nice profit that can be done from home, but that is not what I was looking for - I just wanted a little extra income flow each month. I have a few sources of income, which doesn't add up to a lot but makes a difference.

eHow is where I write a few how-to articles a month. I just started last month and have ten articles up on their site so far. My total from the last 30 days is at $14.50 so I will be paid next month as you only have to reach $10 before getting a payout. Even if I don't write anything new in a given month my old articles will continue to earn profit. The more articles I post, the more I will earn. The articles take about 10-15 minutes of my time so the investment is worth it. I figure even if I earn just $10 a month that is an extra $120 a year.

Garage Sales. Every year when the weather turns warmer my mom and I have a garage sale. We also have one towards the end of fall. I am able to get rid of excess stuff that we have and make money at the same time. Last year our Spring sale netted me $150 and the Fall sale was somewhere around $90. I use all my garage sale money for buying at other garage sales during the summer. So in essence, I sell my kid's outgrown clothes, toys, and household gear at my sale, and buy new clothes, toys, and household gear at other sales. It is a win/win situation.

Consignment Shops. My Aunt owns one of the consignment shops in town. You get 50% of the proceeds from your stuff that sells. I try to take the nicer name brand clothing and books to my aunt's shop to sell as I can make a little more that way than I would be able to at a garage sale. I often only bring a small bag of stuff to her shop once a month or so, often as I am sorting through drawers or closets, so I don't bring a lot there but enough to net an average of $12 a month, sometimes more. That is another average of $120 a year. Some consignment shops will buy your items outright, so you can walk in with your items and out with a check the same day.

SwagBucks. I know you are all probably tired of hearing about SwagBucks so I will make this quick. By doing searches through the Swagbucks search bar I am able to win points, which I am then able to redeem for gift certificates. I focus mostly on the Amazon gift certificates. Since October when I signed up, I've earned $125 in Amazon gift cards. I am able to buy gifts from Amazon and also am able to purchase things we need for the household. Right now I have enough Amazon gift cards to purchase an electric skillet. My old electric skillet went haywire this week and will now only turn onto the highest setting, which ends up burning everything. I did my regular internet searches = earned points = turned them in for Amazon gift cards = got a free electric skillet free, basically. It is a great program and if you want to learn more click here.

Everything I listed above earns me, on average, over $600 a year. None of them are time consuming (except the garage sale, which takes a couple days to prepare and a couple days to tend to). They are all things that can be done by a stay-at-home mom to earn a little extra cash, or by someone who works and wants a little extra on the side.

Do you work from home or have other creative ways to earn a little money?

Blogger Awards

I received my very first blogger award today from Robin over at lolidots. Yay for me! And thank you, Robin!
I have to pass this beautiful award on so I have chosen a blogger that I follow because I love her life. She has a beautiful farm and a beautiful log house and she really opens her doors for her readers to follow in her adventures. Check Bev's blog at Bee Haven Acres.

Why Would Anyone Read About Your Life?

That is what my husband asked the other day. I had been telling him the stats of my blog and how I have about 200 readers a day and 45 google reader subscribers. And he just flat out asked "Why would anyone read about your life?" Uh...

I asked what he meant and he replied with "Well, you are just a mom." If looks could kill...

He started to back pedal the moment he saw my expression and went on to say "I mean, you know, there are more interesting things to read about than the day to day happenings of a mother." Too late buddy, you are just digging yourself deeper and deeper.

But you know what, it did get me to thinking. I do have close to 200 readers a day. Only about 10 of those are people that I know, so that means that an average of 190 people find me interesting enough to visit each day. Why? Who are you and why do you find my blog worthy of reading?

Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that complete strangers find my words interesting enough to read. Whether you agree with me or not on certain issues I find your comments fascinating. But I wonder, what makes me fascinating enough to draw you in?

Believe me, I will be sharing your comments with my hubby.

Blog Stalkers

It has become more and more apparent to me that there are very nosey people in the world. I'm not talking about my readers, as so far I haven't had any scrutiny thrown my way. In the past months I have ran across two blogs that I frequent often that have almost a cult following. They have readers that just LOVE them and then a whole handful of readers that scrutinize everything and go to great lengths to dig up some dirt on them. Quite frankly, I find it odd.

Don't get me wrong, the way I found out about the stalkers is by seeing these other sites that were basically a place to "dig" at the blog and it's maker. I looked through them and read with interest, and may have even agreed with some of what was said. It isn't the fact that these other women disagree with or are talking about the one blog, it is the fact that some of them go so far as to try to find out the exact address of these bloggers, drive by their homes, find out where the hubby works, bring up police records, foreclosures, and more. It's creepy. If it were me, I would feel threatened.

Some blog stalkers go as far as to try to discredit everything that the blog writer has said. Calling them fakes or saying they are just trying to drum up a bigger readership. Some make horrible allegations of child abuse or say that CPS should be called for no other reason except they think they "see" a danger in the house by furniture or items that are maybe not placed in the best location or because someone is actually feeding their child unprocessed and homemade food! It's unnerving.

I had some qualms about starting a public blog. Anyone can run across the pictures of your kids or get obsessed with learning more about your life. I like to think that I am too boring or "normal" to have a cult following. I do try to protect my family somewhat by leaving out a few main details, such as my last name, city, or even state. But I do know that it is easy, too easy, to find information on the internet and with some good detective work I know that even I could be found.

I feel for those bloggers who just started a blog to have an outlet or way to connect with others and gained a big following, only to have some stalkers invade into their private lives. Does it just go with the territory or are these people crossing the line? I don't know, and I hope that I never have to deal with it. Though I guess any dirt that stalkers could dig up on me wouldn't be worth the time and wouldn't add any fuel to the fire. These blog stalkers really need to get a life!