At the Intersection of Obligation and Opportunity

March 22, 2008· Filed under Reflections

My good friend Wendy has an expression - it has something to do with challenges, hard decisions, and new ideas - its called “renting space in your head.” There has been something that has been renting too much space in my head lately - and that is the purpose, direction and function of this blog.

When I first started this site 18 months ago, it was the “personal” side of my professional blog, Essential Keystrokes. I picked the title Casual Keystrokes to reflect that, however, I was new to blogging and didn’t really have much of a plan. I thought I would I talk about parenting, balancing working from home and life, and anything else that came to mind.

For a while it really worked, but as I learned more about niche marketing, blogging, and making money online, the harder it has become to define this site.

This week the issue really started taking up head space and became a source of distraction. I consulted two of my mastermind friends to talk things through.

Gayla had a fantastic idea (which I am going to keep to myself for now) that involved rebranding this site, giving it a new focus, and giving it potential for growth. I may pursue this direction in the fall.

Wendy, on the other hand, listened to me talk about some of my other web properties and the opportunities they hold in the near term and gave me completely different advice. Knowing that we only have so many hours in the day, she advised that I scale back my posting here and kind of let this site coast for awhile so I can free up head space to focus on the opportunities at hand.

And while there is part of me that feels an obligation to keep this site going (it has a PR5, afterall), the opportunities over the next 6 months are just too good to let slide by.

I know I have quite a few regular readers - I really value our relationships - so I would like to invite you to join me at some of my other sites. Don’t feel like you have to visit them all - just what interests you. Here is where you can find me:

• Essential Keystrokes - Monday Motivation will be moving to my professional blog, along with more posts on working from home, running a business that is based on the Internet (web design, affiliate marketing, blogging, technology trends), tips, tutorials and social media.
• Weary Parent - Once I got my B5Media gig at Weary Parent, I found that most of my parenting stories, advice, and thoughts started going there. My co-author, Christine, and I talk about a HUGE range of topics for parents who are dealing with the challenges and joys of raising our tweens and teens. Never a dull moment over there - I promise!
• Raising a Healthy Family - Menu Plan Monday, recipes, ideas for green living, my weight loss journey, and the daily drama of cuts, scrapes, sniffles and other childhood ailments are just some of the topics I deal with at Raising a Healthy Family. Yes, I could deal with all of those topics here, but the domain name and focus just isn’t as good.
• Sports Girls Play - I have 20+ years experience coaching girls gymnastics, three athletes under one roof, and am a huge advocate of kids sports. With the Olympic games this summer, I really plan on ramping up the site even more. Also, if you are parent of an athlete and would like to share stories, pictures or advice, just let me know - I’d love to get more viewpoints.
• Doll Diaries - We are having a lot of fun on this niche site these days. The focus of the site is everything dolls - from American Girl to Barbie and everthing in between. With the first American Girl movie coming to the big screen this summer, I know this site will be hopping!
• Printables4Kids - My fun site for free printable activities for kids (most of which I create) is really taking off. I am working on a redesign for the site, pursuing some exciting sponsorship opportunities, and getting even more great activities ready for those long summer months ahead of us.

I won’t abandon this site completely, but I am not going to be posting here nearly as often as I had before. It has been a really tough decision to make, but I just needed to evict this conflict from my head.

If you have read this far, you deserve a big hug!! Thanks for your support and understanding. I look forward to continuing our relationship on another one of my sites.

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The Secret Life of a Soccer Mom

February 27, 2008· Filed under Reflections

TLC debuts a new reality show next week, The Secret Life of a Soccer Mom, that takes a stay at home mom and gives her the opportunity to pursue the career she left behind for one week.  After watching the trailer of the show, I am left with a great deal of skepticism.

First of all, I really don’t like the idea that the show uses deception as part of its premise. The Moms “go to the spa” while the husbands care for the kids during their week away. I would think if you are paying people to be on the show, you might as well tell the family in advance so that the kids are not so traumatized and the family trust is not compromised. I am sure that because it is TV, this is just the drama they want to stir up.

Second of all, do we really need another piece of the media fueling the debate on stay at home moms vs working moms? Hello, whether you choose to be a stay at home mom, work from home mom, or a mom with a job outside of the home is YOUR decision. What ever works for you is good.

I also don’t like the tag line of “Do they have what it takes to have it ALL?” The connotation is that unless you are a career woman and a mom, you are failing in some aspect of your life. That is a bunch of bunk.

TLC is one of my favorite networks and home to shows that I think really empower us as individuals, like What Not to Wear, Trading Spaces, Take Home Chef and such, but The Secret Life of a Soccer Mom just doesn’t seem to have the same sense of empowerment. I guess I’ll have to watch an entire episode before I can really judge it, but I’m not holding out much hope.

I’d love to hear your take on this show. Do you think it will be good? Or is it just a grasp for straws from an over saturated TV environment?

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Friendship

January 20, 2008· Filed under Reflections

One of my favorite quotes:

“Friendship is not a single thing.
It’s a million little things.”

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On Losing the First Tooth

January 19, 2008· Filed under Reflections

My youngest (of 3) is six years old. She watches intently as the older kids reach milestones and longs for the day she will do the same. This year she finally got to ride on the school bus (and now she hates it), got to check out books at the school library, and last night she finally lost her first tooth!

This tooth has been loose for two months - I kid you not. Unlike my 9 year old, Princess Nat does not like blood, pain or anything gross. She would wiggle that tooth lightly, but never hard enough to hurt or bleed like her big sister does. For the past week that tooth has been hanging on a by thread, but the princess just couldn’t muster the guts to give it a good old yank.

Last night at the ice hockey rink the tooth finally came out. Princess Nat was so brave about - there was a tiny bit of blood. And she was so proud of her missing tooth.  When it came time to do public skating, everytime she came near our table she would flash me a toothless grin.

When we got home she was very excited to go to bed and get that tooth securely under her pillow so the tooth fairy could stop in and give her some cash.

As I Mom, I also feel like I have crossed a milestone - all of my kids have now had a visit from the tooth fairy. They are growing up!!

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Let it Snow

January 17, 2008· Filed under Reflections

Now, I know this is nothing like the snow that New England got last week or my dear friends in Chicagoland get frequently, but it is the first real snow we have gotten all season. The kids were so bummed because it had not started snowing when they left for school. They really wanted a snow day and I was even okay with it, too.

The snow coming down hard as I look out my front door - it has only been snowing for about 30 minutes.

And looking out on to the back yard and the kids’ swingset. No huge accumulation yet but it is coming down.

I wonder if they will release school early? With this area, you just never know!

Hot chocolate anyone? 

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