Not Obsolete After All

In case my dotty self can't remember 2020 at some point #fatchance, here are the reasons I haven't been writing blog posts:

1. I'm too tired. I sleep, eat, and exercise moderately well, but I'm still carrying around the 24/7 responsibility for a family of six in my head. I've often wondered how my ambition seemed to evaporate when I gave birth to Noah. I like to think it's because he reordered my priorities; it's also possible that I've been tired for 13 years.

*Which sort-of works, especially
if I can convince them to read when
they inevitably do come find me. 
As I did just now, ninja-style.😎

2. They're all here. Since March 16th. As in IN THIS HOUSE, ALL THE TIME. I haven't had alone time to sit and write, and I can't go to coffee shops to find it, because they're take-out only. To be fair, I have carved out space for my own interests, but only the ones that are home-bound, kid-friendly and interruptible (i.e. not writing).

3. Facebook is better. It's easier to write and read short posts, and I prefer controlling who sees each post -- all features of FB. Plus I don't click through many links there anymore, and I'm betting others don't either. So, I've tried to edit deep thoughts down to a few short sentences and post to a specific audience.

Well then, why am I here now?

1. My baby returned to preschool. It's 3 hrs/day, and 2 of those hours overlap with my boys' zoom classes. I have 2 hours/day ON MY OWN. Sort-of (5/6 are still in the house but I can pretend they're not*).

2. I miss writing. I had what felt like a robust volunteer part-time "job" in our Nashville community, reading, writing, teaching, leading, hosting, etc. All of that disappeared when we moved, and then this pandemic hit, tying my hands here. I have kept reading #duh, but I think if I could carve out time to write, it would be enough. For now. 

3. Blog posts are still useful. Much as I like FB, it's almost impossible to find/reference posts from past years, they're text-only, and they're usually too short to be that helpful. When I'm asked questions about ____ (parenting, eating, reading, travel, IEPs, chronic illness, you-name-it), I send people links to blog posts. Or I go back and read to remember, What did I do about whining?

Of course, I've tried to re-engage here several times, most notably right before I discovered, Surprise! We're pregnant! back in 2015. But it's my blog, so I figure I can come in fits and spurts, as life does. For now, I'm at least getting this up and out there, unpolished and unedited, because if I'm going to take another swipe at writing during these hairy days, that's the only way it will happen.😏