I'm a Copycat Blogger

It's so validating reading other moms' posts about how real their lives are. I read these blogs, and often think "I couldn't have said it better myself!" Their words resonate with me.

Jane is so clever in comparing motherhood to blogging (for her full post, click here) with her post, "Why Comments Matter."

And, you're all so lucky--I've pasted most of it below (brackets are my own words to personalize Jane's post to me, but feel I've kept the spirit of her post). Thanks Jane for doing all the work! (And I'm lucky to actually know Jane in person; I would have loved it if some of her brilliance had rubbed off on me when we were in AP Biology together in high school!)

Why Comments Matter

Because I already have one job that often lacks in external validation.

Blogging is similar to...motherhood in some...ways.
[M]otherhood, is, at times, unsatisfying because it doesn’t always seem like a real job. It’s the same with blogging. Which is why...bloggy friends to talk with...are important. (And why the lack [of comments] can be...discouraging)

How Stay-at-home Motherhood and Blogging are Similar

9. No paycheck....

[Not in money, anyway. See #3]

8. You’re never finished.

In motherhood, you might count successes like when your kid [shares instead of blames and tattles, or reads "Sign of the Beaver" and loves it. And then 10 minutes later you're shaking your head as he whines and throws a fit over doing his normal chores].... Setbacks and progress are hardly linear. When do you know you’re patient enough, creative enough, wise enough, loving enough, to be a real mother [or blogger]?....

7. There’s no promotion....

6. You can be as serious as a heart attack or as casual as a Facebook friendship.

You can dabble in your blog on weekends or you can set aside two hours every day of sacred writing time.... With motherhood, [the casual is as important as the moments of substance; and sometimes laughing over funny youtube videos with your kids is what they remember, rather than the detailed family night lesson on the importance of spending time together as a family. Plus, if your kids feel comfortable talking to you about trivial things, they will feel more comfortable opening up to you about true trials/triumphs/fears/hopes in their lives]....

[With motherhood, I also feel like when you have 'bad' days, repentence is a marvelous thing. You can always try again tomorrow to be better, and sometimes it's ok to take a day 'off' and read so that you can be a better mother the next day]

5. And worst (or best) of all, you can be purposeful one week, and a complete slacker the next.
4. You can do both in your pajamas.

3. ...[E]xternal validation is important.

[It doesn't have to be much]; one comment from a reader or one smile from a baby [is] enough....
2. [Y]ou ...don’t have total control over the outcome [scary!]. Your blog may be fantastic but just not fashionable [or just not what someone needed on a particular day]. Your mothering may be splendid, and your kids could still turn out to be like Eve’s [darn that agency!]....Doing a good job, a fantastic job, as a mother or a blogger is important, but in the end, it’s up to other people (your kids or your readers) to bring back a verdict.

[With motherhood, b]e purposeful; read and talk with other people about how to do your very best work.... Focus on what you love about the job, and arrange your life so there are more of those moments.... [I actually think this is where motherhood and blogging are different; #5 & 6 for me as a mom are guilt-ridden with goals to be better, but as a blogger I feel like it's a marvelous no-pressure freedom]

....[T]he give and take, the conversation, (and the writing) are what I like best about blogging.

And because there’s one other big way that motherhood and blogging aren’t your typical job:

1. You keep doing it no matter what, because you love it.