The Kinship

I think I'm finally beginning to understand why blogging has become such a passion among mothers. When I started blogging I really didn’t know what I was doing or what direction I would take it. I'm an older mom who planned for a long time to have a child. I knew I wanted to be a full time mother and I knew I would want to home school.

So when my son was 3 and I could no longer take him to work with me, I decided to try and work from home. Up until this time, I had been a relief veterinary technician and a pet sitter. The office I did relief work for loved my son and made it easy to continue there after he was born, up until a baby gate would no longer contain him in the office. It had also become obvious that in order to toilet train, I was going to need to be at home.

I still pet sit and now I also have a shop at Etsy.com where I sell handmade toys and gifts. The blog was started as a way to keep up with children’s markets and promote my shop.
I was overwhelmed at first at the staggering number of blogs there are and the amount of great content there was to read. I could have sat at the computer all day just blog hopping and not getting anything else done!

As the weeks past , I spent my days waiting for the phone to ring with sitting jobs and caring for my son. I also withdrew further and further away from the people that used to be part of my everyday life. When I did speak to someone or venture out, I'm sure I talked their ear off about my crafts or what my son had learned that week. I wasn’t prepared for the feeling of isolation that came along with being a stay at home mom, let alone a single one.

That’s when I turned to the Internet and realized that my blog was doing more that helping me make a living. It allows me to connect with other mothers, to share stories.
I was not a very social person before I became a mom, but I love sitting down at the computer in the morning with my coffee and reading what everyone has to say. I will never meet these other moms in person and yet I’m connected to their lives. It has given me a huge resource for tips and ideas.

It also gives me a sense of validation to know that a lot of mothers out there feel as I do.
They love their children, love the way they have chosen to raise them, need approval from no one but would still like know they are part of a kinship and that someone other than Max and Ruby is listening!