I’m beginning to think that after last week it can only go up from here. It started with my epic parent fail and the drama of being THAT mom. I was just trying to keep it real as any Theta Mom would but when I blogged about the truth of performing reviews and giveaways, I sensed that I was in some serious need for some positive vibes on the blog.

I was thinking about a previous post about what makes bloggers REALLY follow a blog. What I found interesting is that the bloggers who commented actually admitted to following a blog because the person behind the blog is someone they could actually picture themselves being friends with in real life; a blogger who they connect with which may even override amazing content alone.

I was inspired by this discussion so I’ve decided to publish a post just. about. me. Something I rarely do but hoping you take this as an opportunity to get to know me a little better all in an effort to establish a further connection with you – the BEST readers on the planet.

So here we go ladies, in no particular order:

I am dreamer and a realist depending on the situation.

I love to write.

I am an over-analyzer especially if I can’t make an immediate decision.

I adore make-up and my must haves are some foundation, black mascara and a slammin’ good lipstick.

I am petrified of bees.

I love vanilla ice-cream.

I have one (in particular) wonderfully written children’s manuscript just waiting to be published. I am still holding out for that big break and I won’t stop until I am officially a published children’s book author.

I grew up at The Jersey Shore but my Jersey Shore is nothing like that portrayed on MTV.

The ocean is one of my favorite “places” in the world.

I met my husband in a bar. (I think that deserves its own post so, to be continued…)

I attended graduate school in NYC, an unforgettable experience and impressionable time in my life.

I have two beautiful children.

I love to dance.

I took a pottery class and used to belong to a book club before I had kids. I was an avid reader and now? I read blogs…

I used to work out like a fanatic and now I am just trying to lose some of this “baby” weight. The operative word here is *trying*

My home used to be spotless…and then I had kids.

I never knew how much the Earth would shift when I became a mother.

I am currently a WAHM making this all work, every day.

I know who I am.

I know what I stand for.

I know what I want out of life.

I have high expectations and I am inspired by driven people.

I don’t tolerate negativity.

I admire women at the forefront of chasing after a dream.

I continue to dream big dreams and I encourage my children to dream big dreams…

I am strong-willed and full of conviction.

I am passionate, determined and hard working. I have an amazing work ethic and I have my parents to thank for that.

I had an unbelievable childhood – we didn’t have much money, but I was loved more than you could ever imagine. I am trying to replicate my childhood experience with my own children – and I’ll consider myself lucky if I can be even half of a parent that my own parents were to me.

I am learning from my mistakes and becoming a better mother in the process.

This blog has taught me more about myself and the sisterhood of motherhood.

This blog has become a platform to share my ideas and aspirations that I never even knew existed. I never knew how much I would love this blog and the ability to share my voice…

I am a Theta Mom – and I couldn’t be happier that you are here with me.

My bloggy world has been slightly jaded. I recently encountered an experience that totally spooked me…

Remember I wrote a post about my near obsession with stats and the numbers game? Remember how in that same post I mentioned you can use your stats to your advantage as long as you don’t compare yourself to the numbers in the process? Well, I was doing a routine stat check recently and I noticed I was receiving some incoming traffic from China on a very strange referral. At first I didn’t think much of it but when this same referral started to hit my blog daily it began to concern me. I never clicked on the link (just in case it was something suspicious) but instead I did some research on Google Analytics and found myself in a support forum.

Apparently, I was not alone.

I was one of thousands of website owners from all over the world who were being attacked by this highly suspicious traffic out of China with the SAME referral.

I went back to my stats and over the next few days I had a surge of traffic coming from this suspicious site. They were hitting my blog on the hour, every hour. At that point I knew they were not coming to Theta Mom to read my latest post or to meet a blogger through TMC and as it turns out, my presumptions were correct.

It has been reported that these were indeed hackers, crawling websites and probing for passwords in an attempt to add malicious scripts. I immediately started to block the IP addresses but the problem was this site was running on thousands of servers so the IP addresses kept changing with every hit. After heeding the advice from Google Analytics who was investigating this issue for thousands of webmasters, I was advised to block all traffic from China to ensure these hackers couldn’t access my site. Needless to say, this unnerving experience has brought a couple of things to light for me.

It reinforces the idea that our blogs can be seen by anyone, anywhere at anytime – including this kind of  “unwanted” traffic.

In addition, I’ve had some really nasty Google searches recently (so nasty I can’t even repeat them on this blog) with the word mom in them which ultimately lands them to MY blog since “mom” is in the title. These are especially the kind of peeps I do not want coming to my blog viewing pictures of my children or reading about me. However, it’s the kind of thing to expect since we are putting ourselves out there on the internet for ALL to see.

So I think this begs to ask the question, what standards should we have set forth on our blogs for ourselves? What are the limits?

There is no right or wrong answer here but for me, I do not share my children’s names, my place of employment or any of that other personal information. Furthermore, anything I add to Facebook I presume can be seen by everyone so I don’t add anything there that I wouldn’t add here. But I do post pictures of my children on this blog and although in recent months I watermarked them, I’m beginning to wonder if I should even post pictures at all.

So if there is EVER a post I would like you to comment on, please make it this one and share with me – I really want to know how you deal with this. As active bloggers, where do you draw the line? What are you comfortable publishing on the internet and how do you do so without losing your authenticity as a blogger in the process?

I had no idea of the kind of world I was about to get myself into when I published my very first post at Theta Mom. The blogosphere is now a place I can’t imagine myself not being an integral part of. I love to communicate and discuss ideas with others that revel in the same passion for blogging.

I’m referring to women who can empathize with me as they understand the same battles that I face, as well as connecting with those who have the innate ability to share a different perspective and make me think – I mean, really think. When a true dialogue is started, this is the aspect of blogging that I find so rewarding. It’s those distinct moments when we relate and connect that is so empowering. This is what truly fosters the relationships we are establishing together.

However, blogging can be stressful at times especially if we begin to compare ourselves to other bloggers. We tend to look at others that are reaching more success than we are and we begin to ask ourselves – what are THEY doing that we’re not? Why do THEY have so many subscribers and why did THAT post get so many comments? I was recently blog reading when a comment written by another blogger completely struck me. She referenced how it’s so easy to get caught up in the numbers game when it comes to blogging which actually spurred me to write this post…

When I began my blog, I knew nothing about Google Analytics, Sitemeter, Alexa and other tools that help you to analyze your site’s traffic. However, once I learned about these resources and understood the specifics I was immediately hooked. Quite frankly, I found myself checking these sources so frequently to see where my traffic was coming from, I became borderline obsessed. I constantly wanted to know how many page views I was receiving, who were visiting, where the referrals were coming from, which posts were most popular, etc. all in an effort to convince myself that if numbers were increasing I must be doing something right. But as soon as those numbers fluctuated or began to drop, this validation quickly turned to self-defeating behavior as I immediately felt like I wasn’t doing “enough.”

This was around the same time I began to look at my Google Friend Connect followers. It was an instant high when I saw a new face pop up in that little box or when I noticed new subscribers through my feed. But it was also a very low feeling when I lost followers. I was left wondering what I did wrong that made them lose interest in my blog. This was coincidently about the same time I began to count comments. There were times I would pour my heart out into a post which took a long time to draft and if I didn’t get as many comments on that post, I was disappointed to find that the carefully chosen words that took so long to put together didn’t resonate with others.

I also began to feel pressure that if I didn’t return every comment or at least attempt to connect with those that shared with me, readers would not return. {However, returning every comment and visiting every blog is impossible and if you need to know how I came to terms with this self-deprecating behavior, be sure to read this post}.

I thought that if I didn’t update my blog everyday I would eventually lose subscribers. I was trying to keep up with other bloggers that were posting daily and I realized that this was a pace I could not continue. The moment I began to feel as though this blog felt more like a “job,” I took a step back. At the end of the day, this blogging thing should be nothing but fun and rewarding. The moment it becomes otherwise, it’s time to re-evaluate.

So, how did I move away from the followers-comments-numbers game? I immersed myself in rich content and focused solely on the writing. I still love a good review and giveaway here and there, but my drive is truly powered by the need to clearly articulate my voice through this platform – whether I am heard by 5 or 500,000. I can’t obsess over the numbers anymore because that’s just what they are, a bunch of numbers. They certainly don’t equate to my self-worth as a blogger or even the total worth of this blog for that matter.

Do I still use Sitemeter and those other resources as helpful tools? Of course I do. There are many benefits as to understanding your site’s traffic and how to properly market to your target audience. There is so much knowledge to be gained from these tools and when integrated effectively they can be quite useful. But measuring your worth against these numbers? Well, that’s when it becomes self-defeating.

I do not spend countless hours anymore playing the numbers game – because my time is valuable and better spent drafting words in context that truly have meaning.

And THAT has become my true passion and fulfillment.

That is MY validation.

Forbes Woman and The Bump released results of a cobranded survey recently that tries to answer the question of when it is the “ideal” age for women to have their first baby as well as balance a successful career. I would love to start this conversation with the readership of Theta Mom. When do you think it’s the ideal age to start a family? I personally don’t think there is ever a “perfect” time, but I do think women can find a time in their lives that would work better than others…

I was 29 when I had my first child. I knew there were a few things I wanted to accomplish as an individual before I even thought about becoming a mother. I knew once I graduated college that I wanted to immediately begin working in the field and establish myself in the profession. So within my first year of landing a full-time teaching position, I went back to school part-time to earn my graduate degree (knowing that I would eventually at some point want to advance in my career) so earning that degree was a necessity. In the meantime, I met my husband but before I even made plans to get married I knew I wanted to complete that graduate degree.

Once I earned my MA and we were married I also knew I wanted to travel, for once I started a family I knew this would be much more of a challenge. My husband and I were lucky enough to be able to take trips to Europe, The Caribbean, as well as other parts of this country. We really got a chance to travel quite a bit in our early married life.

Having said that, I also wanted to enjoy our time together as a married couple because I knew once we had children that part of our relationship would drastically change, such as the small freedoms of eating out whenever we felt like it; being spontaneous and not having to make plans well in advance because we could just get up and go – that kind of stuff. I knew that if I had children before I began my career, earned my MA or traveled some with my husband, I might have regretted it so I did not even think about having a baby until those other dreams of mine were fulfilled. This was truly a personal decision.

I must also admit that I was very selfish and self-centered in my early twenties. Quite frankly, I was VERY into myself so I can’t even imagine having to take care of another human life at that time in my life. In my early twenties I was really not emotionally ready to care for anything other than myself, let alone a child. As I matured and grew as a woman and individual, I believed that when the time was right when both my husband and I were emotionally and financially ready to raise a child it would happen. And I am truly blessed because that’s exactly how it turned out for me.

If you wait to start a family until you have a bigger house, more money or a better job, the reality is you’ll probably be waiting for a very long time because you’ll never have “enough” money or that “perfect” job. I think the ideal age to become a mother really depends on each woman’s individual goals and aspirations, as well as where she is in her life. Some women are not as career oriented and/or do not go to college (for various reasons) and their one dream is to have that baby – so for these women, having children in their early twenties would make sense.

On the flip side, women who are driven by their career end up waiting until they are in their mid to late thirties to start a family, as they are trying to establish themselves in the professional world. So when you think of it this way, there really is no cookie cutter answer to the question. I believe it really boils down to each woman’s preferences and life experiences/choices. However, if you throw in some curve balls of infertility or unplanned pregnancy, well that’s a whole other variable to add to the equation…

You can read the full article at ForbesWoman here and view all of the results from that cobranded survey here. Cited directly from the Forbes Woman article, below are some of the findings quoted from that survey:

• “Non-moms and women in their 30s are more likely to think 30-34 is the ideal age, while women in their 20s are more likely to think 25-29 is the preferred age.”
• “35% of moms who had their first child at 30 to 34 wish they had their child at a younger age and 57% of moms who had their first child at 35 to 39 also wish they had their child at a younger age.”
• “62% of women surveyed feel that motherhood negatively impacts a woman’s career. Yet, only 30% of working moms felt this way.”

Now, I would love to hear your stories and for you to share some insight into this very hot topic. When did you become a mom and what do you think is the “ideal” age to start a family?

When I first started blogging I never knew how much pure joy I would receive from it. I also never realized how addictive it would be on so many levels. When I began to receive a few comments on my initial posts it was exciting to realize that someone actually read my blog and took the time to respond. As bloggers, we love comments because it’s validation that what we write has some kind of impact on others.

Needless to say I never imagined that blogging would be so time consuming and yet in the same breath, so rewarding. Through your own writing I feel as though I have “met” many of you. I have learned about your families, your children, your lives, as well as your hopes, dreams and aspirations because I read about it on your blogs. I know about your failures and fears because you share this as well. And when all is said and done this is the true essence of blogging, connecting with the very community that reads your blog.

Having said that, in the last few months my blog has grown immensely. I initially started out with a handful of readers and watched this blog grow more than I would have ever expected in such a short time. And for awhile, I was able to keep up with it all. I did a pretty damn good job visiting all of the blogs that paid a visit to mine, responded to a ton of comments daily, emailed bloggers, chatted at length on Facebook as well as on Twitter. But I have to be honest keeping up this pace amidst such blog growth has since become a challenge.

My bottom line is that my family comes first. My career (the one that puts food on the table) comes second. Without my job, I would not be able to stay at home with my kids. These two things will always come before this blog. I do most of my blogging in the early morning and in the evening when the kids are asleep. However, I found myself getting up earlier and earlier and staying up later and later and even began commenting on blogs during the day when my baby girl was napping just to “keep up.” Quite frankly, this began to stress me out.

I can’t worry anymore if I am unable to return a comment because the one thing I have learned throughout this blogging experience is that followers may come and go, but real readership – those who adore your blog and are at the core of your blog that return time and time again are not commenting on your blog just to seek a comment in return. They are connecting to your writing and they will continue to return time and time again because they love your blog. Period.

For a moment, think of a popular blogger who has a huge following. Do these bloggers return every single comment on every single post? No. Do they connect and support their readership and continue the dialogue in other ways? Absolutely, which is why these blogs continue to thrive. I’ve written about how the power of social media helps to truly establish these connections and I firmly believe in this approach.

So with the time I do carve out for blogging, I will continue to support my readership, but it may not necessarily always be a blog visit and I have learned to let this go. Support may be shown in various ways such as through a follow, blog subscription, the retweet of a tweet on Twitter, a Stumble of a post on Stumble Upon, communication through an email exchange or a chat on Facebook. I will continue to support and connect with my readers through these mediums and continue to use social media because the bottom line is I can’t do it all.

Which brings me to my final point about the recent launch of TMC. I am so proud to have created a platform to bring such a fantastic group of women together. Bloggers who are just starting out now have another place to call home and veteran bloggers just added another resource to their repertoire and it’s all about networking.

I have been asked, “How do you have the time to do this and how do you manage to do it all?” My answer is simple: TMC runs itself. This community is a space for bloggers. You are the ones visiting this space to get yourself out there to network. Think of it like this: I provided you the fabulous house to party in and filled it with amazing décor, cocktails, music, food, and peeps, but now it’s up to YOU whether or not you mingle, network and have fun. TMC has it all there and the more active you are in this community, the more you will get out of it. So aside from the initial set-up and commitment to feature fabulous TMC bloggers weekly, TMC basically runs on its own.

So if you ever find yourself seeking the balance of your own blogging mojo, here is my advice for what it’s worth: At any point you feel stressed out about any aspect of blogging, whether it’s the writing, commenting, promoting or networking, take a step back and reflect on your experience and make some changes that fit you and your life. If I continued at the speed I was traveling recently, I would have easily landed in bloggy burnout. I’ve come to terms with the whole comment thing and I’m ok with it. This experience has shown me that I am human, that there are only so many hours in the day and that I do actually live a life outside of this blog. I had to find a balance that worked for me and luckily, I did.

And in the end, those who really read and visit me will still love Theta Mom and continue to support me – whether I am able to comment on a post or not.

And I’m ok with that.

I packed a diaper bag for my baby girl with some wipes, a bottle, and the usual business for a check-up at the pediatrician’s office for a routine visit. It was supposed to be a routine visit. Little did I know I would soon be handed a script to get x-rays.

STAT.

In somewhat of a panic, I grabbed my daughter and rushed off to see the Radiologist. Entering the doorway with my extra large diaper bag, hat, gloves and the whole bit, I finally reached the counter with the weight of my daughter in my arms. A woman sat behind the counter peering beneath her dark charcoal frames while waiting for me to provide opening remarks. I began, “Hi. I’m here to get x-rays for my daughter.”

In a snarky tone she asked, “Do you have an appointment?”

“No, I just came from the pediatrician’s office and they told me you make room for emergency situations and she is to be seen today.”

While snapping the end of a pen cap and tilting her head to the side she responded with, “We don’t accept walk-ins.”

Getting a bit annoyed I answered, “Ok, well maybe you would like to give them a call since I just came from there and that’s what I was told. My daughter needs to be seen…TODAY.”

Snarky woman pushed her arms away from the desk and rolled her chair backwards over to reach the phone. After a brief chat with the pediatrician’s office, she got up from her chair and collected some papers. Without a word, she grudgingly provided the necessary paperwork for me to fill out. Apparently, my daughter was going to be seen.

Already upset from not knowing what was going on with my daughter’s health, snarky woman’s attitude was the last thing I felt like dealing with. I took the paperwork, my anxious daughter and the 20 pounds of gear I had on and found a seat in the waiting room full of adults.

I quickly realized there weren’t any children’s books lying on the table. The walls were not painted a cheerful blue, red and yellow and there was not a toy to be found in that space. Anywhere. This was going to be a very long afternoon.

After sitting my daughter on my lap as I tried to get situated to begin the paperwork, sheer panic suddenly struck me. Considering this was what I thought to be a quick visit with the pediatrician at an office we knew very well, I was obviously not prepared. My daughter already drank her bottle and I did not have a lunch packed for her. To make things worse, there was not one small toy to be found in my bag.

So without toys in the office or substantial food in my bag, what’s a Theta Mom to do? When Miss Fussypants decided to cry out of boredom and hunger, I would have nothing to give her. And in an office full of adults, this certainly was not a pleasant situation. Luckily, through one more desperate attempt to find something in that bag, I located some Puffs. I broke them out as soon as my daughter became restless. Within moments of cracking open the Puffs, snarky woman stood up from behind the counter, opened the sliding glass window and popped her annoying head out.

“Excuse me…” she said as she glared directly at me. Pointing to a semi-ripped piece of paper hanging outside the glass window she added, “There’s no food or drink permitted.”

I couldn’t believe it. She was serious.

And I was seriously done.

I added, “Well basically, you have two options. You can either listen to my baby girl scream loud and uncontrollably for the next hour and watch me go insane OR we can all have peace and quiet while a few Puffs decorate the carpet. Take your pick.”

She didn’t move for a moment. I don’t think she expected me to react to her snarky behavior. That response immediately kept her quiet as she slowly closed the glass window.

And for the record, I chose the latter.

Indefinitely.

***And I know many of my bloggy friends would want to know the outcome of my daughter upon reading this post. She is doing well. It’s just so amazing to me how others seem to forget what it’s like to have children.

Last week, I wrote a post about the 3 Secrets to Getting ‘Return’ Blog Followers and I received an astounding response. As readers and bloggers, this topic completely resonated with you. Many of you left some really thoughtful comments, some followed up with questions and others shared that the post made them reflect on their own following practices.

I love reading your comments, every single one of them. No comment ever goes unnoticed. As I mentioned in that post, a supportive blogger reaches out to others in some way; this certainly doesn’t mean a comment for every comment or visit for every visit. However, it does mean that it is important to get to know your readers because building a community means establishing relationships and making connections. If you don’t comment, respond, visit, email, tweet, chat or stumble at some point, then how are you really relating with your readership?

Blogging is interactive and engaging. When I publish a post I am sharing content but moreover, I am creating dialogue. This is never static. Blogging is an evolving process that is always changing and the dynamic that keeps this process changing is the interaction of its readership. Readership is the reason blogs continue to thrive.

For a moment, think of a super popular blog and the major following that blog has. Of course the blogger behind that blog makes it fabulous through compelling content and great blog design, but the readers that support those blogs are the very reason they reach superstar status. Essentially, blogging wouldn’t be much if the dynamic of interaction was not a major element. If this was the case, many blogs would have the comments turned off or be published privately without the public knowledge and recognition of others input. This is why as bloggers, we love comments! We want to continue the conversation and know that someone else is reading, interpreting and responding to our ideas. 

So, how can you establish your own community and continue to build your readership? My answer is short: utilize social media to its fullest. If you want others to make a connection with you then you need to make a connection with them as well.

Now, I am certainly not a perfect blogger with all of the answers, nor do I claim to be. I am still learning as I go through this process as well. However, what I do know for sure is that the beauty of blogging is you can publish whatever you want because it is your blog. So while some bloggers are looking to build a following, others do not share in this goal. If you are looking to build a readership, then read on because I am sharing the two social media platforms that I use everyday and in my opinion, are essential for any blogger that wants to grow his/her blog.

Twitter is the number one way for others on the web to “find” you and your blog. Think about when you first started your blog. You created your first post and couldn’t wait until tons of comments came in. Then, you were disappointed to find that you only received three. Why? Not because your content was terrible or your design needed work. It’s because nobody knew you existed. You could have the most brilliant posts and gorgeous design, but it doesn’t matter if nobody knows where to find you. Twitter will help you to establish an online presence, but YOU have to make that happen. This takes a lot of time and hard work. You can’t just join Twitter and then tweet your own links all day long and never interact with anyone. Nobody wants to follow someone who only tweets about themselves.

Just like blogging, it’s a two way street. Do I promote my new posts and giveaways? Of course I do. But, I also use Twitter by maximizing its potential in which I begin a conversation, ask questions and put myself out there. I want to get to know my peeps and Twitter is the perfect place to establish those connections. Here’s a little experiment to try: The next time you are about to follow someone on Twitter take a peek at their stream. Are they tweeting with others and engaging in conversation or at others by just supplying a bunch of links? There is such a difference and those that engage in conversation are the ones who will be followed.

So if you are a new blogger, create an account and get started! If you are already using Twitter, then tweet more with those you follow and begin following others of interest and begin a dialogue. Get out there and start tweeting not just about your site, but with others and get to know them. You will be amazed at how this interaction will quickly build your following. At the same time, it will help you to promote some of your posts to potential readers that may not have found you otherwise. And don’t just tweet, retweet as well. Bloggers are very receptive to those who retweet their posts and you will find they will reciprocate the retweet love when you need it. You can check out my new custom Twitter background (I’m so freakin’ excited about it) and follow Theta Mom on Twitter here.

Facebook is the second best platform for others to “find” your blog and is a great place to make connections. Honestly, I was very hesitant at first about joining Facebook. Although I may post pictures of my children on this blog, I do not share their names, birthdays, etc., and since I don’t even share my last name, creating an account on Facebook didn’t seem so advantageous to me. This was until I learned you can create a fan page for your own website without having to “friend” everyone and their mom. {Although, I do think it is good karma to friend those that friend you, especially if they are fellow bloggers.}

Just like Twitter, sharing a new link or post on Facebook through a fan page can be seen by many instantly. Furthermore, once someone becomes a fan of your site, your link shows up on their page. So just like the power of Twitter, your link is now in a place to be “seen” by others who may not have found you otherwise. But again, you need to take the time to converse with your peeps, reply to their comments and get to know them. Just like Twitter, it takes time and effort to maintain these relationships, but it’s so worth it! You can become a fan of Theta Mom here.

So, what’s the bottom line? As many of you already know, building a readership takes a lot of time and hard work. A huge following doesn’t happen overnight, but by putting yourself out there to network through social media and connect with the very people who enjoy your blog will help to get you there.

Building a community means establishing relationships and making connections and at the end of the day, isn’t that what blogging is all about?

I was recently reading a post from Kelly at The Pursuit of Mommyness about what makes you subscribe to a blog. She posed some really good questions and it made me reflect on why I follow a blog and I would love to take this conversation a step further…

As bloggers, we follow blogs for various reasons; if you are a part of a Blog Hop such as Friday Follow, this may be a good reason to find some new reads and return a follow; there are many platforms that bring bloggers together, such as The Mom Bloggers Club where you can find blogs of interest and follow; there are other communities like SITS that encourage comment love, so this is a great place to find and follow blogs within this group…and the list goes on.

But as many blogs that you choose to follow and vice-versa, what makes you not only follow, but return to that blog again and again?

For example, you could subscribe to over 300 blogs but really only read and comment on 30 of those weekly. This brings me to the question…out of the many blogs you end up choosing to follow, which are the kind of blogs that you return to again and again no matter what? The kind of blog that if you are pressed for time will be one to visit on your list?

I strive to be one of those blogs that you follow and return to, not ever wanting to miss a post. So when I think of the blogs that I follow, I wanted to share my top three reasons of what brings me back to those blogs again and again: 

1. A blog with well written content that I can relate to: A blogger that posts about topics I can easily connect with is a major draw for me. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about motherhood; any well written post about a topic I can sincerely relate to will get me hooked.
2. A clean blog design with easy navigation: I enjoy blogs that are easy to navigate with just a few clicks. If I want to peek into the archives or get to know more about the blogger, I don’t want to have to go searching for it. And easy navigation does not have to mean a fancy blog design, just a clean design that doesn’t take away from the content.
3. A blog that encourages support of its readers: I like a supportive blogger who encourages comments and wants to continue the conversation. How boring would blogging be if you never got a response? A blogger that shows support of its readers is what brings me back again and again. And I certainly don’t mean a comment for every comment. In a perfect bloggy world this would be fabulous, but we all know how unrealistic that goal would be. I’ve tried to keep up and it’s impossible. So, how do you show support? It can be displayed in various ways to fellow bloggers: via a reply to a comment, a visit to the blog, a link back to a blogger within a post, an email, a tweet or retweet of a post, the sharing of a post on Facebook, a Stumble of a particular post, a chat on a community message board, a recommendation of a blogger to another, etc… There are so many ways to help promote and show other bloggers support, so I like to return to blogs that encourage this as well.

So now I would love to hear from you! After you choose to follow a blog, what makes you return again and again? And if you are a new follower, welcome! I am so glad you are here at Theta Mom and can’t wait to check out your blog!!!

Last week the weather was cold and rainy. Simply the perfect conditions for me as my kids were driving me crazy. It never ceases to amaze me; the times when my children seem to annoy me the most are the times in which I am unable to get outside with them. It’s like forced torture with additional cabin fever.

You know the moment when you have completely reached your threshold and there is no escape? Well, that was me on this particular day.

I was done.

Truly, it was one of those days where I had enough.

So, that’s when I ran upstairs and went straight for my chotchkie drawer. Every Theta Mom needs a chotchkie drawer. You know, the one filled with useless crap that you purchase at the dollar store? It’s the drawer containing all of that cheap, junkie toy-garbage that your kids drool over because it’s wrapped and it’s new.

{If you don’t yet have a chotchkie drawer, I strongly suggest you make one. Immediately. It could save a life.}

So, as I reached into my bag of tricks, I found this beauty I picked up in one of the dollar bins at Target called Grow Capsules:

You fill a cup up with warm water and throw one of those suckers in.

Then, you watch your children scream and shout with delight as the capsules begin to “come alive.” Seriously, my kids were mesmerized. And there were so many beautiful moments of silence when they excitedly waited for the creatures to “come to life.”

This process takes about 4-5 minutes for each capsule…and it comes with 12 of those capsules…catch my drift? We are talking almost an hour of solid entertainment.

Yes kids, truly magical.

So there you have it. It only takes a buck at Target to entertain my kids on a cold and rainy afternoon with a little help from my chotchkie drawer…

Which saved a piece of my sanity.

I have been a fan of Sex and the City since the very beginning and what immediately drew me into this series was the show’s narration. Carrie Bradshaw’s musings about relationships, dating, and New York City were always so emotional and sensitive. At times, she was a bit dramatic and somewhat over-analytic, but to me, this narration was always authentic.

She shared moments explicitly and expressed exactly what she was thinking and feeling, even when the truth hurt. Although she may have appeared jealous, clingy, or insecure at various points throughout the show, she truly communicated real and raw emotions as she was experiencing life and relationships.

Isn’t this exactly what we experience as Theta Moms? We admit the fact that this motherhood gig isn’t always glamorous and easy. We narrate our own stories with raw emotion and sensitivity. Don’t we sometimes over-analyze the situation, especially when it comes to our children? Don’t we feel sometimes insecure that the job we are doing may not be enough? Don’t we sometimes second-guess ourselves in the process? Isn’t this true authenticity?

Although her bank account doesn’t reflect the majority of Theta Moms, if Carrie Bradshaw was really pregnant, she would probably wear the most adorable, chic, and trendy maternity clothes similar to this look.

Photos: http://www.hbo.com/city/look/carrie_6.shtml

Regardless of her style, the moment she becomes a mother, I picture Carrie changing diapers for the first time and recognizing the not so glamorous aspect of motherhood.

I imagine her agonizing over the reality of sleepless nights and freaking out about her postpartum figure.

As a result of having a baby, I envision the description of her post-partum sex life, or lack thereof.

I can see her shopping at Barneys, unable to purchase the latest Jimmy Choo heels because her newborn could really use the money more.

I imagine her disappointment when she must decline attending a premier event because her baby suddenly became ill.

I predict that she will be torn between work and home, desperately trying to find a balance to make it all work…

But I also envision Carrie trying to find the right words to share the most amazing experience she’s ever encountered, attempting to describe the kind of love she’s never felt before for another human being.

I imagine Carrie dreaming of her newborn and finding herself more centered as a mother, allowing her life to be more about her baby than her own.

I see her making sacrifices, learning from her mistakes and demonstrating the way her life has been forever changed…for the better.

Carrie Bradshaw would be a Theta Mom.

So if she ever becomes pregnant, maybe I should congratulate her…and then welcome her to the club.