Straying from the Norm

Well, I decided I would take a break from writing about my kid for a change, and talk a little about myself, and how this blog came to be.

I'll try to not be upset during the blackout, as you all turn off your computers and read a book instead...still with me?  How kind of you.

Let me start by saying: pregnancy threw me for a loop.  I read that pregnancy affects women in many, many different ways.  For me, it totally affected my want to read and write.  I had zero creativity, no real desire to produce anything (other than a child in my womb, ha ha).  On rare occasions, I would get an inkling of an idea for a book, and I did keep a notebook around in case I felt like writing something down.  But, like I said, rare.

Even after I had Ella, I still didn't want to read anything other than parenting/baby books.  I didn't want to write anything other than milestones in Ella's baby book.  I strongly felt that attention paid anywhere else meant that I was neglecting my baby.

About 3 or 4 months ago, I started getting more and more writing ideas, almost on a daily basis.  I found myself writing them down, and some ideas even got fleshed out a bit.  However, I still could not bring myself to write any more than rough outlines.  Characters weren't quite coming to me.

But, I also realized that it felt good to do something I once loved, and I realized that , as Ella was getting a bit older, she didn't need as much of my constant attention.  She was starting to get into playing with her toys for more extended periods of time, allowing me some short stretches where writing, or reading the newspaper, or articles in writing magazines could squeeze in.

I was starting to feel like myself again.  Or, rather, a new Mom-version of myself.  It was liberating.

So, last month, I decided that I needed to give myself the final push to really write something again.  I went through my notes, but couldn't figure out which story idea to work on.

I thought back to a class I took in college, where I kept a blog as part of an extra credit project.  I really liked the idea of blogging without assigned topics.  Then, my Mom suggested writing a blog about Ella and being a new mom.

Who knew mothers were always right?  When do I get to always be right?

Oh, wait.  I already am.  :)