I’ve shared on here before, that not only am I a blogger, but I am also an avid blog reader. Blogs are wonderful because they show the bright and shiny sides of things. We blog about the picture perfect craft that we completed last week, or how we create a seamless homeschooling schedule that goes off without a hitch.
Less often do we blog about how the baby had a blow out diaper exactly 12 seconds before we needed to be out the door, or how we have been seriously considering switching to all paper plates and utensils so that we never have to do dishes again.
This post? It’s more about the rough edges than the bright shiny surface. It’s about the hard parts of being a mama. Ready for a behind the scenes sneak peak?
The Not So Shiny Blogger Behind the Blog
Special Needs
Baby M’s development has been rapidly improving. He is gaining weight and walking and talking more and more, and we’re really starting to see his personality start to develop. We are moving forward with some genetic counseling and testing to find if his global developmental delay may be caused by an underlying genetic factor. A-Man has been improving like crazy and really starting to come out of his shell. He’s talking and sharing his world with people outside of our immediate family every day, and he’s extremely excited since his favorite holiday, Halloween, is coming soon! He has also finished his complete year of occupational and speech therapy, so he is back on the wait list. In 3-6 months he will start back up with speech, occupational, and physical therapy. In the meantime we’re continuing to work on our preschool skills.
Homeschooling
We started homeschooling two weeks earlier than we planned this year because of a highly motivated Mr. C who was all too ready to start second grade. Sounds lovely, right? Except that we started getting attitude problems just two weeks after we started school, and for the 9 weeks that we’ve been schooling, we’ve actually completed 5 weeks of school. History and science have all but been pushed to the wayside as we’ve been scrambling to finish up our core subjects. We’ve even had to talk with Mr. C about what it would look like if he had to go to public school. Things are starting to look up, but oh man are homeschooling struggles the worst. If this is where you’re at, hang in there, mama! Even the bloggers have tough time with homeschooling sometimes. We all go through seasons.
Pregnancy
I wish and wish and wish that I was one of those women who breezed through pregnancy and loved every minute. Unfortunately, I am not. Dealing with a high risk pregnancy is not my favorite, and each of my pregnancies has hit me a bit harder. With this pregnancy, I’ve spent time on modified bed rest, I’ve been in and out of the hospital, and I’ve been dealing with way more appointments than I can keep straight. This has added to the homeschooling issues, since I’ve had little to no energy or time to fully invest in getting everything done. There’s also the fact that, since I have preemies, I could have this baby at pretty much any time, so all of the last minute baby things are getting done and we’re ready to head to the hospital at any moment. Definitely makes for a stressful situation.
Work at Home/Blogging
The pregnancy related issues have also effected my work at home jobs! You may have noticed the blog has been a bit quieter as I’ve been going in and out of the hospital. I’m doing my best to keep it updated, but sometimes the posts just don’t get finished. I’ve also taken a step back from a lot of my freelancing clients for the time being so that I don’t leave anyone hanging. It’s been really hard watching all of the momentum I’ve been building up over the last year stall, but I know that once the baby is born I’ll be able to pick things up and push forward with full force!
So it has been a crazy whirlwind around here lately, and I just wanted to give you a bit of insight into the not so shiny that happens behind the scenes of this blog. Have you ever been wrapped up in comparing your behind the scenes to someone else’s front and center?
I love how real you are! I always feel drawn to comment on your blog posts because I connect with them so well. I’m so happy to hear that you’re seeing progress with your boys. How old is A Man? My little guy is 2 and we are seeing huge improvements. It feels nice to almost have something like a conversation with him (as much as you can at 2!), and it is helping a lot with tantrums and meltdowns. I kind of wish we had a little gap in our therapies because it is a lot to manage sometimes. Luckily, in NY Early Intervention comes to our house, but that means I have to keep the house a little cleaner than I probably normally would. It’s good and bad.
As for your pregnancy woes, Mama, I understand! Pregnancy is really not fun at all. It is misery, really. If it weren’t for having to be pregnant, I would probably have a dozen kids. As it is, maybe one more, but that’s about all this old body can handle! So big hugs to you for getting through it AND taking care of your kids AND managing therapy and special needs challenges. You obviously have super powers. Keep up the good work!
Kelly recently posted…Pumpkin Picking
Thank you for your encouraging words! It always makes me a bit nervous when I get this real on the blog, particularly about areas where I’m failing, but these comments make it worth it. :)
We have early intervention options that come to your house until three years old, and then we have to switch it up. Unfortunately we didn’t get approval for an evaluation for A-Man until he was 3 (apparently our doctor believed his autism was simply caused by our parenting) so we were already aged out of the program.
Also, I totally hear you. How difficult and high risk my pregnancies are definitely has weighed in on our choices about how many kids we’ll have! Bed rest and all of the extra appointments have been such a headache.
Thanks again for reading and commenting!
We’ve all been there, you’re not alone in feeling overwhelmed.
Oh thank you, Ticia. That means a lot coming from you. :)
“Did I say enough that I love you
From the other side of the screen?
Did I say enough to convince you
Of what I really mean?”–Emily Scholz, “From the Other Side of The Screen”
Anna recently posted…Labels Define Me
This is so refreshing to read! There are good days and not so “shinny” days in the blogospher. Nice to come across real people like you!