New Year, New You

I love those ads every January enticing people to join gyms or start some radical diet that never works. It's always, start now, start fresh. You know, change completely. Maybe it's the cynic in me, but that never seems to appeal to me. Yes, some part of that offers hope--hope to be even better versions of ourselves. But more often, it seems designed to fail. As if with the stroke of a clock on New Year's we are going to be made over completely and instantly. And lord knows, that just doesn't happen. However, I have been thinking lately about the order of my life and what I want to keep and what I would like to change or just be done with. I've got some specific ideas so far, but when it comes to this blog, I've been thinking a lot about what I would like to do with it. I've already surpassed my initial expectations about keeping this up during Elisa's babyhood. At almost 17 months now, it's become a second nature to post new pics and videos and make sure our friends and family have a good laugh now and then.

But lately, as I read more and more mom bloggers (some of them truly fantastic), I realized I'm missing my mark. What I truly love and value about some of the other parenting blogs is how honest and real, and fucking funny they are. And before I fall to some illusions of grandeur, I know I am not that funny. But I do think I could be more honest and write about the good, bad, annoying and amazing without returning to schmaltzy standbys about how wonderful it is to be a mom. It is, but I'm mostly over that. It's also shitload of work, and sometimes there is nothing more mind numbing than repeating the same routines and meals and activities day after day. I'm not aiming to make this blog for anyone but myself in some ways, and yet, I realize that unlike my personal journal, I'm much more aware of who reads this and the potential impact my comments have on their impression of me. Me. A mother of a terrific girl who drives me batty sometimes and yet makes me swoon with love. I'm hoping that in the coming months I can work on becoming a better writer and maybe enjoy my own blog as much as I do the ones I read for inspiration. Can you be your own inspiration? I'm going to find out.