When Burgh Baby’s Mom asked me to tell you all about what I like and dislike about blogs, my mind started running at 100kph.
Burgh Baby’s Mom wrote:
Hmmm . . . How about talking about what you like/dislike about blogs? Maybe what annoys you and what you love? No names, obviously, just some general observations.
Then I started thinking about how to write it so that no one was offended.
The answer? Try not to write about what annoys me. Instead twist everything for a positive look.
I like and subscribe to many blogs, most are ‘Mummy’ blogs (and I use that term very very loosly because most Mum’s blog about anything and everything). Actually, I think damn near all of them are except maybe a few. See, I like the solidarity we share as parents.
Hey! Your kid doesn’t sleep either? And you have trouble brushing her teeth? Me too! Yay!
I like realism. I want to know that you are a real person with a dirty washing pile and dishes sitting in your sink. I want to imagine that you found a bad apricot in the bottom of the fruit bowl that meant you had to throw out a weeks worth of fruit. I want to know that as I am up at 2am despairing of ever sleeping again, you could be too.
I love humour. Shit happens, at least we can laugh about it, right? Hell, what else can you do.
I want to be drawn into your blog. When I visit someone new, I generally read the entire front page of their blog. This means that if I visit and your last post was a filler or a ‘I’m sick, go away’ post, that isn’t all I am looking at. Also, I try and visit everyone a second time, but sometimes I forget. If you think I should be reading you and I’m not, then you can email me and yell if you like. I will come visit you if you pester me. I tend to forget.
Some bloggers, I feel like I could sit and have a cup of coffee (or tea, or tequila) with the author. I like blogs like that. I want people to feel like that here! (Do you feel like that here? Do you? Huh?)
I must admit, I am a little biased against blogger though. NOT because of the quality of blogger blogs, no, many of my favourite blogs are hosted on blogger and I adore them all (hell, I started on blogger!) but because of blogger’s comment form. I can never make the damn thing load without at least 2 page refreshes! What is up with that? Does it happen to anyone else?
Also captchas. I HATE captchas with a passion. A lot of the time the picture refuses to load and then I am left refreshing and refreshing until it does. Sorry, I know some of you get attacked by spam regularly and need the captchas to filter everything. I think blogger probably needs to sort itself out some kind of spam filter for people to use.
Hear that Blogger? Build a damn spam filter and get rid of the captchas already! Geez.
I know some people choose not to blog about the bad bits of motherhood and life. They never write about sleeplessness and messy faces. We never hear about poo, snot or vomit. Their kids are always clean and happy. No sibling rivalry, no fights, no mess. Sunshine and fairy floss.
It’s their blog and they can choose to write about whatever they like. However this is my brain and I refuse to implode it with impossibilities I can’t counter.
This lady says it brilliantly.
I definitely like more things than I dislike. I can probably count on one hand the number of blogs I refuse to visit (and no, I don’t think any of those people have actually ever visited me). These people tend to be argumentitive and very quick to judge other people. That said, I shouldn’t be judging them on the basis of just a blog. They may be very nice people in real life.
Sheesh, do you know how hard it is to round up a post like this without sounding like a hypocrite or a bitch?
Then again, endings have never been my strong point. Sorry bout that.
very well written.. 🙂
Taz’s last blog post..24 weeks old
I think you must have an extra dose of nice because I’ve been thinking with great annoyance lately about some things which irk me about other blogs. But you? I truly look forward to your posts.
witchypoo’s last blog post..A Shadow of my Former Self
I read you every morning. You and a couple of other blogs are must reads for me – I have you with my coffee, so to speak. That said, I think you’ve done an excellent job of dodging that bullet. There’s no point in offending – yet you have to keep it real and I think you have done. Well done, you.
Lou’s last blog post..More BM and a Start
I always look forward to your posts! I have a lot of ‘Mummy’ blogs in my Rss feed, I’m pretty choosy though about who I read regularly because I just don’t have the time or energy to read through so many! If only we could have a few extra hours in the day for sleep huh? 😉
Marylin’s last blog post..I did it again!
Yeah it just me feel inadique and pissed (hey I feel even worse I cant spell anymore)
Suzie’s last blog post..My New House Guests
LOL, endings aren’t my strong point either. It’s why all my books have happy endings. If there has to be one, let it be happy!
Jill S.’s last blog post..Slacker Tuesday
Dude, you haven’t visited me in AGES!
I don’t talk about my kids much, because blogging is sort of my way of escaping from it all. I think first-time moms are more likely to blog about their kids, because they’re still in that fascination stage of motherhood. I’m cooking #3 and I’M NOT JUST A MOM, DAMMIT! I’M A HUMAN BEING! *pants a bit*
I wrote some “rules” once about what makes a good blog IMO. One thing I left out is that it drives me freaking nuts when someone has music start automatically on their site. I’ve got my itunes going, I’m chilling out to Norah Jones, and suddenly I’m getting blasted by the karoake version of Butterfly Kisses. Hate that! I didn’t list it though b/c one of my very favorite blogger friends does that very thing and I didn’t want to upset her.
Memarie Lane’s last blog post..Something’s Missing
Strangely enough, I’ve been thinking about blogging platform again, so your comments are interesting to me at the moment.
Jenty’s last blog post..Blogging dilemma
Perfect post. Came to you through the blogher ad.
I agree 100%.
I have a love/hate relationship with blogger. Was it hard to make the switch? I should look into that. 🙂
OHmommy’s last blog post..The Nagging Child: Nature or Nurture
Very well done 🙂 I know what you mean about Blogger. I started with their platform, but their comment form drives me bonkers sometimes.
Love your blog mama! You are definitely one of the bloggers I could sit down and chat with while our kiddos play 😉
Sandy (Momisodes)’s last blog post..The Dairy Queen
I have to admit that I’m a mommy blogger who writes much more about the other parts of life. Like Memarie Lane said, I’m around them enough…blogging is kind of an escape. I tend to write about them when they do something to make me laugh or when they get into some kind of trouble that produces a good picture.
I,too, am having issues with blogger. It’s kind of annoying, but a good place to start out I guess.
I really enjoyed this post!
bits & pieces’s last blog post..How we make our house a home…
Very nicely done..I am with Memarie lane. I hate the music thingys as well .. Generally it is because I am pretending that I am not “on the computer” and loud bursts of sound mean that I am totally busted..
cheers kim xxx
frogpondsrock’s last blog post..Tiramisu.. Yum..
You want a bad motherhood moment? Next time Amy is making you crazy, just remember this: she did not become a teenager, eat a huge meal and throw up IN THE BATHTUB in the middle of the night. She did not stick her finger up her nose and upset her sister so much she threw up all over the dining room carpet. She did not get so nauseated by dog sick that she threw up on the carpeting, the kitchen floor, the kitchen cabinet, the bathroom floor, the rug in the bathroom, the vanity, and the side of the toilet, leaving you to clean up both dog and kid sick.
Quite a lot of my bad mommyhood moments involve puke. I adore my children…
julie’s last blog post..The Dogs.
It’s all about keepin’ it real.
Ree’s last blog post..Dateline Chicago
Well that was positive! I don’t think I could have done it that well… Good job!
talina’s last blog post..Unable to insert an image after your Wordpress 2.5 upgrade?
surfed over from the top Aussie women’s blog list and now I am wondering how I never found you before this?!?
I was sitting here nodding my head right through this whole post!
I wish when I was 19 I’d have been as put together as you are! You are light years ahead of most women your age. Your daughter is a lucky, lucky girl to have a mom like you.
Hyphen Mama’s last blog post..Some People Are Just Oblivious
yeah well I wouldn’t be so nice…
Blogs that don’t allow you to comment. What is with that?
Blogs that do partial feeds. I pink puffy heart that you now have full feeds again!
Blogs with flashing shit
Blogs that autoplay music.
And I am so with you with the Polly Perfects. C’mon there are no perfect kids in the world. You should see my Twitter, I am ALWAYS whining about how they are driving me bananas!
Kelley’s last blog post..Bouncy castles and idiots at the Psychic festival.
Do I feel like I could sit and have a drink with you? Shit, I feel like I could crawl inside your pants with you and hug you till you puked.
And you wouldn’t mind.
(you wouldn’t mind, right?)
Sarcastic Mom’s last blog post..You would scream, too, if you had to live with me.
That was a great post! I read you every day. Often yours is the first I go to, LOL. You were one of my first Aussie blog discoveries and personally, I think we would get on IRL, I do feel like I could sit down and have a cuppa with you and talk about just anything, really. Even doormats.
tiff’s last blog post..Doormats and bloodwork and whiskers on kittens.
Well said.
You are, really, such a bitch, damn, Veronica!
So…how ’bout that tequila?
I’m starting to wonder about blogger… what’s better?? I have a photo blog for my family on Xanga, which is awesome for photos, but that’s all I know. Blogger and Xanga.
Kat’s last blog post..My Pretty House
I have two questions:
1. Do you read my blog on myspace? Because it tends to take ages to load. Now that I have..wait for it…
*Wireless Broadband!!!!*
I can read anything cause it is 1gb per sec. (freaking fast.) I read yours everyday. At work or home.
So do you read it? cause I would kinda be really proud if you had read it like once.
2. Ummm……mothering question:
How do you shower with a baby/toddler?
I was thinking about you the other day and then it hit me…do you have to wait until the child is napping? And then how do you leave them alone? You cant just get in the shower, what if they hurt themselves when you are gone?
Anyone could have answered this, but I just wanted your opinion cause I can imagine you sneaking into the shower while Amy is napping, or standing in the shower with her or bath. Ok, I thought of the concept, not the actual image. I cant even shower when Jordon is around, one time I went to the loo, came out and he and the puppies were on the road.
You handled the question beautifully, my dear! I could totally sit down and have a cup of coffee with you if it weren’t for all that damn water in between us.
And Memarie Lane–YES YES YES to the music thing. I want to tell people how much I loathe it, but haven’t figured out a way to be tactful about it because they always seem so darn happy about having music on their blog. But when I’m trying to sneak a read in while at work? Music is a sure-fire way to get busted. *sigh*
Burgh Baby’s Mom’s last blog post..A History Lesson with a Twist
I agree with you on everything including freaking blogger who drives me to drink everyday, but it is a love-hate relationship that is sick and twisted….
HRH’s last blog post..My first give away…
I think self-hosting is supah-cool. I’d love to have my own domain name. But I’m supah-lazy about CSS and HTML and stuff that makes my brain fart.
I don’t love Blogger but it’s good for brain farters like me. I wish the comment bug would Go! Away! Way!
Queen of Shake Shake’s last blog post..Give Me That PTA Religion
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