Why I write

My dad sent me an article that included the following:

Bloggers probably began as those children who meticulously transcribed their days' events into diaries, carefully locking them afterward with those little keys that, for reasons of genetic predisposition, they always hid in their sock drawer, which is absolutely the first place parents look. (Not that I would ever do such a thing, since you can open them with just a paper clip. So I've heard.)

As adults, these diarists found a new mechanism for their self-expression: the Annual Christmas Letter, the perfect form in which to recount their perfect lives and that of their perfect children, this year featuring their perfect [name of exotic locale] vacation. But these letters are sent only once a year, an unacceptable limitation to people who feel their relatives need frequent updates on The Good Life They're Missing. The limitless capacity of the Internet was what they've been waiting for. That they now include their political and cultural views only intensifies my wish for them to experience Old Testament retribution, such as plagues, locusts, and high interest rates.

The full article can be found here, although you have to register, which is annoying, so just take my word for it that the article was obviously written by someone who doesn't "get it."

First of all, I have to set the record straight - I have never kept a diary for more than a few weeks, because inevitably my little brother or sister found it, and teased me mercilessly. They can still make me blush if they say "George B. is a HUNK!" with just the right intonation, because I wrote that once in third grade. Anyway, he was, but that's beside the point. I have also never sent out an annual Christmas letter. If I ever did try to send Christmas cards, I would probably get them out around February. It's not that I don't care about you or want to wish you a happy winter holiday, it's just that I suck at mail. (A brief word about thank you notes - I suck at them, too. I am extraordinarily grateful for all the gifts we received after Claire was born, and I have bought the notes and will write them and send them someday, hopefully before she's in kindergarten).

Anyway... I also do not keep this blog so that you can catch up on The Good Life You're Missing. I got pooped on today, so badly that it required two loads of laundry and a shower. If that's a perfect life, well, I'd hate to see the imperfect one! My life is hilarious, but it's far, far from perfect.

So why am I doing this? It's simple - math.

I've probably mentioned before that Mary Grace needs sleep like a fish needs a bicycle, right? Well, we started doing this thing when she was really little, where we'll list all the people who love her. Since we don't see everyone as often as we'd like, we think it's a nice way to keep everyone in our hearts. So, we'll start off, "Mommy and Daddy love you, Claire loves you, Max loves you, Kona loves you..." then we'll go through the family... and I mean the whole family. Every night she'll say, "Talk about people who love you!" and we do. Some nights I like to mix it up, and we'll say, "God bless Grandpa," or "Mary Grace loves Grandma," or, "Aunt Mimi misses you..." but we'll do the same phrase for every relative that night.

Mary Grace and Claire have 140 people who love them - and that's just the family. If she's still awake by the time we get to the most distant cousins we can think of, we start with our friends. "Amanda and Matt love you. Barbara and William love you. Shannyn and Ken and Caleb love you. Brandon and Heather, and Lucy and Jane love you. Chelsea and Maddie and Gwen and Sophie love you..." By the time we get through all of those people, we're well over 200 people. My daughters are abundantly blessed with people who love them.

(One of these days I'm going to make a photobook at Shutterfly that has a picture of everyone who loves them - like a yearbook - so that we can read it every night and remember everyone, but that'll take some time... It's on my List of Things To Do Before the Girls Graduate From High School.)

So, I could either single-handedly keep the post office and the photo printing services in business, sending out paper updates and photos (and, let's face it, if I can't get the simple thank you notes out, there's no way I'm going to find time to send out photos), or I can blog. For free. And reach everyone who wants to be reached, and no one who doesn't.

Blogging, for me, is a nice way to keep everyone informed about what's going on in their lives. If I didn't blog, you might not get to smile at the fact that when MG blows on hot food, she blows through her nose instead of her mouth. You might not get to worry along with me about C's pink eye. You wouldn't know them as well as you do through my words. And I want you to know them.

I'm also making a teensy bit of money on the ads that I have on this page (like 9 cents, so far, more if you use the search bar up there, so use it!). Maybe someday I'll get really famous and make 9 cents a day instead of 9 cents a month. A girl can dream, anyway. Until that happens, I'll keep clipping coupons!

And maybe when the girls are older, they'll get a kick out of finding out what they were like when they were tiny. I'm not the baby book type - I've tried, but I totally suck at scrapbooking (or just about anything crafty, for that matter). This is something I can do for them, and hopefully do well. Anyway, that's why I blog, Dad, and I hope you like it!