Stepping Back

I have been giving my blog a lot of thought the past few days.  I am realizing that it is taking too much of my time and I am not getting done the things I need to accomplish, like mopping my floor  I originally started this blog so I would have a place to list items for sale that I have created.  I was planning to make up a bunch of things and then have a boutique sale at my house.  But I wanted to have a website to direct people to for future purchases or where their friends and family could go to buy my stuff.  But as I was creating it I decided it would be a lot more fun to be able to post the things I do on a regular basis….the cooking, the crafting…you know, the things housewives do to make their homes remarkable places that no one really notices but them.

I have been reading blogs for awhile now.  I have seen many posts by the “big-time bloggers” on how to have a successful and popular blog.  And one of the things they all say is to blog every week day.  I have perfectionist tendencies.  If I am going to do something, I like to do it all the way.  So, I decided I was going to blog every week day.  I figured if you’re going to blog you need people to read it.  There’s not much point if no one is following…if no one is liking and using the ideas you are sharing.  So I have been blogging every week day.  It has been really fun.  But now I am realizing that it is really taking my time away from my true priorities, which are my children and husband.

So far, it hasn’t really been too difficult for me to come up with a post for each day.  I have done many projects in the past and had some of them documented in pictures that I could share with you on this blog.  What was really taking a lot of my time was linking up to linky parties.  Again, I felt like I needed to put my ideas out there on linky parties to generate traffic to my blog.  I was trying to do what other bloggers have told me is necessary to have a successful blog.

Anyway, last night I was talking with my husband about my blog and how much time it is taking.  I was feeling really guilty because I haven’t been spending much quality time with my kids and I have certainly been neglecting my housework (thought I must admit I neglected my housework much of the time BEFORE I had a blog!)  I was telling him how I want to make money to help him out and also how I just like to create things.  And if I’m going to make stuff I need to sell it because what else am I going to do with it all?  He told me (like he has many times before) to quit trying to make money and let him take care of it!  And he is right.  That’s his job not mine and he doesn’t need my help anyway…he is doing a great job at supporting our family! 

ANYWAY, what all this rambling boils down to is that I am going to be placing less emphasis on blogging and more emphasis on parenting.  I am still going to share recipes often (I have to cook anyway so I might as well photograph it).  I am still going to create things and list them to sell (have to fund my hobbies this way or I feel guilty for spending money (I’m a very frugal person)!).  I am still going to share my ideas and the things I am doing with you all.  What I am NOT going to do is try to promote my blog.  I am NOT going to try to blog every day.  I am NOT going to do projects just to blog about them later. I am not going to care how many followers I have or how many page views I get a day.  I DO want to try to share some skills and knowledge with you all.  I want to teach you some interior design stuff (the little bit I know).  I want to show you how to do some of the homemaking type things I learned from my mother or grandmother or other places.  I want to share my talents and gifts with you, and especially with my family and real-life friends.

So, I am not going away.  But please don’t be mad if I don’t have a new post every single day!  Once again I want to say THANK YOU for reading and commenting and making me feel like what I have to offer is useful to you!  I DO need that in my life.  Being a homemaker isn’t very glamorous…keeping a house is hard and mostly thankless work.  So it really is very helpful to me to be able to get a little feedback from you, my wonderful readers, on the things I do above and beyond scrubbing toilets and cleaning spills.  I appreciate you!