Check Out My Guest Post: What Really Happens When You Give a Preschooler Choices?

A couple of weeks ago, I was given a wonderful opportunity to write a guest post for my friend Jill over at Single Mom on a Budget. This post has everything, from pediatrician advice to mother/daughter play-by-play action, all centered on the theme “choices.” I am so excited for this opportunity, and I sincerely wanted to thank Jill for everything. So without further ado, please run over to Jill’s and check out my featured post, “What Really Happens When You Give a Preschooler Choices?”  

Week 3 Reading: Why and How To Guest Post: B2S/B2B Week 3 Guest Post

A Tale of 3 Bloggers

We Blog Better, The Work At Home Wife, & Me

I really don’t consider myself a blogger. I’m more like an amateur, or a work in progress. The reason why I started blogging was because I needed someone, anyone to desperately read what I was writing. So I guess you could say I needed an audience. Then I realized that I had nowhere for my audience to go. An audience with no place to visit me was like having sweet tea with no sugar. You’ve probably already guessed that I’m southern. Somehow I stumbled upon the world of blogging, and I thought it would be an easy, cost efficient way for me to become famous (maybe one day, right?) by forcing poor souls like you to read my stuff. 

Little did I know, there is nothing easy about the world of blogging. I learned that really quick when my first blog went up in smoke. But a couple of months later, I decided to take another go at it, but this time I was really going to try to make this work. So I pulled out the big guns…

We Blog Better 

“Blogging Tips & Tricks for Much Better Blogging”

Kiesha Easely is the owner and editor-in-chief of WeBlogBetter.com. She’s always blogging about a thousand different ways to help her fellow bloggers. I took the leap a couple of months ago and reached out to Kiesha when I couldn’t understand why my retweet button was displaying the same number of tweets for all my posts. Then I reached out again when I had a question about backlinks. I had no idea when I clicked on her contact form that she would even write back, but she did. And I was shocked. This changed my entire outlook on the blogging world. Here I was trying to do it all alone, when there are people out there like Kiesha willing to lend a helping hand.

So please visit her blog, and also check out the WeBlogBetter’s Birthday Celebration Cash Give-away!! 

The Work at Home Wife 

“Home Business Solutions and Internet Marketing Tactics”

Angie Nelson is a work at home wife, virtual assistant and owner of ASN Virtual Services. Angie truly understands the need to escape the cubicles of the business world, and uses her blog to help others find freedom. Angie has always been very supportive of my writing, by sharing my articles with her followers on Twitter. But she recently allowed me to work on a project for her, on a subject that I truly feel like I barely know anything about, blogging. She couldn’t have approached me at a better time because I really needed a confidence boost.

I think you all will really like her latest post, “Upping Your Game to Overcome Intimidation.” 

Me

As for me, I’ve still got tons of work to do on this blog. But it’s nice to know that I’m not alone.

 

Week 4 Assignment: feature a few of your loyal followers  in a post this week. Act as if you’re their media agent and you’re trying to get them a job. Sell them to your community – talk about how fabulous they are. Or maybe just say thank you to specific followers for their support. You can feature them however you want to – get creative!

I’m Not Only Your Mom

10 Things Your Kids Should Know About You

Now that my daughters are growing up, I think it’s time we had the talk. Not that talk. My girls are only 3 years and 6 months old. I get puked on daily, I go back and forth between play dates and activities to socialize them (note to self, “socializing” is another word for describing how your kids have a life, and you don’t), I read them tons of books in a very happy voice, I kiss boo boos, and I teach the girls new things by singing and dancing to ABC’s, 123’s and specially customized potty training songs. But it’s never too early for them to know, I’m not only their mom!

Here are 10 things your kids should know about you:

1. Mommy Is Not My Real Name: I hear the word “mommy” so many times a day that I sometimes forget my own name. “Kid, my name is NOT mommy.” About 30 or so years ago, your grandma and grandpa had a baby. That baby was me, and the word “mommy” doesn’t appear anywhere on my birth certificate. Although I do enjoy you calling me mommy, at some point in your life, I need you to know that I was and still am the young lady that I was before I became your mommy.

2. I Do Have Eyes In The Back Of My Head: This means that every time I tell you to do something, and then turn my back to walk away, and you proceed to cut and roll your eyes at me, sulking and pouting with your arms folded, I SEE YOU. 

3. I am Psychic: I know that I’m raising you to believe in God, and there will be no black magic in this house. But it’s time I let you in on a little secret, I’m psychic. In fact, all moms are psychic. God granted me these special powers so that I could be a better mother to you. Part of me being a good mom, is preventing you from hurting yourself. So if I tell you the fire is hot, and you will most certainly get burned if you touch it, DON’T TOUCH IT. I don’t think I owe you any further explanation on this matter.

4. I Love To Read, Write, & Dance: My dear child, before Dr. Seuss entered our home, Stephen King, Alice Walker, and Harper Lee were here. I’ve written everything from mission statements to million dollar contracts. And I may not be a great dancer, but I love to dance. When you’re old enough, and that means you have kids of your own, we will head out for a glass of wine and a night of dancing. You may ask, “Why do I have to wait until I have children?” Until then, you will not be able to appreciate the NEED for a glass of wine.

5. You May Be Smarter, But I Will Always Be Wiser: What I learned in kindergarten, you are already learning in pre-kindergarten. Heck, you’ve already mastered using my cell phone and computer. So I will admit, you’re a smart cookie. But you will never be wiser than me because being wise comes with age. Some will dispute this. But no matter how many letters I’ve got attached to my name, I take comfort in knowing a degree has never taught me to be wiser than my mother.

6. I Still Have Dreams: My life did not stop when you were born. I have the right to dream, to set goals, and achieve each and every one of them. So listen here kid, I will always support your dreams, but I will NEVER stop dreaming.

7. I Don’t Negotiate With Children: The answer is a resounding NO. Again, this is another one of those things where I will not offer any further explanation. Just know that I’m the mother, and you’re the child, enough said.

8. Not So Long Ago, I Was A Little Girl Too: I know times have changed, but the one thing we have in common is that I used to be a little girl too. So when you say it’s the end of the world, I somehow know it isn’t.

9. A Stork Didn’t Bring You Here, I Did: When you’re old enough, we will have a conversation that many refer to as “the birds and the bees.” Right now, all you need to know is that you did not come from a stork. You were in my belly for a very long time. I gained over 40 lbs. while I was carrying both you and your sister, and there is no way I’m allowing some bird to take all the credit.

10. Grandma Is Your Best Friend, But Someday I Will Be Your Best Friend Too: This last one is tough for me, and it actually makes me a little jealous sometimes. When I was a little girl, I adored my grandma. She was my best friend. I’m so happy your grandma is also your best friend. You need to know that our relationship will hit many bumps in the road, take a few turns for the worse, and it may get downright nasty at times. But I will always be your mother, and hopefully your best friend someday too.

My darling daughters, now that we’ve covered the basics, I saved the best for last. You should know that I LOVE YOU. And nothing will ever change that.

Moms please join me in sharing a few things your kids should know about you.


credit: AtomicSparkle © istockphoto.com/AtomicSparkle

Week 3 Assignment: Top 10 Networking Tips for New Bloggers (0-100 Followers): B2S/B2B
1. In Pick, you can pick a topic out of last week’s Idea Bank and write about it.
2. In Practice, pick one of the above tips and put it to use this week. Blog about what you picked, what your goals are and how you’re going to meet them.

My Greatest Fear As a Parent

When Brandon and I got married, our plan was simple, to have fun getting to know each other as husband and wife first, before we decided to have children. Our marriage wasn’t perfect, but we sure did have a lot of fun before the girls were born. We worked hard, so we could play hard. We took trips, and partied with our friends. I don’t even remember cooking before we decided to have children.

Then one day, Brandon let me in on a little secret. He was ready. I’m not sure exactly what went through my mind, but I know I felt really happy and honored that he wanted me to be the mother of his children. Our family backgrounds and life experiences are totally different. Let’s just say he’s from small town USA and I’m from big city USA. It was important to Brandon and I that we get our spiritual house in order, so we embarked on a journey of faith to grow closer to God and to each other. Shortly thereafter, we started trying to have children, and it happened a lot faster than we thought it would. In fact, we were partying at homecoming like two children a week before we found out that I was pregnant.

Now we have been blessed with two beautiful little girls. I love my babies, but what I love more is seeing Brandon walk through the door after a long day of work. I love seeing the smile on his face that never seems to fade. I love the way he stares at me when he doesn’t know I’m looking back out the corner of my eye. I love that he makes me feel so safe in a world that’s full of uncertainty. I love that when I think I look like a train wreck, he thinks I’m sexy. And will actually get mad if I say anything bad about myself. I’m my worst critic, so most of our arguments stem from me being overly critical and him being overly optimistic. He’s the yin to my yang, and my partner in crime. So what is my greatest fear as a parent? My greatest fear is losing my husband. That I will be left to parent our children alone. See Brandon’s job requires that he protect others, and his job is what gives me the most stress. So losing Brandon is my greatest fear.

I would like to know what your greatest fear is. Or what advice can you give me to cope with my greatest fear?






Week 2 Assignment:
1.) Come up with 10 (or more!) writing topics for the Idea Bank.

2.) Next, take any ONE topic from the Idea Bank list and use that as inspiration your post for this week.

Back 2 School Back 2 Blogging: The Discussion Plug-In

credit © 2010 DISQUS
Disqus pronounced “dis•cuss” is a plug-in that works with Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr, Typepad, and Movable Type to name a few. Presently, I use Disqus with Blogger. I did a lot of research before choosing a comment system, and Disqus won me over.

Common myths about Disqus:
• Disqus holds comments hostage. Disqus allows it’s users to sync comments locally, so your comments are not being held hostage. In fact, I recently imported all my pre-Disqus comments directly from Blogger into Disqus and exported all of my Disqus comments into Blogger.

• Disqus doesn’t work with Akismet. For those using Wordpress, there is an option in settings that allows users to enable Akismet.

What I like about Disqus:
• Hands down, the customer service at Disqus is amazing. If I email help@disqus.com, I always receive a prompt response from a Disqus representative. To top it off, Gianni, the community manager for Disqus has also responded to my questions, and I’m just a little guy.

• Managing all of my comments in one centralized location is definitely a plus. I can also edit those comments.

• Giving my users the ability to login with Twitter, Facebook, and Yahoo.

• The Extra Widgets that allow you to show a combination of Recent Comments, Popular Threads and Top Commentators.

• Comment threading is also another plus that allows me to engage in discussions with my readers. Upon receiving a comment, I am notified within minutes.

I’m sure there’s much more to Disqus, and I’ve got a lot to learn. But so far, as a newbie to the blogging world, I’m extremely happy!

To learn more about Disqus, please visit them here.







Week 1 Extra Credit Assignment:
Blogger and WordPress Plugins and Widgets