sneak peek

The first thing I want to do is formally welcome all my new readers. The number of blog hits on my webpage doubled between January and today, even while I took a break from mommy blogging. Tracking where you have come from these past six months has been fun and educational.  It assured me that I still have my Top Mommy Blog status, www.topmommyblogs.com which is very important to me, and it also showed me what topics you are most interested in reading about: crazy farm fun and motherhood anxiety.

As with everything else in this great big beautiful world, motherhood is messy. It is equal parts stress and joy, frustration and love. Therefore, while brainstorming my next Big Book Project I discovered that I actually have two projects in the works.

The first, with witty charm and plenty of sunshine, will be called Homegrown Kids. This book will be a compilation of essays focusing on the pure joy I find sharing my life with three fun and lovely children and the crazy adventures we have on our little hobby farm. Brandon and I have chosen to raise our children with  an emphasis on healthy homegrown or locally grown food, animal husbandry, and downtime spent leisurely on our pond, in our porch, on biking trails and around a campfire. Just this morning my children found a baby red-bellied water snake, a rock lizard, a garden toad, and three disgustingly huge tomato horn worms in our backyard. In just thirty minutes. My “homegrown kids” are also videogame junkies and snack food fanatics. This book will hopefully set the record straight as to how we manage to live honoring both realities and also might explain how and why we choose to ”live like Aunt Jemima,” to quote a friend.

My other book project is near and dear to my heart in a very different way. Today Is a Good Day for Chardonnay - A Mother’s Admission, will be a painstakingly honest memoir about my struggles suffering with stress illness. Mine is a life where Xanax has become a reality; as has yoga, meditation, long walks, and the occasional glass of wine when nothing else works. My own health issues are complicated by the fact that although my children are lovely they are also terrible sometimes.  Yes, I said terrible. They bicker non-stop, commonly get physical with each other, and are obsessive compulsive over electronics. This is in direct contradiction to their mother’s desire to have a happy home, so you can imagine that conflict arises from time to time. I am acutely aware that 99.9999% of you can relate to these stresses, some of you are hardwired to find peace in the chaos, while the amygdala housed within my brain tends to head straight toward despair or anger. That complicates things.

So why do I feel the need to share the nitty gritty with you? Because in my heart of hearts I believe that no one wants to read about the perfect family. But everyone wants to know that the imperfect family can still be very, very happy.  Our kids antagonize each other endlessly while swearing their love and devotion to each other in the same breath. My husband and I have many differences of opinion and differing abilities to stay calm, yet we share similar hopes and dreams for the future and a deep desire to see this marriage through. I will cover it all. Unless my hubby deems it Too. Much. Information. Oh yes, I give him editing rights. That is part of the “seeing this marriage through” bit.

So to make this easy for you all future blog posts will be tagged either Homegrown Kids or Chardonnay, to guide you should you prefer one topic over another. Please keep in mind that although you may not suffer from a psychosomatic pain syndrome, most of us moms deal with stress in one way or another. I will cover topics both specific and broad. And although you may have never dreamed of wanting to muck barn stalls or grow your own summer vegetables, there will be much to laugh over and enjoy in my twenty-two pet farm-related posts.  

And remember, if you enjoy my blogs please share them with your friends.

Happy reading & God Bless,

Kristi