Member Articles

My husband and I were watching TV the other night when I got up to hit the computer. He asked what I was doing and, instead of just telling him that I was checking my mail or finding a recipe, I came clean. I was blogging.

He didn't know that I had a blog; neither did anyone else I know. (I am not even sure anyone in the blogging universe knows since I have yet to get a comment!)

“Why are you doing that?” he asked. His boss blogs on Ford vehicles, and he has said many times how it is such a waste of time. This is one of the reasons why I never wanted to tell him in the first place. Now he thinks that the reason that things don’t get done around here is because I am too busy playing around on the computer and telling the world about our family. Sure, it has nothing to do with the fact that I am pregant, feeling horrible and that I have a toddler to chase around. I'm spending too much time on the computer, obviously!

But I digress. I gave my husband a short answer that closed the subject and we finished our evening in peace, but the question kept haunting me. My husband did have a point: My time could be used in other ways right now. Why do I blog, anyway?

I am 33 and I have two kids and another on the way. Back in 1998, I started working as a nanny for a family I'd known my entire life. I moved in with them just after Christmas that year to take care of their three kids and their house, and I seem to have never left. II met my husband and got married while working there; I had my two kids and came back to work for them. I was extremely lucky to have a job and a boss I loved who let me bring my kids to work with me.

When I became pregnant again this past year, I knew that I could not continue to work in another person’s house with 3 kids of my own. My boss realized this pretty early in my pregnancy, and, when she found someone who would be a good fit, she asked her to start right away.

So now I was out of work much earlier than I had planned to be. On one hand, I was thrilled because I could focus on my home and my family for this firtst time. I got to be class mother and really enjoy my oldest son's first year of school. On the other hand, now I am not bringing in any money. Not that I was making huge bucks, but my weekly paycheck (under the table!) paid for our groceries, and now that that money is gone, it hurts. What to do?