July 10, 2011


We had a nice night in on Friday.. barbecued some chicken, sat out on the balcony for a while and then watched movies on instant Netflix. Sometimes just hanging out at home and keeping it simple is just the thing you need. It's easy to get caught up in "the weekend." Everyone's Facebook and Twitter updates are "goin out tonight!" or "drinking with friends!" or "dinner and a movie date night." It's no surprise to anyone that it's a bit harder to be doing all (or any) of these things sometimes when you're a parent, but over time you learn to balance things. You give and you take, you lose and you gain. Sometimes my friends, like last night for example, get on me for not knowing about everyone's lives via Facebook because I'm hardly on there anymore. At first this really got to me. Why do I have to lurk all day on Facebook to know about my friends' lives? What ever happened to calling each other and meeting up in person to catch up? I know I haven't been getting any phone calls. But that's the thing these days, social media is not only the quickest and easiest way to keep up with people, it's becoming one of the only ways. I may not be on Facebook much but that's because I'm learning to balance just like everyone else, kids or no kids. It's hard to keep every single one of your friends happy, your husband happy, your baby happy, family happy, and then there's the entire internet world which includes not only Facebook now, but Twitter and the bloggers and readers. Oh yea... and I guess there's keeping myself happy too.
Almost every day I see someone tweet about feeling left out (I've been there) or feeling like someone hasn't "talked" to them in awhile (been there too) and they may just be referring to tweeting, but a lot of the time they're referring to their blogs and readers as well. It's so easy to get caught up in this internet world, and then the parts of your "real world" suffer even if you wouldn't think it. 
I just want everyone to know, I appreciate everything and everyone. Every blog comment, tweet, Instagram comment, Facebook "like" and email means a lot and though I may not be around on here, or out on the town all the time, or replying to every comment it doesn't mean I don't care. It just means that I'm probably working on some other part of my life that needs a little tending to. But I'm working on it. Some things will always have priority over others but every day I learn to balance things a little more.
How do you balance it all?


  1. Would you have any interest in mentioning a giveaway for a Sophie Giraffe? My friend is adopting a child from Russia with Special Needs and needs all the help she can get.. Here is the link to her blog :)

  2. Awesome post! From 1 mommy to another--- YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!! ;)

  3. This is so kind of you too even write this. I cant even fathom how tough it may be to keep you life even in balance with a beautiful baby and family and friends and your self just happy.

    So to take this time to write this is so so kind. I just adore reading your blog and seeing all your pictures :) Thanks for your blog!

  4. I really like and appreciate this post. I'm honestly not very good at balancing the different parts of life. A lot of times it feels like I'm doing great at one and then remember I'm neglecting another. Life is about learning, though, and I continue to learn every single day. :)

  5. Balance. Hmm. Well, the older I get the more I realize that my family comes first (this includes me). It's good to catch up with friends when I have the time, but then again I've pared down my group of friends to a select few that I truly enjoy. Those true friends, you know. The ones where you can just pick up an old conversation as though no time has passed. The ones who understand that life is busy and enjoy the time they have with you instead of using that time to make you feel guilty. I think this is the key (at least for me). To surround myself with a network of awesome people who appreciate the time I do give to them.

    As far as blogs and bloggers, I comment when I have time (like now!). I appreciate comments when my other blog friends have time. But I do not get hurt when I get no comments. My blog is very much for me, and if I wrote it to receive comments I think I would be writing it for the wrong reasons.

    I don't know if I'm just going off on a tangent about something completely different and not what you were looking for at all -- but I guess it struck a nerve with me.

    To sum it up, I think I find balance by figuring out the people/hobbies/blogs most important to me and trimming the fat, so to speak. Nothing wrong with being selective about who/what you choose to spend your time on, in my humble opinion, because time is precious and life is oh so short to try to please everyone.

  6. I love this post! It's so true how easy it is to get caught up in "the weekend." Living far away from most friends and all my family, I've found social media to be the easiest way to know what's going on in friends' lives and for them to know what's going on in mine. However, I know only certain people keep up with me thru my blog, others thru Facebook or Twitter. I think it all depends on the person.

    I certainly don't think there should be any pressure to stay on top of all things Internet 24/7. Family should always come first in my opinion. We can try our best to respond to comments, "like" a friend's status on Facebook, etc. but hopefully as we continue to work to balance everything (an ongoing struggle) others will be more sensitive to our lives. After all, we're all moving at different paces.

  7. I think our problem in this society is the "pressure" to have to keep up with all of these things in our life that we keep adding to, thinking we need it. And then we feel the "guilt" when we can't answer every comment, phone call etc etc. I balance things by trying not to worry about everything I need to balance & focus on those that mean the most to me. At the moment that's family. Good on you for chilling out and relaxing with your lovely husband & gorgeous baby. We'll still be here tomorrow

  8. Thank you for this blog. I have been feeling this way. I work (7am) and spend time in my studio sewing away(sometimes until 10pm) and when I come home all I want to do is make dinner and cuddle with my man watching Netflix (so I think your night in was lovely!). I used to be the eternal single party girl always available to my friends. Now I spend any spare time trying to grow my clothing line and every now and then I get crap for not being at the clubs or messaging everyone on FB. Good friends support you no matter what. Thanks again.

  9. Amen, sista. I love this. And we love you.



  10. thanks for posting this! i feel like this too! i feel like i'm being pulled from every direction! i don't have time to go and read through thousands of tweets and tweet back to everyone, or even just comment on anything. your priorities are that family of yours and having an awesome time with your baby! it's good to not be connected, so good for you!

  11. I love a quiet evening with just my little family, although sometimes I feel like a hermit and don't get out enough. The balance part of everything, especially when you have kids is something I'm still working on.

    I've totally thought about quitting facebook. The only real reason I'm on there is to connect with distant family. I think that I think its good to get away from the internet for a weekend, it feels very relaxing. I plan on doing that asap.

  12. Amen! Well written :) I am there with ya girl!