I would love nothing more than to be able to have a schedule when it comes to blogging. In my glory days (read: when I first started blogging and this place was all mine because no one was reading it and therefore filters and quality control didn’t really exist. Yeah, maybe “glory” is a little dramatic.), I posted three times a week, and boy did I feel fine knowing that those posts were going to get written. I was in control and I didn’t have a whole lot else vying for my attention. I’ve vacillated between posting three and two times a week for over a year now, and lately it’s been a struggle for me to get even two posts up a week because I’m really trying to balance my life out and make it not so much about a singular hobby/interest. I’ve been writing here since my pregnancy with no stops or hiatuses, so motherhood and writing have always been coupled together. My experiences with both are very much intertwined. I, like many other parent bloggers, have noticed the grand irony that whenever things are most difficult at home, I want to write more. However, whenever things are most difficult at home, I lack the time and the energy to actually sit down and do said writing. It’s something I will have to work through as I’m committed to eventually make a modest income from writing and editing, and I realize that while it’s hard being a parent to a toddler, things will remain hard even as she grows out of toddlerhood. Them’s the breaks when you’re in charge of humans that you care about intensely.
So there are a lot of things going on right now, and as you can see by that big honkin’ opening paragraph, I don’t really have a lot of time to edit them down or make them all prettified in real posts. This post is going to kind of be a catch-all of all the things I’d love to write about but can’t because life is big at this moment.
1. The Toddler Bed
Last week we decided to convert C’s crib to a toddler bed. She’s always been a good sleeper and so it seemed like it was worth a try to see how she’d take to a little extra freedom. It has been more difficult than we thought, as all you who follow me on Twitter may have noticed.
B and I are having a disagreement about whether we should just convert it back to a crib, since she has so much trouble falling asleep in the bed and has spent the last two nights in the Pack N’ Play. He wants to keep trying while I just want to convert it back and try again later when she’s older. This whole situation is just begging to be blogged about but sadly, I’m tired. Obvs.
2. Moving
The annual Are We Going To Move Next Year? Games have officially begun. For past years’ installments, read this and this and this. We have decided to move next summer even if neither of us find a job right away. We are both so tired of this town where we live, and we have no future here. In the past years, the idea of moving absolutely crippled me with fear, but this time I am oddly calm and serene. B has already told his boss that he will not be returning for the Fall semester, and in a way I’d rather be burdened with the feeling that I’m falling without a net than with a feeling of indecision and waiting.
I’ve waiting long enough. I’m the damn Waiting. I want 2014 to be the year of The Doing.
3. Babies
Lately I have really been wanting to have another baby. Just putting that out there. I don’t think it’s going to be happening any time soon (or at all), but still. I think I could do this again. (Says the lady who just two items before was complaining about her kid not sleeping.)
In all honesty, I came up with a really hilarious way of announcing the (nonexistent) pregnancy on the blog. Remember what I said earlier about finding balance and not letting certain hobbies dominate your thinking? Yeah, I do too.
4. Tipsy Lit
I don’t know why I never brought this up on the blog because it is kind of a huge deal to me, but awhile back I accepted the position of Managing Editor of Tipsy Lit, Ericka Clay’s literary brainchild. This means that I am now in charge of finding guest posters, scouting for authors and editors to be interviewed by our staff, and handling submissions. Would you like to work with us? (Please say yes please say yes please say yes.) We’d love to work with you. Email me at thewaitingblog at gmail dot com.
Remember that you can really email me anytime about anything. I always love getting messages ;D
5. Remember the Time
And just like that, Remember the Time is almost six months old. Time goes by fast when you’re recounting, well, how time goes by fast. I have loved hosting this bloghop with my gal Kelly and reading all the wonderful posts submitted for the prompts each week. This bloghop would be nothing without the regular participation we get each week from folks like Rob, Meredith, and Zeudytigre, and I thank you all for sharing your memories with us. We have a lot in store for next year. We’ll be taking a break for the week of Christmas, but get ready next week for a holiday party of sorts ;D Start going through your old pictures of your old skool family Christmas parties. You’re going to need them.
6. By Popular Demand
You’ve made it this far in my list of minutiae so now I will reward you with a final item that is mildly entertaining. Last week, as I was sitting at the computer checking my email for the 900,000th time, I heard a Crash-Uh-Oh across the room. Unlike Boom-Uh-Ohs and Silence-Uh-Ohs, Crash-Uh-Ohs get me up pretty quickly because they usually entail C wanting to do a taste test of broken glass. Here is what had happened:
As I am a modern mother, I immediately took a picture of the holly jolly good time that was happening instead of cleaning up the shattered pieces of ornaments and fake pine needles. I then uploaded it to Facebook where several of you told me that I should blog about it. I am not above giving the people what they want. (Speaking of which, did you enter yesterday’s Mockingbird Don’t giveaway yet?) I wish there were a better story behind the crashed Christmas tree, and there probably is, but we are already at 1,134 words and I think I need to wrap.it.up. before the band starts playing me off the stage. Let’s just say that it wasn’t the first crash of the holiday season and it certainly won’t be the last. And honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Sometimes life is better with a little chaos and glass crushed into your carpet.
The Waiting 
If she were ever so slightly older, you’d have been met with, “I didn’t do it. It’s not my fault.”
Great pic. Don’t loose it.
We won’t! I love that pic too.
1) I’m with your husband – stick with the plan.
2) Hmmm….you better have a plan before doing it.
3) This doesn’t sound like a good plan without a plan up in #2. Make a plan.
4) No freaking way – I’m not a writer, I’m a planner!
5) Thank you very much for the recognition. I hadn’t planned on doing this, but am enjoying it and plan to write many more stories.
6) This looks unplanned, but don’t be surprised if one day C writes about it in her blog that it was a surprise plan to see what the heck that little thingie was at the top of the tree!
So tell me what you think about plans, Rob. I am beginning to think you work for the Plan Ad Council. You’ll be happy to know we have several.
I admire you for trying the toddler bed. That is on the list for next year for us. I haven’t tried it yet because I’m so scared that none of us will ever sleep again and naps/quiet time will become a memory. Now I’m at a point where I worry that we’ve put it off for too long.
We had our reasons for trying it out. Since I wrote this post, things have gotten a little bit better. I discovered that telling her that she is in charge of making sure her Baby Bunny toy goes to sleep helps her stay in bed. She’s still getting up suuuuuuuuper early, but I can deal with that.
Emily, My children stayed in their baby beds until they were climbing out on a regular basis. keep ’em reined in as long as you can, I say!
Haha! You are wise! Things are getting a little better since I wrote this. She stays in bed when I put her in charge of making sure Baby Bunny goes to sleep. First child syndrome hehehehe. So responsible.
I kept Baby C in his crib until he learned to climb out of it.
You are far wiser than us. (Don’t tell anyone, but she’s in there right now, sleeping in her bed. Crossing my fingers that she stays.)
Woot!
Thank you for the Tipsy Lit shout out, Emily! You’re a pretty rocking managing editor if I do say so myself. And yeah, we’re in that whole moving phase, too. I’m just not a good fit for suburbia…surprise, surprise! :)
And don’t sweat the toddler bed thing (and I say that as if it’s easy not to). But really, I agree with the above commenters – keep him in until her can climb out – good exercise! :)
Suburbia-schmaburbia. We should relocated TL to Manhattan. Do you know of anyone who’d be willing to bankroll us? ;D
Matt and I are heading there once Ava’s graduated. We wanted to head there sooner but figured 2 yapping dogs, 2 adults and a growing kid in a one bedroom apartment would be pushing it. Maybe we could all chip in for a brownstone. I’ll live in the pantry – snacks while sleeping. That’s what I call a win.
Our little Chandler is still in his crib and I am not taking him out until absolutely necessary! It’s funny though, my daughter never climbed out of her big girl bed once! She was/is so obedient, so she just would call us when she would wake up. I know better with my current little one. He’s 2, and I’m kind of with twin daddy, he can stay there until he learns to climb out!
As far as the blogging, I’ve been feeling a little burned out myself lately. And, it has taken over my life too! Like thinking about things to put on the blog when you’re doing real life things is really annoying to me, but I can’t help myself! I think the frequency that you post is perfect. I would love if you would post more, but I think you’re also living life and that’s important too!
And, I would love to do something with TipsyLit, but since that’s where you write R rated stuff, I’m sure an uptight Mormon may not have much to contribute! ;)
AND….I wanted to write the longest comment to go with your long post. You’re welcome. ;) Thanks for the mention, too.
Blogger burnout really is the worst. I just got out of my worst phase of it yet only a month or so ago, and that time around it lasted for nearly two months. I was so stubborn to continue writing through it because I was afraid that if I went on hiatus I would never return. And while I’m glad that I powered through, I think we could all learn to be a little easier on ourselves and not apply so much pressure to post outstanding work every.single.day. As moms, we already do so much.
We’d LOVE to have you over at Tipsy Lit, and r-rated material is not at all required! (I’ve just found that most of my posts over there are a bit more edgy than the ones I write for The Waiting. I don’t cuss or talk about certain topics here, but on TL I loosen those reins.) I have actually been thinking for awhile that I should get you over there to talk about your blogging journey, since you have been blogging waaaaaay longer than pretty much everyone. Let’s talk!
well, if you want me to write about my blogging journey, there are some juicy details in that involving highly judgmental reactions from family members to some of my blog posts. I need to go check the site out. Haven’t even done that yet!
Oh, and I’m working FOR a blogger too. Haven’t really made that public on the blog, but between working for this other blog, and doing my own, talk about burnout! But there is always that little thing in side me that says…OOOh! That would make a good post! :/
I am with you on the going back to the crib thing. I was there. An eighteen month old who found great joy in taking control of her own life by running around at night. It’s not worth it. You’ve got at least another year of crib life.
Good luck on your move. Hope jobs materialize really quickly!
It’s not so much the running around in the middle of the night as it is the getting up an hour and a half early. OK, so maybe it is a running around in the middle of the night thing, when I put it that way.
Thanks! Very optimistic that we will be back in TN next year.
My son is almost 19 months but we plan on letting him sleep in his crib until he’s climbing out of it. There’s no sense in rushing and you thought she was ready, but maybe she isn’t. No harm no foul right? As for moving, I’m probably not the best to give advice since this year we packed up what we could, sold everything else and moved to Germany. :-)
I would love love to do something with Tipsy Lit so I will email you as I’m not sure what the requirements are. :-)
Oh and there tree out true is so cute!
Geeze autocorrect. That last sentence should actually make sense and say that the tree picture is so cute!
Yay! I am so excited to work with you!
Ha! My 6 month old has figured out how to get himself and his walker over to our tree, and quite a few times I think I got there just in time. Now I keep him sequestered in the kitchen.
Ha! Last year we had a blockade around our entire tree so the baby couldn’t get to it. I probably should have created a similar scenario this year too….
I have so much respect for Moms. That is all. haha
I’m glad you have some respect for me, because there are times when I’m fairly certain my daughter doesn’t ;)
I think now is probably the appropriate time to mention I think it’s amazing how often you blog and how well you write while having a toddler. It’s seriously amazing and inspirational.
Thank you so much, Katie. That really means a lot to me coming from you. I adore your writing too; it’s so tight and funny.
I COULD NOT BELIEVE you had transitioned her into a toddler bed already. Mainly because I COULD NOT IMAGINE putting my hellraiser into a toddler bed in three months. There’s no way. I’m caging my beast until he’s at least 12.
I love you, man. But you’re crazy.
That’s the general consensus these days. My mom just called me and said, “Just read your blog. Why haven’t you put the crib back together yet?”
Life is always better with chaos. It keeps us on our toes… Trick is to just go with it and keep smiling.
Best comment of the day, Mrs. Audra. Love it.
Emily, you are a terrific mom. As a child of the 60s, if I had knocked over our Christmas tree, I guarantee you I would not have survived the offense. I remember when I was six I was so excited about decorating the tree I hugged an ornament. Shattered glass went EVERYWHERE. My mother went so ballistic, she would probably still be hitting me today if a) my dad did not make her stop and b) she wasn’t 14 years in the grave. For the record, my mother was not insane and actually rather loving, but she was an insane perfectionist — a trait neither of my siblings nor I inherited. Parents were just so much more high strung back then. Maybe if blogging existed in that era, my mom would have had an outlet for her holiday stress which was always sky high. As is, I think that picture of C and the toppled tree is hilarious. I love it.
The mental image of you hugging an ornament out of excitement is one of the sweetest things I can imagine. But I have to admit that shattered glass sets off all kinds of triggers in my mom brain. Even a week later, when I ask C about the time the tree fell down, the first thing she says is “shoe” because I freaked out so much to get shoes on her immediately.
So.much.random.awesomeness. …Can’t.organize.my.comments.
I don’t think that tree pic will ever get old. And I forgot to tell you that the fact that you took a picture of it right away means you have officially reached the upper echelons of parenting rock star.
Also, please say you’re moving to St. Louis. I have so much toasted ravioli to share with you.
Oh, and I love that you already have a way to announce your non-existent pregnancy on your blog. I may have talked my husband into the minivan because I already had the concept for the music video. That’s commitment.
I want to move to your town!!!!!!! Or even Memphis would be awesome because then we’d be so close! I have to tell you, though, that you might get tired of me if I became your neighbor. One can only ask for so many cups of toasted ravioli before one starts looking like a bona fide freeloader.
Trust me. You can’t eat that much toasted ravioli. While totally delicious, your digestive system would just give out on you after awhile.
Memphis!!! Let’s go to Graceland together and live tweet our running commentary of Elvis sightings. Or just get wasted on Beale Street and then drunk blog.
We kinda sorta followed the “keep him in a crib until he can climb out” rule – only not so much. Our version was “put lots of big pillows on the floor to break his fall until we feel like buying him a bed.”
I guess there aren’t any rules. I just make it up as I go along. My son’s 10, and he ends up in my bed in the middle of the night half the time. Has bad dreams – or else he just likes my big bed and my cozy comforter. Who cares? He’s not taking me with him to college – that would be AWK-WARD. “Wanna get fucked up? Here’ s my mom, I have to sleep in her bed at night.”
I’m in absolutely no position to give any parenting advice, but whatever decision you make about crib, bed, etc – it’s all good. You obviously adore her and that’s all that matters.
I so enjoy this blog. I blog about my kid a lot, but also about sex and heroin. Hopefully you’ll stop by sometime. I’m really enjoying getting to know you, Emily.
Hey Samara! I make up most of my rules as I go along too. Most of the time, I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to the minutiae of parenting. The one thing I do know is that I learn from making an insane amount of mistakes. I learn a lot, ahem.
Thank you for your kind words! Will head over to your blog! :D
I’m so glad I get to see you before you fly away to bigger and better things! If I’m being honest, I was wondering how you’d gotten stuck in G-boro. A thriving bed of inspiration it is not. I hope the new year brings you all you could hope for, in a BIG way!
Oh man, G-boro actually sounds great compared to we are. We are in F’ville. :P I would LOVE to be closer to the place you call home ;D
Oh, geez! I’m sorry for the mix-up! Yes, I have a friend who was born and raised in Fayetteville – I know it well. All I can say is, I hope you find your forever-home soon! I’m not sure if I’ve found mine yet either, but I’m definitely not complaining about the Triangle.
Why is it that we blog so much more when we have the least amount of time? IAt least that’s what I do – but then again I have zero set schedule/expectations for myself for how often I need to post (I’m a bloggy slacker and have no plans to change that). I suppose it’s a way to process and deal with the stress/crap in our lives and let it go with the click of a button.
p.s. you’re scaring me, i have a very good sleeper right now and the thought of the toddler bed transition being horrendous had not occurred. Until now.
Don’t be too scared. The longer we do the toddler bed, the more we’re finding ways to keep her in throughout the night. It’s mostly the mornings that are hardish now. She’s been getting up about an hour and a half earlier than she used to, but the upside is that she seems to be OK just climbing in bed with us and cuddling. No one sleeps, but it’s still a nice time.
Good choice not to get upset over a bulb in the child’s sense of wonder and the magic of the season.
Thanks!
My son got a big bed around 2. There were times we’d hear a noise and look up to see him run past our bedroom in the middle of the night. We’d find him helping himself to a midnight snack with the fridge door open. Overall he did pretty well and we got some really funny memories.
Good luck!
Thanks! Things are getting easier with the toddler bed. I’ve discovered that asking her to make sure her babies who she sleeps with are all tucked in and sleeping soundly keeps her from getting up a bunch of times after I put her down. Once she’s asleep, she’s out for the night (so far.) She gets up pretty early in the morning, but we’ve been enjoyed all cuddling in bed together before the day starts.
Where to start? There’s so many exciting pieces to this post, Emily! Honestly, I thought you were blogging much more than 2 to 3 times a week… But that’s how much I know! It’s amazing to me that you are as consistent and as frequent with your posts as you are, given the huge responsibilities you have every day. I’m honestly not sure I could’ve done it when I had a toddler.
I’m not all that surprised that the Christmas tree story is as mundane as it is, so many things are in the big picture… But with toddlers and young children the mundane stories pile up!
Giant kudos to Mazel for the new job! You’re perfect for it. I’m so excited for you, and I know you’ll do a great job! Wonderful post with lots of great updates. So glad you’ll continue the blog hop- I don’t do it as often as I’d like, but I enjoy reading them and the idea is great. Here one amazing mama!!
Thanks, Dawn! I love that picture too and the story that goes behind it. It is amazing to think that this time last year, she was just crawling and eating mushed food, and now she’s knocking over trees and telling me exactly what she wants. I’m glad I grabbed the camera and took the picture because these days life is happening pretty fast with her and I know that if I blink I may forget these days.
I’m so excited about TL too! Be prepared to hear from me at the beginning of the new year about getting you to submit something ;D
I often wonder if I can put the three year back into the crib. It would make my life much easier.
It’s worth a try, especially if your sanity is at stake.
I know what you mean about the tree. My daughter as a toddler broke more than a few ornaments. What I did was to get printed patterns for colorful ornaments and sew up some stuffed fabric ornaments. When she pulled one off she could also play with it and no harm done. I also decided to put a small artificial tree inside a playpen for a few years. I used to put pillows on the floor near the crib when my son decided one day to climb over the rail and drop to the floor. Memories are made of that. P.S. Joshi
Those are some fantastic ideas! I need to make C a felt tree too!
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