zThe Mother 'Hood: Guide to Canadian Mom Blogs

So long, farewell, auf Weidersehen, goodbye...

This is the post that no blogger ever wants to write. This is the post that no blogger thinks will ever come.

This is the goodbye post.

Her Bad Mother's Mother'Hood is closing up shop, at least for the time being. It's been a difficult couple of months, as many of you know, and I've come very close to quitting blogging entirely: too many challenges, too much heartache, too much emotional energy being drained away. Too much, it felt sometimes, to keep writing. Too, too much.

It's hard work, being a mother. It's the hardest work you'll ever do. But sometimes, it's even harder when you're living out your motherhood on the screen, when you're constantly analysing and recounting and reliving your challenges through the written word. It's also wonderful to do this, of course - it provides unparalleled insight into one's own experience - but still. Hard. All the more so for me, given the volume of writing and busybodying that I do, and the unique challenges of these past couple of months...

Which is to say, something had to give, and the thing that I'm giving up is this, the Mother'Hood. Maybe temporarily, maybe a bit longer than temporarily - in any case, it's something that I have to do, for my own wellbeing. I have to keep loving writing, I have to keep wanting to write, and to keep that love and that desire alive I have to maintain a balance. So, for now, I'm choosing to slow things down a bit, and allow myself the time and space to enjoy my home blog, and to tinker with other beloved projects, and to experiment with more creative writing.

I'll miss you, but know that I'm still out here, I'm still touring the hood, I'm still basking in the warmth and support and love and humour that defines the Canadian momosphere. I'm just relinquishing my UrbanMom's post as guide to that sphere. I'm still walking beside you, enjoying.

Come visit me at my home, sometime. And stay tuned for news about what exciting feature will replace the HBM Mother'Hood Tour - it's certain to be good!

TTFN. 

To the end of the world and back

Shameful, really, my holiday absence. Shameful. Over one full week away, and I didn't even post a 'gone fishing' sign on my door. I would have done, but - in addition to the fact that I had not, as it happened, gone fishing - I did not know that I'd be taking a break from blogging. I took a few days to travel west to visit family, fully expecting to do some good ol' remote posting on the road, only to face a blogger's worst nightmare: NO WIRELESS CONNECTION.

The withdrawal was brutal, brutal. But it was made all the worse by the fact that in addition to being cut off from my primary source of therapy, I was cut off from my primary source of information. And for a few days there, I needed information BAD.

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We had only been in the interior of BC for one day when WonderBaby began breaking out in spots. Chickenpox, it turned out, but until we were able to track down a medical professional on the holiday to tell us what, exactly, was happening to our sweet baby, we were gripped with panic. What were the spots? Was she having an allergic reaction to something? Had she been bitten by something? Had she contracted, somehow, in the middle of the wintry semi-arid desert landscape of Cache Creek, BC, a tropical disease? What was happening? Where were we going to get information? Where in holy hell was the Internet when we needed it???

It was all fine, in the end. WonderBaby survived her pox, I survived my Internet withdrawal, and the Husband survived my hysterics. But next time? We're travelling with remote wireless, and, very possibly, a hired medic. For sanity's sake.

Happy Holidays, HBM-style

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Have a wonderful weekend, however you celebrate it.