Thanks for your work here. I appreciate your perspective and your heart for God.

My thoughts & prayers are with you as you anticipate and experience the upcoming birth of your child.

My daughter, Jenny, referred me to your site and I’ve really enjoyed it. I remember those days with little ones–I have 5 grown children and live on a farm. Before blogging, the internet, and cell phones, I found myself often looking forward to “snail mail” (the only available mail at that time). I also voluteered anyplace they would also allow me to bring my children–you’d be surprised at the number of places you can find like this! I made a sort of routine for myself to visit the same stores when I drove to town (20 miles) for groceries, etc. That way I learned the names and faces of the store employees and they recognized me (the short lady with “all those kids”!) and remembered me. It helped make up for the long days when my husband was “in the field” for hours and not accessible for conversation (remember, no cell phones!). I love your blog and wish I’d have had something like it about 25 years ago–do you know of one for older moms/grandmas that is similar?

Chere

This post rings true for me,too. I’m at home with my three (always have been) and we live in a big “family friendly” neighborhood, one where I am one of a just a few at-home moms.

Blogging does help ease that sense of isolation along with offering affirmation for my choice to be at-home rather than off in Corporate La-La-Land.

Your conversion story humbles this cradle Catholic, btw. Thank you for challenging me.

I happen to be a military spouse who moves quite frequently. The blogging community acting as the community well resonated with me at a deeper level because it became a real source of comfort for me during our latest move when I didn’t know anyone and I was too tired to do anything about it. It took me a while to catch on to the blogging phenomena as it exploded when we were overseas and did not have good internet connection … I admire your use of blogging in exploring so many worthwhile subjects. I personally have not felt up to that in the way I have been conducting mine — it’s not a well-read blog — but I have valued it as a creative outlet and I have greatly valued the blogging community where I still find myself surprised when I read about someone struggling with an issue that I thought was so original and isolating. Thank you for articulating on these subjects so well and inviting the rest of us into your thoughts.

Since we make so many life choices that are not mainstream (7 children, homeschooling…) it IS difficult to make a real connection with people who view us as odd.

That’s why I love my bloggy buddies!

in my old neighborhood we lived near a park where I would walk four or five days a week, first when I was pregnant and then after I’d had the baby. I got to know many of the other regulars, especially the dog walkers who are out every day rain or shine, cold or warm. There was a large group of people who all obviously knew one another, a community of dog walkers.

At first I felt like an outsider, but once I got to the point where I recognized faces and said hello to the same people week after week, the park came to be an inviting place. If I missed for a couple of weeks because I was sick, the dog walkers would notice my absence and ask where I’d been. There were a couple of little old men in particular who always greeted me with a warm smile. They commented on my growing belly and then on my growing baby.

I hadn’t thought about it, but that was a sort of community. A while back I returned to the park and saw one of my little old men again. He expressed regret that I’d moved away, astonishment at how big my daughter was and remarked on my obvious pregnancy. We had a shared past and therefore something to talk about. If we’d continued to live in that neighborhood he’d have watched my family grow and my kids growing up. After a time he’d have become an old fiend.