It's Been Too Long...

Oh my goodness! It has been a LONG TIME since I have posted and I am aware how inconsistent I seem. I have a confession to make: It's hard to carve out time when you have a toddler...and, you don't really want to! You'd rather tickle him or watch him eat a Popsicle or stick your feet in his sandbox while he plays.

I was motivated to start blogging again because of two reasons:

1. I had a friend comment that she had been "trying to keep up with me" through my blog...and though I know she was talking about her own hectic schedule, I realized, there's been nothing to keep up with!
2. I was listening to NPR and I heard a fascinating story on the powerful MommyBlogger.

#2 is what I where I would like to start my random narratives. NPR has become what I listen to on the radio all of the time. I happen to think Dick Gordon has one of the nicest voices I've ever heard. Anyway, I was listening to a gentleman describe the Mom blogs and the frustration some have with the authenticity of them.

If any of you have followed my blog consistently, which I doubt anyone has, I'm not all that interesting, then you would know that I have been wanting to monetize this blog and make it an income stream for me. What is interesting is that this story seemed to question whether or not that was the important thing in the realm of the Mommy Blog.

Apparently, there are tens of thousands of mommies out there making money off of their blogs. Some of them are doing so through sponsorships, advertising or even recieving swag from companies that they blog highly about! The concern is that some of these mommies may be saying only positive things about certain products due to an incentive of some sort provided by the company.

I decided after hearing this that I needed to make a disclaimer for my blog! I do not recieve money from sponsors, or free diapers, or free sippy cups, or free anything for my comments about products. I do share my opinions on products freely so that someone can either pick up on an idea or criticize it. I have realized that being a mother does not make me an expert on motherhood. Far from it! I'm LACKING in knowledge and need to know it desperately.

So when I share that my mother went out and bought Huggies Natural diapers for Nathanial and they were the softest most wonderful diapers I have ever felt, please know that I am not saying this because Huggies is offering me free diapers to do so. However, Huggies big wigs, if you would like to send me free products, I will gladly accept!

So, when you read my blog, I am not tailoring what advice or products I share to match a sponsors needs or wants. Do I throw products in to help me rank a little higher on search engines and to help Adsense pull appropriate ads for my site? Sure. I'm not sure it's working, but I do want more readership, involvement and appropriate adversising through Adsense.

Does this mean that I think those moms who do work on sponsorships and free swag should be condemned? Heck no! They are making a living doing something they love and are able to balance with a family while recieving free products. Good for them! Who wouldn't do this?

I'll have a "real" post tomorrow...or at least, try to!