5 Years of Blogging

Today, February 23rd, is the 5th anniversary of The Melder Family Blog!  Now, my blog is very low key.  If you are out in the blogosphere, you know what a real, serious blog looks like.  Mine is definitely not one of those.  But it has been an undertaking, a commitment and a learning experience.  I thought it would be fun to make some lists (you know me, I love lists!) and reflect on these last five years of blogging.

A Few Things that Have Changed in the Last 5 Years:
1. When I started the blog, we had two kids.

Now we have four!

2. In 2010, I was a stay-at-home mom and also still worked part-time for a marketing research company.  In 2015, I'm happily focusing just on being a stay-at-home mom for now.

3. In the past 5 years, I've learned a lot about motherhood (although I have tons more to learn in the coming years I'm sure).  Probably one of the biggest lessons I've learned is that perfectionism and motherhood do not go hand in hand.  Being a mom is exhausting (and exhilarating) enough on its own without me pushing myself to be perfect (I'm not talking about sanctification here, I'm talking about people-pleasing, measuring-up perfection).  Instead, daily I'm challenged to give myself grace, learn from my mistakes, ask forgiveness and look forward to a fresh start tomorrow.  It's going to be a lifelong journey letting go of this natural characteristic, but I've definitely been forced by this role as a mom to accept my imperfection and not waste my life being upset by it.

What I've learned from Blogging for 5 Years:
1. I had no idea I liked to write!  Ok, so again, my blog is very chill.  But every now and then I enjoy the opportunity to write creatively, throw in some humor or delve into my deepest thoughts and type it out.  It's become a therapeutic, creative outlet for me that I had no idea would bring me such relief from sharing our times of joy to those of frustration and fear.  

2. We have such a wonderful network of loving, caring, interested friends and family the world over that I absolutely love keeping up to date with this blog.  Sure, sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed when I get behind on sharing our notable ups and downs, but for the most part, it brings me great joy to stay in touch with so many and share these glimpses (posts) of our lives with all of you.  


Well, anyways, this post may not be that interesting to you, but to me it's a celebration that I've been able to keep up with this journaling about our lives these past 5 years.  Thanks for joining me on this journey (which I do plan to continue).  I'm so thankful for all your support, feedback and love for the Melder Family.