If you’ve read any of my previous posts you’ll know the one thing I find hardest is not having any time. Three very young children and an Open University course is hard work. You’ve seen photos of my ironing basket ( admittedly its now about three times that size ). So how am I finding time to blog, when usually I’m complaining I don’t have time to brush my hair?
The answer is blogging is taking priority over other things. Where I used to check facebook first thing in the morning, I’m now on my blog and twitter, I’m neglecting my actual in the flesh friends for my new virtual friends. That can’t be right can it? When the kids beg for ‘just one more Peppa, Mummy’ I’m saying ‘OK just one more’, cause it gives me 5 more minutes to blog. What a bad Mummy. As for my OU course, well lets just say I’ll be one giant ball of stress 2 days before my next assignemnt is due. I was wondering whether it was just me experiencing this sorry state of affairs when I read this post from Kate Takes 5, which made me feel a little bit better, although the rooms of my house already look far messier than Kates.
My other half is quite happy, as me on the laptop means he gets to play ‘Battlefield’ on the computer without a lot of disapproving looks, but then it seems quite sad that the only time we get to spend together we are doing different activities. Is this the way our lives are going? Where we become so involved in our virtual worlds that the real world gets left behind. Obviously with three children there is no way I could retreat totally into a virtual world, but I wonder about people who live alone, is there the possibility they are living through their computer, becoming more and more detached from reality.
Even interacting with people face to face at work is becoming less common as people work from home more and use instant messaging instead of picking up the phone. Obviously technology has huge advantages and I love facebook and twitter as they allow me to keep in touch with people that I would never have time to visit or call, but I worry about the future, especially for our children. I dread the day when they want to be alone in their rooms on a computer instead of playing outside enjoying the sunshine. I want them to grow up enjoying the outdoors having fun with friends playing imaginary games. I hope I can help them find a happy medium between enjoying and appreciating technology and being happy and socialable outside the virtual word.
I don’t mean this post to sound negative towards blogging or any kind of social media, I love technology and I am constantly amazed at how far it has come in the 10 ( or maybe 12 ) years since I started university and e-mail was in its beginnings. The internet is fantastic, I love that you can find our anything almost instantly, and information sharing is invaluable to us as a human race. I just worry thats its too easy to leave a real life behind.
Blogging has for me been massively positive step. I have already ‘met’ some fantastic people who have welcomed me wholeheartedly into the community of Mummy blogging and I am always astounded that people take the time to read what I have written and comment on photos. Blogging is a fantastic way to meet like minded people, share experiences and help each other through good and bad times. Its an outlet that perhaps people might not have elsewhere, which can only be a good thing.
I really want to keep blogging so I’ll have to find a way to split my time, so if you see me tweeting past 10pm, please tell me to go to bed, read a book or talk to my husband.
>Hear you loud and clear! Used to be up on all my FB friends. Now I view the world through Fancy colored glasses and take notes on my iPhone…sigh.
>Thanks Fancy! I was a bit worried that post might have come across a bit negative. I didn't mean it to.
>Really great post. I think it takes a while to settle into a pattern that works for you – without neglecting your children, your friends or your own sanity! I still have my feet a little too much in the virtual world but I make sure to take stock every couple of weeks to make sure it's not getting too out of hand (the washing that is..)
>Hi just found your blog via another and very glad I did. Love this post and it is very easy to go into your own virtual world. You children are still small and presumably in bed early but as they get older more of your evening is eaten away and you have to stay up much later to continue in the virtual world!! Believe me your kids will keep you in the real world without a doubt but will give you plenty to blog about too!! If you get a chance pop over to muminmeltdown.blogspot.com. thanks x
>firstly i cannot believe you have 3 small kids AND you are doing an OU course – the first time i got pregnant i used this as an excuse to temporarily quit my OU – and haven't yet gone back…as far as blogging – i think it is really usual to get caught up in blogging when you first start (i certainly did) but then you find your groove and can balance things much easier – i sometimes go for massive long blogging breaks and then come back refreshed!I can relate to husband and you doing your different virtual things in the evenings – that is pretty much us a lot of the time!
>Thanks for the comments everyone. Mum in meltdown – yes they in bed at 7 so we do have a long ish evening!Elsie – I am barely managing my OU course, I'm just hoping it will all work out in the end 🙂
>I completely agree with you hun. I used to be addicted to facebook, which has my 'real life' friends on it but since starting my blog I have gone on it less and less and go on twitter which has my 'online' friends on it. I find blogging so therapeutic and addictive.x
>I only started blogging a little over a month ago and am amazed at how much time I have to devote to it. I thought I'd be able to spend about 30 mins on it every other day or so… but nooooo… it's fairly addictive!! There are good things and bad things about blogging (same as everything) but I guess you find that balance and sometimes compromise a little bit. I was ill a few days ago and couldn't log on – and actually, it was nice to have a break from the PC…! Keep finding time, your blog is really nice 🙂
>I just re tweeted your post. It's so hard to do everything isn't it ! I love tweeting and blogging. It keeps me sane! but I have to say it is rather addictive ! Tweet / tidy the kitchen ? Blog / Do the ironing ? It's also lovely to meet your titter friends too, I've made some lovely friends!
>I love this post and am currently writing something similar for my own blog. I worry that blogging is affecting my relationship with my fiance as he is happy to work all the time while I blog but we do sit together working on separate things. I try not to go on the laptop when the babies are awake but if one is on the jumperoo and I am breastfeeding the other I do catch up with Twitter and email then. Is it too much? I don't know. I do know that my house is not as nice as it should be and could be if I did not blog!
>It's so true how stuff like this can take you over. I remember one day last month panicking that my daughter had slept in and therefore I'd missed all the Silent Sunday posts going up. That was when I realised I was getting too wrapped up in it.Also, I've got tweet alerts on my mobile so when someone tweets me I get a text. I was always hoping on to twitter to tweet them back. I don't now, I wait until I'm ready to go on Twitter.Thankfully these two long Bank Holiday weekends have made me spend some lovely quality time with my husband and daughter and we have a break away this month and a long holiday in June. I'm definitely putting life before blogging now and it feels good.