I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. You can find the full list of participants over on San’s blog here #nablopomo2023
Today we drove halfway to Las Vegas (visiting our good friends). Nothing much happened. The drive on I-5 from the Bay Area is pretty boring but it is the fastest. It was raining most of the way anyway so not much to do outside. The upside: there were clouds! Do you like clouds as much as I do?
But now back to answering questions.
On day one of NaBloPoMo I did a little introduction round and asked if you had questions. You can still fill out the form if you like. This is the second round of answers on this. You can find round one here and one about why I live in the US in more detail here.
What’s your favorite book?
If you would have asked me in High-school I would have answered “Siddharta” by Herman Hesse. We read it in school and it really got my teenage brain thinking. Honestly I don’t remember much now. Later came Harry Potter. I think that is the one book I would like to be able to read again for the first time.I also like the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and am contemplating re-reading it. I just don’t have that much time to read, sigh. A little magic is always good and I enjoyed the “Rivers of London” books from Ben Aaronovitch. My taste is a bit all over the place and there is not one specific book I can’t live without. I do prefer fantasy, historic fiction or YA but I am not too picky. I wish I had more time to read but I do listen to books whenever I can.
Do you have a book you think I should try? Any special one you can’t imagine life without?
What is a hobby you do?
This is probably already answered when you followed along. I do like to do things with my hands – no matter if it is pottery, knitting, crochet, sewing, drawing, painting, gardening, baking. How can you pick just one?
What role does blogging play in your life?
I am a little sad to say not a very big one unless it is November. My family wants to stay out of it so I am trying to stay vague about them as much as possible but it is hard as they are always on my mind. I love the community that came with it and I was hoping to keep up after last November. It proved really hard. I missed everyone and was still checking in occasionally but mostly followed quietly along. I am doing the #project365 on Instagram where I try to post a picture every day what I enjoyed. I don’t do it for the followers but for the connections and for myself. Being an introvert is not easy sometimes and working and family and other hobbies and friends – something got to give. It gets easier as the kids get older – at least mostly.
And last but not least: How do you find parenting? What’s it like to be a parent to tweens and teenagers?
I love my kids dearly but I sometimes find it challenging to balance them and myself. There is quite a few things I don’t do right now because it would take time away from parenting. I am sure I am not alone with that? Honestly my kids make it mostly easy. They turned into very responsible tweens/teenagers. I don’t think I can credit myself for all of it. My husband and I make a good team and they had an awesome aftercare in elementary school. The teachers there were kind and helped them keep their homework organized. I think it really carried over. The emotionally ups and downs are harder. I see more of myself in my daughter what is good and bad. It brought up quite a few insecurities I had when I was growing up. I would say so far so good. I keep checking in with them every day and make it a point to know who their friends are. Try to get them to bring them home. I volunteered quite a bit in the lower grades and am glad I know most of the parents and the other kids they hang out with. The very big drama passed us by so far and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it stays this way.
It feels like social media and the pandemic really elevated all the usual issues that were already around during my time like eating disorders and other instabilities brought it to a whole new level and it’s heart breaking to hear about.
The hardest thing for me really is that my mom passed away a couple of years ago and I can’t ask her for advice or how it was when I was growing up.
One last thing outstanding: Christmas in Germany
I will get back to that in December when we are there.
Home here and there 
I’ve never been able to do a whole month of blogging successfully. I always have good intentions and then somewhere along the way I just loose my thread. I miss the old days of mommy blogging because of the community I felt I was a part off – so many of us don’t do it anymore. I try to revive it a bit with my Substack but I tend to overthink things and then it goes no where.
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Yes! I feel like NaBloPoMo forces you to let go a little more since you committed to do it 😉
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Life happens away from the computer. So don’t feel guilty for not keeping a blogging schedule throughput the year. That said, I still love when one of your posts pop up in my reader.
As for the books. I will forever cherish Jostein Gardens Kartengeheimnis/Solitaire Mystery and will not want to miss that book in my life. It is a great one when I was a teenager and it was great when I reread last year.
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I did have a whole Jostein Gardner collection but gave them away except Sofie’s World. I think for me that was the favorite of them all.
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My main hobby is reading. I feel like everything else gets in the way of me reading. I wonder what it says about our personalities that you can’t choose and I’m resentful of everything else!
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Hmm, not sure. I think what appeals to me is a with crafting you are not sitting still and have something in your hands when you are done? Sitting still is really hard for me these days. I will get back to reading eventually I feel.
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We really lose ourselves when we parent, don’t we? Some people manage to not lose themselves, but honestly, kids are a lot of work and mental energy. There’s nothing wrong with that, you will be able to adjust and re-calibrate when they are a little older. If you are frustrated with it in the here and now, perhaps some adjustments can be made to lighten your load a bit, especially since they are getting older.
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I feel like it already is getting easier. Sometimes I am just tired of the notion that “you can have it all”. Can have it all is a lot of hard work (at least for me). It’s a constant compromise what I am totally ok with. There are stretches that are easier than others but all in all I can’t complain. It’s all about figuring out the priorities 😉
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The Outlander Series is my favorite book series, hands-down. I am currently rereading the whole series (started shortly before book 9 came out in 2021, I am now in book 7. It takes time but it’s worth it to me because I like to be fully immersed in a story and love that the story continues… ).
I know it’s hard keeping up with blogging during the year… I am actually glad most people don’t blog daily because it would be impossible to keep up, but 2-3 posts a week is nice. I hope you’ll continue to blog when NaBloPoMo is over. 😉
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Maybe this 2nd time round leaves it enough in my system that I just keep going (on a reduced schedule).
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Yes- it’s hard having a daughter, and I also don’t have my mom anymore. I never really realized it until she was gone- you still need your mom, even when you have kids of your own.
LOVE Harry Potter! JK Rowling is my favorite author, and if you told me to only pick one book series to read for the rest of my life, it would be that one.
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I am sorry your mom is gone, too. It has been over 10 years for me but it’s really hard. I feel I understand her much better now, too and would like to tell her. Some things suddenly make sense when you have your own kids, sigh.
I have a continuous debate about Harry Potter vs. Percy Jackson with my daughter. She thinks Percy Jackson is much better because the characters are more diverse and you even learn something about Greek mythology 😂
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I’m trying to get caught up on some of my blog reading. I like to do things with my hands too. I bake and I love to draw and sew and create, but I really don’t do much of that except for the baking. I agree, there is only so much a mom can take for herself while parenting. Could you write more about your family if you gave them fake names? That’s how my blog works, but if you already have friends and family reading it -then I guess that won’t work. It’s fun getting to know you better.
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Hmm, I guess since people who know me could find the blog fairly easily, the re-naming will not really work. It’s also not like I am not mentioning them at all. You may just need to read more closely 😉
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