mamasaysmine

One of the things that’s been driving me a little crazy about blogging lately is that it seems like everything’s been done. Have a great idea for a post? Done. Got a special deal? Done. Even giveaways all seem to run together. And don’t get me started on free samples.

Sometimes I look at other blog posts and think that I could say it better or that I have a unique “take” on a topic.

But sometimes, somebody else just says it exactly right.

Like this post from Cecily about some of the (truly terrible) criticism she’s gotten from her blog posts.

She’s exactly right - blogging may always straddle the fence between a soapbox and a dialogue, but when people say hateful things they’re not providing feedback. They’re being hateful, and a normal response is to feel hurt.

So play nice on the internet, people. None of us are perfect, and all of us have a lot to learn.

So I took the summer off, unintentionally.

And then Labor Day came and went, and now it’s almost October.

I know a lot of bloggers take the summer off and spend it romping through fields with their children. I’ll be honest here. I didn’t do that.

Two things made me avoid my blog.

One: I spent the late winter, spring and summer trying to get pregnant.

Unsuccessfully.

And now I’m spending the fall doing the same thing.

While I realize that a) this happens to tons of people and b) medical advice is that it can take up to a year for normal, healthy people to conceive, this whole thing has been surprising because I got pregnant with my first child pretty much instantly.

While there’s a whole amazing network of people struggling with secondary infertility online (don’t believe me? go here.), this is a club that I frankly don’t want to be in. I’m not at the point where I’m on fertility drugs (doctor’s appointment Monday, so that may change), and I don’t really want this blog to become a list of me talking about trying to get pregnant and not being pregnant.

And yet, there’s been little else on my mind.

So, that was part of the blogging break.

The second part is totally blog-related. In my vulnerable, non-knocked up state, I’ve been overly sensitive to some of the internet hate out there. What to even focus on first?

* Mommybloggers vs. every other blogger out there?

* BlogHer 09 - I didn’t go, so I was both jealous and appalled by all the swag and crazy antics (threatening to give someone bad press if they don’t give you a free pair of Crocs? really? have you SEEN Crocs? I love them, but dude.)

* Controversy about bloggers (particularly Mommybloggers, but seriously, this applies to all bloggers) accepting items to review and not disclosing that they are freebies or that they’re being paid to write a review. Holy crap. The lack of honest reviews in the blogosphere makes my head spin. And OF COURSE getting a free product means you’re accepting a form of payment. Really, the fact that this is a controversy makes my head explode.

* Even Twitter is irritating me. People follow you, then stop when you follow them, in some bizarre attempt to gain followers. It’s like the internet version of high school.

And on and on. Did you know there are sites set up to just talk shit about other bloggers?

So I needed a break.

But I think I want to re-commit. Maybe.