This week, April 1-8 is the 2011 Ultimate Blog Party, and I'm joining in the fun! It's happening right now, so get over to www.5minutesformom.com and learn all about it. Thousands of bloggers will be participating and following one another - it's a great way to build up your readership on your blog, on Twitter and on Facebook, and there are TONS of giveaways.
You're supposed to write your own blog party post, introducing yourself and telling a bit about what you and your blog are about, then sign in for the blog hops - there are several categories - and start making new friends. So let's get on with this! (And thanks to Brent from Linkytools for telling me about it!)
My name is Kristin, and I've determined that there are a lot of cool people out there who have cool kids. The thing is, they don't all necessarily know all the basic and/or cool stuff they're supposed to do, or have the opportunities to do, now that they have these awesome kids.
I have to admit right now... I don't have children of my own. I always wanted to, and prepared all my life, keeping notebooks of all the cool stuff I was going to do with them, lists of baby names, the whole drill. I waited too long, then got breast cancer. Chemo induced early menopause and that was all she wrote.
The good news is that my little brother had a baby not long after that which he and his beautiful wife graciously shared with me almost completely. I researched during their pregnancy and after, I was there for the birth, and I was there almost as a doula for the first two years of his life.
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| Photo by Aunt Kristin |
I babysat several times a week. They left me with him for weekends when he was a infant. My nephew and I had two years of serious bonding time. I took him on his first train rides, his first pony rides, to his first pow wows. He was my boy. He'd even slip and call me mom sometimes, and she didn't mind.
When he was two, they moved from L.A. to Austin, to buy a house and raise him in a good neighborhood. I helped them move, drove with my brother to Texas, helped them move in, and have been visiting them regularly - and they visit here - ever since.
My nephew is six now and called me last week to tell me he just took off his training wheels on his bike, and is riding by himself. My brother sent me the video. Then he called back because he forgot to tell me ALL about Cirque du Soleil. ; )
We're still very close - all of us, and I still do lots of research and am always looking out for things for them (and me) to do with my nephew, since they both work and just don't have the time I do to devote to it. They're too busy raising him!
I hope that all of my research, reading and reviewing will be of some help to parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc., who don't have the time to think about all this stuff, either, or just aren't as obsessive about it as I am.
I have a lot going on in my life, but one of my great joys is figuring out cool things to do with my nephew, the best books, puzzles, games, movies, how to keep family traditions that my brother doesn't remember alive for my nephew, and incorporate his mama's heritage, as well.
And now, last week, my boyfriend and I were named Godparents to our best friend's baby girl, Alexandria. How awesome is that!?
So please check back in, follow me and I'll follow you back, and let's trade tips for cool stuff. I'll be doing recommendations, reviews and giveaways.
