This is going to be a very honest post. Blogging can be great. My blog started as a place where I posted stories about my family and shared information about Mac when she was a baby. It morphed into something bigger when I started to share some of the unconventional parenting things we were doing like not using a bucket seat, having a floor bed, and sharing what Montessori means. This blog has been an amazing outlet for my writing and I have enjoyed sharing my ideas and thoughts here. Until last week, when inspiration didn’t strike.

Blogging Can Suck

About a year ago, I decided to try and buckle down and make blogging a second job. But you know what? I haven’t actually made any money. The little money I made through ads and affiliate sales have gone right out to pay the blogging bills. If anything, I have broken even.

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that. But it has made me think that I am spending so much time on a job where I don’t actually get paid. And that kind of sucks. I wasn’t willing to sell out. I took some sponsored posts and posted affiliate links in some posts. But I wasn’t willing to just sell anything that someone offered me money to talk about.

Blogging has also become such a “thing” now that it is hard to be seen or make any money. I’m not complaining about my traffic or anything. I have a pretty good audience for someone that doesn’t spend money advertising or pay someone to help. But there was a time when I would come home from work and spend a good 3-4 hours working on the blog.

Then I cut back so my evenings would be more free for my family, which meant that every Saturday morning I would spend 4 hours just trying to pump out blog posts, social media posts, pictures, and a weekly email. Even if I really buckled down, I was never able to get it all done.

So I Took a Break

As you know, I am a teacher. Last week was spring break. I didn’t plan to take a blog break, but after a couple of things happened, I just decided to do the bare minimum: Pinterest posts and some Facebook sharing. I spent maybe an hour total this week working on it.

And you know what? It felt really good. Mac and I went to the zoo, the indoor playground, the library, and the store. When she got sick, I was able to just cuddle her and watch movies instead of working on a deadline. I even worked on a lot of things around the house, like decluttering and cleaning. I wasn’t always trying to squeeze in some blog time whenever I could.

So What Does This Mean?

I’m not really sure, honestly. I have been working on an ebook I plan to put up for sale in the Amazon Kindle Store. After I’m done with that, I’d love to try my hand at fiction writing again. As much as I love the writing I do here, I would love to expand and let my imagination run free.

Andrew and I will keep putting out the podcast because it is a fun hobby we have together now. So don’t fear, we will keep up the Quirky Parenting podccast.

I also have some fun stuff happening on the horizon of my life that I want and need time for. I don’t think I am done with my blog, but I think I might slow down. But if inspiration strikes again, believe me, I will be back full-force.