From Kristin
In this time of TikTok, dance videos, and Twitter posts, you might wonder why we would choose to start a blog. And the truth is, in part, nostalgia. Both Frances and I dove deep into reading and eventually writing blogs during our formative mothering years in the early to mid-2000s. It was probably the first form of social media and a new way to find your tribe and build a community-based on your interests and the stage of life you were in. I had never felt so seen than when I found other mothers of littles knitting, baking, and trying to live a slow, simple life.
I found my simple living and creative mothering gurus through the Soulemama, Simple Mom, and Pozy Gets Cozy blogs, along with many others. I miss waking up and catching up on what these inspirational women were up to each day, borrowing recipes, craft inspiration, and homemaking routines from them. Instagram eventually took the place of many of these, which I also enjoyed, but it’s not the same. I miss the long-form writing, beautiful photos, and the searchability of blog posts. I could never find the recipe for WHO bread on Instagram!
Now that we have put the hard-core child raising years behind us, it’s time to build a new kind of community. One where we can explore how to reclaim and repurpose our homes to serve us now that the kids have moved out (at least until summer). How our cooking needs to change now that there are not two ravenous teenage boys to cook for. What to do about this menopausal belly fat? How to navigate the “go gray” or “not to go gray” question. There is a lot to talk about! And no one that I’d rather do it with than my friend Frances, and you!
Through this blog, we are hoping to share with you the things that we discuss with each other on a daily basis. The big questions and the everyday ones. From “who am I outside of being a wife and mother” to “what’s for dinner and can I make it last more than one day”?
We think that many of you are wrestling with the same questions and we hope to inspire you and in turn, be inspired by you as we walk through this time of life together.
From Frances
Instagram leveled its first blow at the Mommy Blog circa 2010, and every year saw more and more domestic bloggers (my preferred term) migrating to the land of images and short captions. Those who stuck it out on Blogger or WordPress slowly converted their blogs into Instagram wannabees, posting streams of photos instead of thoughtful diary entries (I’m looking at you Posie Gets Cozy).
I kept blogging until 2018. After a decade of writing about home and family, I was having less to say, probably because once my sons started high school, there were fewer charming domestic tales to share, fewer shared family meals, fewer river walks and hikes in the woods. I found a home on Instagram for my quilts and wrote down my stories of family life in my journal. My blogging days, I feared, were over.
But I miss blogs, don’t you? I miss doing my morning rounds of blogging friends–all of them women, all of them writing about their lives at home. I like a good photo as much as the next person, but I don’t really believe that a picture’s worth a thousand words. Pictures leave so much of the story out, and we rarely post photos of how our lives really look. We stage and we perform and it’s lovely–but so often it’s not really real.
Kristin and I have had more than one conversation where we’ve bemoaned the downfall of the domestic blog, and we’re excited to revive the practice, at least among ourselves. Starting a new chapter of life has been a great incentive to start writing again. Being a woman of a certain age means there are new joys to experience, new challenges to face and new questions that need answers: When did my face disappear? How long do I have to wait before I pull down the Atlanta Braves posters off the bedroom walls and replace them with Monet prints? Do you feel bad about your neck? Because I feel bad about my neck. What’s for dinner and who’s making it?
I’m here for the answers. I hope you are too.
Leave a comment here.
Colleen
Hi Frances and Kristin. I miss blogs too – and am glad to sign up for yours! I’m looking forward to reading.