Once Upon A Blogger

Once upon a time, I was a blogger.

[And then I took a job for which I had to blog... but that is a different story and I'll get to that later.]

In 2007, I was regularly blogging and decided to attend the BlogHer conference in Chicago.

I was nervous.

What if no one wants to hang out with me?!

[Oh, the anxiety.]

I organized a meet up the night before the conference got officially underway.

It was open to everyone.  There wasn't a guest list.  It wasn't exclusive.  It was just open, real, genuine.

And, as it happened, it was fun.

We called it, The People's Party and, over the years, it's become one of the official opening parties of the BlogHer conference.

The party is hosted by some great bloggers - 

Megan Velveteen Mind,  Janet Izzymom, Katie Motherbumper and Jenny The Bloggess, and by me, the artist formerly known as a blogger! 



 The People’s Party is Thursday night, August 2nd at 8pm right before  BlogHer ’12  starts. And, as Katie said,

• No RSVPs required
• No special exclusive invitations
• No feeling left out
• HECK – you don’t even need to leave the hotel!

 I hope you'll join us there!

Whizpoppers

In Roald Dahl's novel, The BFG, young Sophie is kidnapped and taken to a land occupied by giants.

Recently, I've been reading this book to The Mayor and The Rooster.

In the giant's world, their equivalent of soda fizzes downward instead of upward.

Instead of causing burps, soda causes, well... the opposite, an activity know to the giants as "Whizpopping."

When a giant releases whizpops, he is lifted off the ground and filled with a sensation of elation.

This is such a fun experience that whizpopping itself is a sign of happiness among the giants.

Reflecting on the chapter where we learned all this, The Rooster smiled at me and said,

Mama, you're the happiest person I know.

Hey, No Fair!!

K usually wakes up the children, but he had to leave the house early the other day.

We do it differently, the waking up.

K plays an out of tune guitar and sings a made up morning song that might remind you of alley cats meowing in the night.

I prefer to climb in my children's beds and snuggle them awake.

On this particular morning, I climbed in with The Rooster first and rubbed her back and talked with her until I knew she'd get up and get dressed.

Then I moved into The Mayor's bed.

Because relating to seven year old boys seems to require an element of rough housing, I didn't rub his back so much as gently transition him into several world championship wrestling maneuvers.

As I climbed out of his bed, I said,

You'd better get up and get dressed quickly because I left a fart in your bed.

And then, unbelievably, from The Rooster's room I hear,

HEY! NO FAIR! YOU DIDN'T LEAVE A FART IN MY BED!!

Seriously?

They will fight about ANYTHING.

The joys.

We All Face It Alone

Roo woke up this morning complaining of a stomach ache and wouldn’t eat.

I gave her medicine, I tried crackers, toast, juice... she just nibbled.

She stayed in her pajamas and wouldn’t get dressed.

She stayed home from Art Camp yesterday complaining that she was sick and she does have a cold or allergies, but no fever.

I kept encouraging her to do one thing at a time and I got in the shower.

While I was in there, she came and stood next to the shower curtain.

“I miss you when I’m at art camp,” she said in a small voice.

I pulled the shower curtain aside.

“Is this what your stomach ache and sickness is really about, Roo?” I asked. “Are you nervous about art camp?”

She nodded.

“Is it too new? Is it that you don’t know anyone there?”

She nodded again and started to cry.

She went for a full day on Monday and seemed animated and excited by her time there, but my Roo has a hard time adjusting to new places and new people. She's just as shy as can be until she feels safe and comfortable.

When I got out of the shower we talked about bravery, but Roo cried all the way to art camp.

She kept trying to wipe away the tears and get her game face on, but she was scared and nervous.

I thought maybe she’d grown out of this, but I suppose not. I felt ashamed not to have understood what she was feeling when she stayed home yesterday.

Am I too distracted?

I talked to the art camp director about Roo and she promised that she would help her make a special, new friend.

Roo fell on me crying one last time, kissed me, wiped her tears and walked into the classroom with the camp director.

I looked back at her as I left, but she was blurry.

I cried all the way to the office.

As It Turns Out, I'm Still Doing This!

BlogHer is only about a month away. Are you ready to party?

The Bloggess, Oh, the Joys!, Motherbumper, IzzyMom and Velveteen Mind are returning with...

The 5th Annual People’s Party!

As BlogHer continues to grow, our mission remains the same:

Host a laid-back, inclusive ice-breaking gathering the night before BlogHer.

As always, the People’s Party is for everyone.

[And that means you.]

You can get your "I'm going" badges for this party - and all the parties - here.

Damn the man! Viva the People!