Comments on: Finding a New Rhythm as a Daddy Blogger

By: LotionBarBunny

LotionBarBunny — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 18:45:07 +0000

Children change everything…but are so worth the change. I have 3 little boys myself and I found I have to work around them and not vice versa.

Congrats to you and V!
~Shannon

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 14:08:08 +0000

So who wants to start a pool on the arrival of Darren’s first family or baby-oriented blog? :-)

By: ~~Melissa

~~Melissa — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 02:53:12 +0000

I was just about to ask if you were going to show another photo of your little boy. He’s lovely. I hope you’ll give us monthly updates. :-)

By: Kvetch

Kvetch — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 01:37:44 +0000

Not to beat a dead horse here – but my kids are 14 and 11. The word easier doesn’t exactly cinch it.

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 23:48:01 +0000

My daughter is 3.5 months. I started blogging just before she was born. I started out farily strong, then my post frequency went way down. My rhythm is just starting to get where I want it. Congrats.

By: William @ Relevant Message

William @ Relevant Message — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 23:39:57 +0000

It’s nice to see this exemplified rather than just talked about. It can be easy to get glued to just getting things done, but loved ones also play a vital role in helping with rejuvenation of our creative selves as well.

By: pcunix

pcunix — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 20:14:47 +0000

Sylvanarrow makes a good point. Although I almost always add new content to my site daily, I could probably leave it alone for weeks or months and have it pay me just as well as it does now – only a few hundred people are “regular” visitors, and they are unimportant with regard to income (yes, I track it all).

However, I enjoy the hour or so I spend on it, so I will keep doing it..

By: Sylvanarrow

Sylvanarrow — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 18:31:28 +0000

Darren, maybe you could start a few web sites with evergreen content. I have sites I haven’t spent more than 5 hours a year working on after the initial time spent writing content for them and, years later, they still bring in 4 figures a month. Whereas with blogs, you feel you have to post every day, and that can get to be quite a chore when you’re running multiple blogs.

I do run a couple of blogs, and they’re the only reason I actually work a bit every day. Otherwise I’d just spend a couple hours a month building links for my existing sites. I certainly don’t make as much as you, but there’s something to be said for a job where you only put in hour a day, especially when you’d like to spend more time with a family.

By: Linda Walsh

Linda Walsh — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 18:25:53 +0000

Hello and Congradulations,
You are one of us now! I am the mother of three sweeties – 4 years and under. We are beginner bloggers and started our family travel gear online store at http://FamilyTravelGear.com over a year ago. We discovered that if we simply put our kids first, everything else will fall into place. Our business is centered around our little guys and our pursuit to create happy lifetime memories with them. We love to travel with them, even short drives through town in our car. So we came up with a product line of educational games and activity kits to make the journey with our kids fun. We plan to homeschool so we try to make the most out of every minute in the day. That boring trip across town is now transformed into quality time. I am finding that I don’t suffer from guilt when I put my kids first…of course, my hubby has to come first too. I am still working on that one. Oh, and by the way, if you haven’t heard about the Fly Lady website at http://flylady.com, you need to check it out. It’s a website that helped me to manage my household chores during those rough first few months of raising my babies. Good luck, you will do great, follow your instincts and may the force be with you.

By: prlinkbiz

prlinkbiz — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 16:18:46 +0000

Kids change everything! I think for the better. It’s like being awakened! (Except for when you are wishing you could just go back to sleep!)

It’s just like learning to walk again- it really sounds like you are aware not only of yours and X’s needs, but V’s too! It’s going to be most difficult for her, just keep in mind- he whole life has just changed in way I think it is difficult for men to fully grasp!

The internet has made a fabulous way for families to live the lives we want and not have to sacrifice as much in the way of time away. I literally built and sold an online business when my little guys were 9 mons and 2 years old! (Sorry for the mommy-rant! LOL)

By: Jason Haley

Jason Haley — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 15:25:48 +0000

Interesting Finds: August 5 …

…

By: pcunix

pcunix — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 13:44:11 +0000

Our children are all grown and into their thirties.

I was working and traveling a lot as our first daughter grew up. I only began working at home when our youngest was nine and the oldest was sixteen – I missed a lot, and I regret it.

I did get to spend more time with the youngest though, so at least we had that.

I know the excuses: I really am working for the kids. I have to work this much. I have no choice.

You always have choices. We lived in one of the most expensive communities in our state – “for the kids”, better schooling, “safe”, all that. We could have down graded that considerably, worked less, and had more time with them.

The other choice we made was that my wife would not work while they were young and work part time as they got older. That was a good thing in that it gave her more time with them, but because of our other choices, it meant I had to be away even more.

Anyway – just wanted to say this in hopes that someone will think about what they lose if they “work hard for the kids”.

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 12:58:53 +0000

I have a friend from Melbourne who works in his own business (not blogging) and he takes his daughter off to Chadstone with another home dad. I thought it would be a great sight to see 2 dads pushing babies around a shopping center, checking out the sports shops.

By: Scott Howard

Scott Howard — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 11:49:17 +0000

congragulations!!!! I have just recently had to reevaluate the balancing of my time as well since I just got married. It is a good thing to do since as we go through life different things seem to become more important to us at different times.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 08:07:02 +0000

Congratulations. I have 2 daughters aged 2 & 4 and I’ve been a stay at home mother, doing my craftwork early mornings and late evenings. Since their birth my priorties changed to family first, which is still the case. I just launched a blog, as I know I’ll be gaining 2 half mornings a week from Sept as one starts school and the other starts playschool. I hope to be doing more craftwork again in that time, the progress of which I will cover on the blog … or not … I just posted about it a couple of days ago ‘Stay at home Mom = No craftwork in Progress’! The way for me to accept the balance is not to wish away the time until they both go to school and I work full time again, rather to cherish the short few years I have with them at home.

I hope yours brings as much joy to your life, and you to your childs, as mine have, and I hope I have.

By: Duncan

Duncan — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 06:20:14 +0000

Kvetch
it actually gets easier…at least sleep wise, mine slept through at 7 weeks and has ever since :-)

By: Isaak Kwok

Isaak Kwok — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 06:07:18 +0000

Hi Darren,

Congrats on Xavier’s first month! It’s a big day for the baby in the Chinese culture and a big feast is prepared for family and friends. What do Aussies do for a baby’s first month celebration?

I welcomed the arrival of my son about 11 months back. He has brought much joy in our lives. His arrival has resulted in a change of my life’s focus and goals as well. Things tend to revolve around him. But like you said, it’s important to have couple time as well as time on your own.

And I’m working on becoming a problogger myself. But guess for the time being, I’m just happy to be working a full-time job and spending time with my son.

All the best! And God bless.

By: Darren Rowse

Darren Rowse — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 05:30:17 +0000

dcypl – I don’t think heaps about timing of posts but do like to have one set to go off just after midnight my time for some reason. I guess it means the blog looks a little fresher (the new day’s date) and it also is a time when the US is getting up and Europe is already up. Not sure if it really has much impact but I do it most days (usually by advance posting).

By: dcypl

dcypl — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 04:16:58 +0000

Hey Darren,

Xavier is cute! I’m writing this as my two girls (and wife) take their afternoon nap. I’d love to stay at home more, (I work a 40 hour week at the office), but that something to look forward to as a goal I guess.

Thanks for setting up the series on things you’d do differently as well as the reader submission group project, it was a great community project!

I’ve got a question for you, seeing you’re in Australia, like me, is there an optimum time to post (or schedule) your articles for, do you work on the fact that some news readers put the latest items first? Obviously North America is the biggest portion of your readership, do you consciously tailor things to the hours they keep?

By: Kvetch

Kvetch — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 03:42:17 +0000

I think it’s lovely that you stayed home with your family, and that you strive to strike a balance…but allow me to offer a bit of advice. A baby’s schedule changes like his or diapers! A one-month old is nothing like a two-month old and so on and so on and so on. My word to the wise is – be flexible and adaptable – because just when you think you’ve hit the nail on the head, you will undoubtedly smash your thumb. Good luck!