BlogCatalog

Have you ever looked ahead at something you were dreading and wished… Oh, if only there was someone who would do this so I didn’t have to…

You ask – and the blogosphere answers.

I Do Things So You Don’t Have To is the humor blog of Julia DeGraf [JD at I Do Things here at BlogCatalog], who has been sparing us a mixture of crazy and mundane things by trying them herself since the summer of 2007. I Do Things So You Don’t Have To is always entertaining – full of tongue-in-cheek product reviews and humorous descriptions of what the author has tragically (and most of the time accidentally) consumed. Throw in a medical procedure (or two) and a side-order of nudism, the result is –ahem- unforgettable.

I recently spent some time with JD talking about her blog. When I arrived, she was smartly dressed in a pair of bright orange elephant pants and matching vest --  very MC Hammer meets the Orange Bowl Queen.  "It's been my favorite outfit since the seventh grade," she offered.

The room smelled mildly of hashbrowns. “It’s the cat,” she muttered, and invited me to make myself comfortable.

And so, we began our interview:

MM: How long have you been writing I Do Things? How did you come up with the concept?

JD: The boring truth is, the idea just popped into my head. I did have some other ideas, including “The Naked Editor” and “The Anxious Nudist.” The nudism theme has been fairly prominent throughout my blog, while I’ve written next to nothing about being an editor or having panic disorder.

Here’s a little-known fact: My original plan was to write mostly informative posts with some humor thrown in. Then I realized I don’t do very many interesting things (see: “I Bought a Door” ), so I had to make those things funny.

MM: Have you always been 'the funny one' or is it something you work at?

JD: I think of myself as funny, but I’m not sure I always come across that way. I like to say I’m funnier on paper than in person.

I met someone recently who reads my blog, and she waggled her finger at me and said, “I just know you’re going to crack me up!” Needless to say, all my funny dried up. I may have managed a feeble “knock knock” joke.

I sort of feel like you’re funny or you’re not. I have both parents to thank for my funny gene. My dad had a very unique, creative, and often silly sense of humor, and my mom is more witty and dry.

MM: What are your favorite things that you’ve tried so we don’t have to?

JD: Good question. Most of the things I do aren’t that interesting in and of themselves. But I have shared some experiences that I think people might find helpful or informative (but also funny, I hope. )

For instance,
I Drink Bugs … So You Don't Have To, and

I Had a Colonoscopy …  So You Don't Have To.

Of course, there are also posts I’ve written just for fun:
I Can Tap That  ... So You Don't Have To , and

I Flush … So You Don't Have To?

No one has really experienced I Do Things unless they’ve read one of my “nudist” posts:
I Went to the Ponderosa Sun Club …  So You Don't Have To.

But I’m proudest of my movie review posts, (because dang, those are hard to write! – at least for me...) You’ve really got to condense a lot of information into one post, and most of my posts are already way too long. I’ve only done a few movie reviews, but my favorite is:

I Watched Alligator… So You Don't Have To.

(This is probably a movie most people are grateful I watched so they don’t have to.)

MM: How do your family and friends feel about I Do Things? Do you find they do weirder things -- oh, like bellydancing or dressing up in drag -- to be a part of the fun? Or are you the instigator of weirdness?

JD: My family and friends are great: very supportive and encouraging. (Except for the ones who don’t read my blog and YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. )

I definitely suspect my husband (and cats) of saying and doing things just to wind up in a post – and it totally works. Dave’s antics make great blog fodder, AND he’s a really good sport. As is my mom, who is constantly saying, “You’re not going to blog about that, are you?” then in the same breath: “Oh, you can blog about that.”

I find weirdness in everything, so I rarely have to instigate. My family and friends are all funny. I don’t hang around with unfunny people, yo.

MM: Talk to me about product reviews. What's the strangest thing you've purchased so I don't have to?

JD: Oh, definitely cereal marshmallows.

I had written a post about how I prefer the “charms” in Lucky Charms to the actual cereal, and a kind reader sent me a link to a site that sells just cereal marshmallows. SCORE! I tried them out, and man, were they were terrible.

To my extreme horror, the cereal marshmallow guy e-mailed me after reading my derogatory review. I was afraid he was going to yell at me, but instead he insisted on sending me the “non-Kosher” marshmallows.  To my surprise (and relief), the second bunch was really good.

(I’d like to think the cereal marshmallow guy made a few sales because of my post, but let’s be real.)

MM: How did you choose your blog design and graphics? Has the look of your blog remained the same or changed over time?

JD: I use 3 K2 Redux Klein by Headset Options, but I tweaked it a lot. My main reason for choosing this theme was a cool Flickr widget that I don’t even use anymore.

I replaced the original header with an image that was described by a reviewer as a “jellyfish-attack during an acid-flashback,” and that made me cry, so I changed it. I hired an excellent graphic designer who came up with the idea of cartoonizing a photo of me in a bathtub with a rose in my teeth.

I’m very happy with the way it looks and probably won’t change anything. …Unless someone criticizes my header again.

MM: How has your blog changed since you started it? What about your attitude towards blogging?

JD: Starting out, I wanted money and lots of it.

I began my blogging career reading ProBlogger and other sites that tell you how to monetize your blog. I’ve always focused on quality content, but in the beginning, I factored in money-making ads way more than I do now.

Two and a half years ago, I was young and ambitious. Now? I’m lazy and jaded.

Blogging is a lot of work, and it takes time to figure out the best way to monetize. I’d rather work on writing good posts. Besides, if you write well, the advertisers come to YOU, right? (laughs bitterly..)

MM: What's your day job? How do you work blogging into the 'real' part of your life?

JD: By day, I’m a freelance book editor. Since I work at home and make my own hours, it’s easy for me to be flexible. I’m lucky. I mostly blog when I feel like it (which is almost never.)

I tend to take notes when I’m working out (awkward), in the middle of conversations (rude), or driving (dangerous). I’m grateful for my schedule, because I can do things during the weekday that most people have to cram in on weekends or evenings, like shopping, working out, or blogging. This typically leaves me very little time for actual work, but today’s modern woman doesn’t have time for EVERYthing.

MM:What do you wish someone else would do so YOU don't have to?

JD: Oh, so many things. Clean my house. Lose my weight. Wash my car. Figure out why the cabinet under my sink is all wet and what that one stain is. Oh, and get a pap smear.

Before I knew it, our interview was over, and JD had motored off for an emergency White Castle run. As I showed myself to the door, I thought about how glad I was to have found I Do Things So You Don’t Have To. It’s a quirky blog by a very funny lady.

I also found myself thinking, “Hm. Pap-smear-by-proxy… Genius!”

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.

~  Lt. Col John McCrae,  In Flanders Fields

Whether you know it as Veterans Day, Armistice Day, or Remembrance Day, November 11 is a day set aside to honor the fallen.

It is a day we honor all service men and women who wear the uniform of their country, overcoming fear to do what is necessary in a dangerous world.

The path of a soldier is one in which emotion is tempered by duty and discipline, and peril is balanced by the tedium of constant readiness. There are a thousand partners in the journey down the soldier’s path – family and friends, strangers and compatriots. We glimpse the experience of these many through the blogs they keep – through their poetry and personal stories, as they support loved ones and each other.

BlogCatalog lists the blogs of many service members, veterans organizations and military families. Blogging, although relatively new, has become an indispensible way for soldiers and veterans to connect with family and express the sometimes raw emotions that are a part of military life.  It is also a way to discuss everyday routines and to take comfort in a community that understands the challenges of military life.

Occasionally, blog-authors use their writing to share experiences that are deeply personal.  Such is the case with BlogCatalog member, Susan Blake.  Recently, Susan took the brave step of writing about her son’s deployment to Iraq. As she describes on her blog, Erasing the Bored, it was a difficult topic, but one she hopes will enlighten others’ perception of soldiers and their families.  Susan writes eloquently about saying goodbye to her only son on the day he shipped out, reflecting on the very moment of goodbye,

He stripped himself of himself in so many ways - and became what? A soldier? I knew in my heart I was losing a huge part of my son that day. He would not come back. This was the official ending of his childhood. I could no longer protect him. He would have experiences there that would change him forever.

Susan’s writing spoke to my heart and brought tears to my eyes. In that moment of transformation, her boy became a soldier and she became a military mother.

Military families bear a difficult burden. They stay and wait and wonder; the homefront is their battlefield.  And yet, the blogs of military families are rich -- full of highs and lows, ordinary days and extraordinary trials.  Many create networks of support, sharing information on policy changes and programs. Krystel at ArmyWife101 has certainly done that, promoting VetsPrevail, answering questions about on-post life,  and sharing ways to reach out to loved ones during the holidays.

Leanne Koscsis at Military Avenue has created a great resource for Military families. Military Avenue hosts a question & answer forum for members to connect with one another and provides policy information and links to businesses who support the troops. Most recently, Military Avenue has compiled a list of 101 ways ordinary people can thank veterans every day of the year.

At times, blogs are the places to share lessons learned from the past. Lynne Cole's writing contrasts the treatment of returning Vietnam veterans with those coming home from Operation Desert Storm. The difference was made, in large part, because of the amazing troop greeters (of whom Lynne was one) who gave their time and energy to throw their arms open in welcome, embracing tearful soldiers grateful to be taking their first steps back on home soil.

And when the lessons of the past and the needs of the present converge, there are groups of bloggers who will stand together, dedicated to raising awareness of the ongoing needs of soldiers and veterans. BloggersUnite -- Veterans Day: Who Will Stand is a just such a group.

Veterans Day: Who Will Stand bloggers are writing today to help raise awareness and funds for nonprofit organizations that support U.S. Veterans returning from service with physical and/or psychological scars. According to Military Medicine magazine, 46.5 percent of solders with post-traumatic stress [PTS] have suicidal thoughts and 33.5 percent of PTS sufferers have tried to commit suicide – clear evidence that battlefield trauma can follow a soldier home. Veterans make up a significant portion of homeless men in the United States as well. In many ways, our Veterans are in crisis; now is the time to come together to help.

You can help veterans by informing yourself and by spreading the word to raise awareness of their needs. You can contact your Representatives and Senators and local leaders in government to express your support of Veterans. Be vocal.  Support your local chapter of Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, or your local VA hospital with your time, talent, and funds. Or learn about and support these organizations that help Soldiers and Veterans every day:

• The Soldiers Project helps provide free counseling and support to military service members who have already or who expect to serve in the Iraq and/or Afghanistan conflicts and to veterans of those conflicts. The services are completely confidential and are not reported to any  government agencies.

• Blue Star Mothers provides support for active duty service personnel, assists veterans organizations, and is available to assist in homeland volunteer efforts. The organization consists of mothers who have had children honorably serving in the military.

• Wounded Warrior Project raises awareness and enlists the aid of the public in meeting the needs of severely injured service men and women by providing direct services that honor and empower wounded warriors. They also advocate for legislation to provide critically-needed services to family caregivers of severely wounded warriors.

These organizations and others are featured in the film Who Will Stand, an independent documentary that covers the plight of physically and/or psychologically wounded soldiers after they have returned from war. To learn more, you can watch excerpts from the film, shared by producer/director Phil Valentine on YouTube.  Who Will Stand will also be featured at a special Veterans Day screening in Las Vegas on November 11, 2009.

I will close with a quotation from Iraq veteran and BlogCatalog poetry-blogger, Tony L. Jefferson, Jr., from his blog, Poetic MindState. Tony’s poems are powerful expressions of his life as a soldier and as a man. In his poem Silent Tears, he writes,

…
I carry this pain, this hurt, this distrust
Like a soldier carries his bags in Iraq
How can I love while crying these silent tears?
How can one person live with so much pain?
All I could do was cry
Cry for you
Cry for me
Cry for the world
…

Today, we at BlogCatalog invite you to read about and support the men and women of our armed forces and their families. Please do so with an open mind and heart. And then take action to support soldiers, veterans, and their families in your own community not just today, but throughout the year.

It’s Halloween again and most communities are split between those thrilled by the ghostly fear that chills the skin and those who battle hard against the dark, filling the night with the glow of candlelight, sweet treats and happy times.

The BlogCatalog community is no different. While many of us are sitting at our cozy keyboards,  like Amanda at Change.Org, writing 101 Things to Be for Halloween Other than a Pimp, or like the Crunchy Domestic Goddess, penning  10 Simple Ways to Green your Halloween, others are busy scaring the tightie whities off of everyone they can. The Horror Club’s 31 Days of Horror is creepy at its best. On the other hand, the Cupcake Project’s Anti-Vampire Garlic Cupcake recipe might just be the scariest thing on BlogCatalog.

You know what’s funny about being scared though? It can be tons more fun when it happens to someone else. I’m fairly sure that’s what MadMadMargo at the Screaming Me-Me thinks after Getting Punked (which means of course that she got her hair scared white). How? Well, it involved a shower and a stranger in her bathroom...  Even so, Margo knows what's really important -- what Halloween is all about. Is it about being scared incontinent? Of course not. Her sober reflections point us to the Truth that Halloween is all about, you guessed it… CANDY. (My waistline thanks you.)

Speaking of candy, LiteralDan, in a blatant and shallow attempt to lure a few more costumed candy magnets to his side, personally invites you to a little pre-2008-election-flashback of sorts. (I think he just wants to show off his cute kids in costume.)  And LesleyMo at MyTurntoTalk has hilarious costume ideas for parents who want to imagine their babies’ future filled with quiet desperation. (To ward off our need for Prozac, she follows up with some easy, more creative costume ideas.)

Whew.  Thank goodness.

You know, most parents think their kids are the cutest ones on the block… that is, until their costumes make them the most ferocious kids on the block. Mom2my9 at 11th Heaven’s Homemaking Haven (say that ten times fast!) has written a cautionary news report about a Halloween scare her husband had last year. Her message: Be afraid! Be VERY afraid!

And what is Halloween without a little nostalgia? Especially when it involves fiberfill and a home-sewn costume that makes its wearer feel “like a python's dinner being slowly digested.” But lest you think she's all giggle and no ghoulishness, Jenn (aka ThriftshopRomantic) at Cabbages-N-Kings can also creep you right out. She weaves a hair-raising tale of a neighborhood house from her youth – a house with a thousand lifeless eyes staring at would-be trick-or-treaters. It left me feeling that, had I lived in her neighborhood, I may well have died of fright at a very young age.  And also... dolls are truly creepy.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll need a giggle after a shiver-fest like that. Which is why you need TexasHolly at June Cleaver Nirvana. Her Tale of Two Pumpkin Patches, a story told with markers, will restore you. (That is, if you, like me, get giddy at the shameless ways of modern pumpkin patch capitalism.)

This is the thing, though... once you get home from the pumpkin patch, arms straining under the load of spherical squash, what do you do with them?

You go grab some inspiration from Dirt Simple, of course. Deborah Silver is a professional decorator who creates gorgeous Halloween looks with pumpkins, ghosts, and gourds and shows off broomcorn decorations to die for, perfect Jack-o-lanterns, scarecrows and just enough spiders to keep things spooky. Truly, I wish I had her talent. But I always come away from her blog with terrific ideas.

As a mom of young children, I straddle the divide between yearning for comfort and creepiness this time of year.  There is a part of me that loves to have my boots scared off. (All you need to do is check my top movies on Netflix this week to figure that out!) But Halloween movies can be tricky. It can be tough to choose ones that will be approachable for the younger set. So I’m grateful to ElizabethE at MomReviews.net and her Halloween family movie reviews. After reading them, I might be able show a few while my kids are still awake!

That's what I like about pets.  Dogs and cats aren't phased by a spook movie or two.  They won't wake up with scary dreams or be permanently scarred by the fact that they watched SAW XXVI in their puppyhood.  In fact, they'll cuddle up to you at the scary parts as they think, "Hey, I wonder how that guy in the mask smells?".  I appreciate the simplicity of that.  I have a feeling PetLvr does too.

As a matter of fact, PetLvr appreciates pets so much that he's even created a Pet Halloween Costume Contest on Petlvr.com. My kids and I looked at the entries he’s received so far and had a giggle or two. They looked so cute.  Our favorites were the Pomeranian dressed as Wonder Woman, the Pug Bumblebee, Farmer McHarley, and Stunner the Jet Dog.  (Seriously, there's nothing like dressed up pets.)

You still have time to enter your own pet, you know, but the contest ends soon! (Can you believe there’s only one cat? And no lizards, either… hmm.)  You pet owners had better get crackin'.

Which reminds me, I've got loads to do!  There are treat bags to stuff and a caveman costume to finish (and chocolate to sneak...)

Whew!  The work of a mom is never done, I tell you.

I’ll get right to it...

… after I have a look at a few more BC Halloween blogs, of course.

Have a Happy (Spooky) Halloween!

- Midwest Mom

This week, I’m spotlighting an issue in Mom-and Dad-blogging that has erupted and calmed several times in past months: the delicate-but-growing relationship between parent-bloggers and corporations. It is not an easy relationship to define, or even to write about with clarity. But bloggers, including BlogCatalog bloggers, are giving it their best shot.

For many of us, the September 30 twitterstorm that pitted bloggers, breastfeeding proponents, and social justice advocates against Nestle corporation, was an eye-opener. It began when Nestle hosted 20 bloggers for an all-expense paid visit to intensively market the Nestle product and thus gain a share in the increasingly vocal mom- and dad-blogger social network.

The company created a twitter hashtag (#nestlefamily) to help panelists tweet about the event and to enable the tracking of information related to their PR efforts. As the event began, bloggers concerned with Nestle’s corporate practices in the developing world made their voices heard with numerous tweets under the same hashtag. They spoke specifically about nutrition concerns, Nestle’s violation of World Health Organization guidelines for the marketing of infant formula, the company’s ties to repressive regimes, and the use of child slave labor in cocoa production. As a result of these complaints, Nestle products have been subject to boycott on and off since the late 1970's.

Nestle officials (and the mom- and dad-bloggers involved on the PR panel) were caught off-guard by the speed with which the #nestlefamily criticism took off. The demographic they were trying to reach was being turned against them with the same social networking tools Nestle sought to exploit. The response from many mothers was immediately critical and several exchanges got ugly. Still, weeks later, Nestle is trying to do damage control.

In the days after the #nestlefamily controversy, BlogCatalog mom-bloggers sounded off about the controversy itself, the uses of social media in mom-blogging, and most importantly, lessons learned. And now, quietly, the issues that were important enough for bloggers on both sides to do battle over have calmed again.

But I wonder whether the big issues have been resolved...

Do we know more now about how to manage the relationship between our role as writers and good parents and the large corporations and small businesses who seek us out to market their products?

Product review is an increasing share of the mom-blogger post count, so questions about what responsibility a blogger takes on when speaking for a corporation are valid and important. Bloggers, especially parent-bloggers, are no longer just grappling with issues involving which advertising platform to use. Instead, we are promoting each other with javascript badges and blogs dedicated solely to promotion. We attend marketing conferences.  We enter contests and host giveaways as a way to get something we don’t have – something we’ve convinced ourselves we so desperately need. A new washer & dryer. A cleaner clean. A whiter white. The Clorox Toilet Wand (for crying out loud!)  And traffic.  Lots of traffic.

We are selling ad space and using our writing talents to market products.  Why?

Is this what we started out to do?  Is this why moms blog?

What are the trade-offs of going from mom-blogger to marketer and back again?  And how does one navigate the web of expectations (even the unspoken ones) when dealing with corporate sponsors?

Please weigh in and share your experience.  It's time to hash out these issues without the heat or a hashtag.

There are many different kinds of parent-blogs – from personal to practical. But rare is the blog that consistently provides inspiration to parents and teachers by encouraging them to exercise their imagination. That’s just what you’ll find at Spaghetti Box Kids.  According to the blog’s author, Anthony Vecchioni, he created Spaghetti Box Kids to be “a go-to resource that begins with the premise that your child is 10x more capable than you think.” The result of his effort is extraordinary.

Spaghetti Box Kids is an idea file – a repository of activities for parents and children that focus on learning through play. Anthony encourages creativity through the use of everyday objects and old-fashioned toys. He even encourages kids to build their own toys.

When parents and caregivers play with their children on a regular basis, Anthony posits, they are able to share and pass on a love of learning. Every parent can draw on his or her own experiences of play as they help to engage their child’s imagination. But there are times, when parents need new ideas to enrich their home learning environment. And enrichment is what Spaghetti Box Kids is all about.

I took a little time this week to get to know Anthony [avecchioni here at BC]. He arrived for our interview in a weathered #44 Chuck Foreman jersey, mentioning something about his relief at having found his lucky shirt. Fortunately for me, I had remembered to don my own #46 Doug Plank jersey, so we’d start the interview on even footing. (A little insurance never hurts.)

I did my best to keep the focus of our discussion away from football, and squarely on blogging.

MM: Tell me about Spaghetti Box Kids and your emphasis on 'learning through play'?

AV: I had the good fortune to be an assistant teacher at a daycare center while I was in college. I got to know all the children ages infant to 5 years old. It was there I saw the clear relationship between playing and learning. But it’s not only that kids learn through play. I'd go a step further and say that kids' ability to learn is heightened through play. During play, a child is interested and stays interested because she’s making connections and advancing her understanding. Her proficiency at absorbing and re-arranging concepts is accelerated.

MM: I noticed that most of your Spaghetti Box Kids activities encourage kids to play with whatever objects are on-hand.

AV: The reasoning behind that is simple -- my wife and I were in extremely humble circumstances when we started a family. The details don’t matter, except that using no special resources other than the practice of learning through play--in particular simple, old fashioned games and activities--we nurtured our son’s love of learning.

At an early age, based on examination, he was given 1st choice of any gifted school in the city of Chicago. By eighth grade he had mastered numerous fields of mathematics, and had taken 1st place in various city and state-wide scholastic competitions. He tested into one of the top high schools in the nation, was captain of multiple varsity sports, worked year 'round, was a National Merit Finalist, an AP National Scholar with Distinction, finished salutatorian of his class, and gained admittance into an Ivy League university.

Anyway--our son’s greatest achievement, aside from having a kind heart, isn't any award—it’s his love of learning. He genuinely loves to learn, to explore new things and figure out how things work. That appetite arose from a daily routine of old fashioned games and activities.

So, Spaghetti Box Kids is an effort to share those activities with parents, and to provide the rationale behind the value of playtime.

MM: One of the things I like about Spaghetti Box Kids is the emphasis on simple toys and pretend play. How do you come up with such imaginative ideas? And can you speak to the specific benefits of pretend play in child development?

AV: If you want to strengthen a child’s confidence in her own abilities to determine and arrange meaning, stick with simple activities. With simple activities there is no mistaking the source of stimulus. Your child turns a stick into a wand, for instance, and then sorts through the endless possibilities on her own terms. She’s the source of creativity. That confidence in creativity is a portable benefit. She can call on it anytime, anywhere. You can’t say the same for things like electronic gadgets, for example, in which case the gadget is always required (because it’s the source of stimulus).

MM: Spaghetti Box Kids has a wide variety of activities that can be customized to meet the needs of children at any age or stage. Is flexibility or adaptability a goal when you develop new ideas?

AV:Good question. From my perspective, adaptability is more of a result than a goal. If you shift the focus from toys to activities, the idea of adaptability opens up. For instance, how do you assign an age to counting activities? It starts with toddlers, but some of the world’s leading mathematicians spend decades advancing theories of numeric patterns. But, yes, I do try to explicitly indicate variations on activities--variations that accommodate different skill levels. Whether someone follows the variation exactly doesn’t matter. The point is to encourage the activity to become an instrument of exploration.

MM: Who is your intended audience? And what is your relationship with your readers? Is Spaghetti Box Kids more of an idea-file for parents and teachers or a place for an active exchange on parenting?

AV:My audience is parents with children ages toddler to fourth grade--mainly parents on the Internet looking for wholesome things to do with their kids. I also get a fair number of teachers who sift through my science and art content. Overall, I average about 125 visitors per day. I can safely say that less than 1% of readers leave a comment. They may come back often, or subscribe, but in the end they’re motivated to gather useful information.

MM: Because your posts are so thoughtfully conceived, I am wondering if you could talk a bit about how you develop material. In terms of nuts-and-bolts writing, do you follow a method to ensure a high standard of quality?

AV: Good questions. In terms of nuts and bolts, I try to keep to a compact subject matter. It’s like surveying a mountain from the distance. It looks so simple. But the closer you get to it, the more complex and varied it becomes. If I’m having difficulty organizing the material, there are usually two articles (or more). So I partition the material and hold to one subject at a time. That makes it easier for people who are searching for a specific thing to find it. Secondly, with a few exceptions, I always have an introduction and conclusion. That gives me a brief opportunity to surround the material with an approach or perspective. It allows me to address the question, 'Why does the content matter?' Lastly, I proof read. I make sure the information is easy to follow.

MM: If you were to identify a few issues in early childhood education that your blog helps to address, what would they be? (I am particularly interested in your thoughts on Montessori education or Waldorf schools, which teach through play and through experience, rather than simply in a classroom setting.)

AV: From the prologue of Play = Learning. . ., a book that emerged from a 2005 Yale conference of the same name, “ 25% of class time in the Los Angeles schools is now spent in either assessment or assessment preparation – in having children learn to fill in the blanks with rote answers. The classrooms that used to display children’s work and drawings now devote their walls to ‘testing tips’ designed to help children do well on standardized assessments.” I see the same thing happening in Chicago. An assessment-obsessed curriculum is draining the energy from education. I challenge you to find one teacher who is inspired by this approach. Of course the system needs improving, but there’s got to be a better way.

Yes, sure there are Montessori schools—great alternative … but have you seen the tuition for some of these schools? I have nothing against Montessori schools. They provide an excellent model for education. But I’m not going to promote something that has an economic barrier to entry.

Any parent can provide a more fulfilling environment right at home simply by turning off the television and getting rid of video games. That costs nothing. As for my site--it’s a supplement for parents. The main issues it addresses are attention span and the ability to stay focused. It does this by providing fun, wholesome activities that stimulate a child’s desire to explore something completely.

MM: Tell me about your blog's design and artwork? Why have you chosen that particular look or design?

AV: The design is always evolving. My wife is a great source of feedback. She’ll tell me if something is over the top, dull or just doesn’t belong. I’m a hobby photographer, so I have a lot of visuals on my site. In the end, the most important thing about design is that it doesn’t complicate a visitor’s experience. The site should be easy to navigate.

***

Our interview reinforced my belief that Spaghetti Box Kids is a tremendous resource for parents and teachers. But I also learned from Anthony’s careful and methodical approach to writing and his commitment to quality content.  And his site design is uncluttered, which makes it easy to find information.

So, the next time my well of play ideas runs dry (or next time I need to improve my site design) I’ll plan on paying Spaghetti Box Kids a visit. It’s a blog that deserves its time in the BlogCatalog spotlight.

I remember when my parents first realized my brother needed glasses. He was four years old, and my father – an avid baseball fan and lifelong player – was teaching my brother to play catch in the back yard. Try as he might, my brother just couldn’t catch the ball. My father wondered whether the problem was depth-perception. After a trip to the eye doctor, my parents learned their son had a lazy eye. What followed for my brother was a year of wearing an eye-patch – so difficult for a boy starting kindergarten – and a lifelong relationship with glasses.

Looking back, I am amazed at how well my brother and parents made it through that first year. A network of support would have made it so much easier. How glad they would have been if they’d had access to Little Four Eyes – and not just the blog itself, but the community of caring individuals and fantastic kids that Little Four Eyes has brought together.

When I first visited Little Four Eyes, I looked for the type of information my own family could have used so many years ago. What I found was  insightful writing designed for parents who have just found out their child needs glasses and a community of families sharing their stories, even their tears, over their child’s vision struggle. Little Four Eyes is well-designed to showcase the best friend of parents everywhere – systematically organized and carefully presented information -- probably because its author, Ann Zawistoski [Annz here at BlogCatalog] works as a reference librarian.

When I sought out Ann and her daughter Zoe (whose first pair of glasses at age one inspired Ann to start writing Little Four Eyes), I found them sitting side by side. Ann had her nose buried in a Sookie Stackhouse vampire mystery novel; Zoe was studying the ingredient label on a box of tinkerbell fruit snacks. When I greeted them, they looked over their glasses at me with identical librarianesque expressions (different frames, though.)   Fortunately, I had a pocketful of Ghirardelli squares too break the tension.   Over chocolate and deliciously decadent pulp fiction, Ann agreed to give me some insight into the Little Four Eyes community.

MM: Tell me about Little Four Eyes. How did it come about? And how it has grown and changed over time?

Ann: I know that having a baby with glasses is relatively minor compared with other things that a parent could be faced with, but it does come with a unique set of challenges that are rarely covered in parenting books.

You know how one of the first baby-proofing projects is to move expensive and breakable things out of the reach of the child? Well, glasses are expensive and breakable, and you have to place them on your child's face and convince her to leave them on.

I really felt lost those first few months: How many pairs should I buy? What should I do when my daughter threw a tantrum? What should I do with her glasses at daycare? How on earth would I keep track of them when I can't even keep track of my own? Will people always judge her first by her glasses? I really just wanted to talk to someone who had been there, but I didn't know anyone who had.

My next impulse was to do some research online, but I just kept coming across websites with advice for parents of older children with glasses, and very little that was targeted to parents of really young kids. I had been keeping a personal blog for over a year at that point, and decided to start a new blog dedicated to talking about parenting toddlers with glasses.

Shortly after I started Little Four Eyes [L4E], my good friend's 3-year-old was told he'd need glasses, so I invited her to write and made open the invitation for anyone to write for the blog. I knew that what I was going through wasn't necessarily the same as what others were dealing with, and I didn't want this to be a blog about my daughter and her glasses. Now we have 11 authors who have written at least one post, and quite a few other posts that readers have emailed me and I've posted for them. The blog originally was targeted at parents of toddlers in glasses, but we've expanded to cover all young children.  I publish a lot more questions from readers than I expected, and I've been able to do a few interviews, which has been fun. We've published posts by parents of children with many different children's vision problems - I've learned so much from those. But the blog has generally stayed what I intended it to be: a place for parents to meet and talk about the ups and downs, and the big and little things that come with having a child in glasses.

MM: Parents who blog seem to be truly motivated by community -- what role does community play on Little Four Eyes, between posters, readers, and commenters, and from family to family?

Ann: The L4E community is one of my absolutely favorite things about the blog. I love how much people are willing to share encouragement and stories and help one another. I don't think that L4E would have made it without the wonderful and committed readers who contribute so much. There are some people that say that in order to have a successful blog, you have to respond to every comment quickly. I consider it a sign of success that by the time I get to respond to a comment, often one or two readers have already chimed in with their thoughts. I think part of it is that I am not an expert on children's vision, and neither are any of the other authors. We're all just parents figuring out our way through this. I try to reinforce that by posing all the questions that come in to the whole group, rather than just trying to answer every one of them myself.

One of my favorite parts of the blog are the "In the beginning" submissions. Anyone can write up the story of how they learned that their child needs glasses and how the experience went for them. I'm a big believer in the power of stories. I think we all want to tell our stories, but we also find comfort in reading stories of others who have been through something similar.

MM: There is a wealth of information on the web for parents to sort through, especially when a child is diagnosed with a medical condition. Sometimes, it can be overwhelming. How do you help parents find the most credible information and sort out the facts that will help their children most?

Ann: Sorting through overwhelming amounts of information and figuring out what is credible is a big part of my day job. I tend to start with the professional medical literature, and go to places like PubMed for actual medical studies, though you need to be practiced at reading medical articles. I also look to professional optometry and ophthalmology societies for information. But as great as the Internet is, it cannot take the place of a medical professional who has met and examined a child. I really encourage parents to ask their own doctors for information, and to really push their doctors to explain things for them. I also encourage parents to seek second opinions if they're ever uncomfortable with the information they're getting. As patients, you have a right to know and understand your medical diagnoses and treatments.

MM: Tell me about your favorite part of writing your blog. What drives you to write and keep writing?

Ann: I love the feedback. I love hearing that someone found a particular post or part of the blog to be helpful. And I really love the pictures of the kids.

MM: Are there other bloggers you admire or that inspire you? What are your favorite blog reads?

Ann: I have over 200 blogs in my reader, I'm a big fan of blogs, and they run the gammut from librarianship, to food, to vision and glasses, to just plain silliness. The blogs that I really admire are ones that foster a community to help others.

The one that most inspired me the most is Stirrup Queens. The blog is about infertility, which is something my husband and I dealt with in trying to conceive our daughter, but what her blog does really well is pull together a community of people who are going through, or have gone through the same thing. The community that she helped create is phenomenal and it's what made me want to start a blog with the goal of creating a community.

I also love Matt, Liz, and Madeline, which is a blog by a father whose wife died shortly after the birth of their daughter. He is extremely honest, but also funny and sincere and somehow manages to be absolutely open about his loss without sounding like he's mired in it. He has also pulled together an amazing community that does a lot to support other parents who are facing situations similar to his.

For total laugh out loud, inappropriate humor, I adore the Bloggess.

MM: Has participation at BlogCatalog helped you in a particular way? How so? What have you gained from the BlogCatalog relationship?

Ann: I've used BlogCatalog quite a bit, especially at first as a sounding board for questions I had about blogging. I've also gotten amazing feedback and reviews from some of the members there. I really like reading critiques of my blogs and other people's as a way to continually improve the blog. I've met a couple of bloggers at BlogCatalog who have gone on to guest post on Little Four Eyes. I haven't had as much time recently to participate in the forum, but I feel like every time I check in, I get more ideas for things to do with my blog.

It was a pleasure getting to know Ann and her blog, Little Four Eyes.  She is a perfect example of a blog author creating content and relationships around a specific subject area where information and support were lacking.  Ann saw a need and stepped in to fill the void. Her openness to the experiences of her readers has helped foster a true exchange of ideas -- something many of us hope to do with our own blogs.   So, stop in and see her when you get a chance.  You just might come away with Ann's special gift -- vision.

Written by Julia Kelly, a BlogCatalog Blogger Advocate
http://midwestmoms.blogspot.com/
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Youth is like spring, an over praised season more remarkable for biting winds than genial breezes.

Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.

~Samuel Butler

As we close the month of September, I am realizing that autumn is upon us.  It is a colorful time of year, when my eyes drink in the brilliant foliage of our sugar maples and the red cheeks and brightly-colored coats of my children playing in the yard. Fall is the time when chilly morning conversations begin huddled around steaming mugs of dark coffee and end with walks in bright sunshine under the bluest sky. Leaves crunch beneath our feet. Flocks of birds fascinate us as they briefly light to snack in golden fields before continuing on their way to warmer weather.

In the garden, this is a time of abundance and of decay. We take proud photos of our harvest with the full knowledge that we pick the fruit from withering stems. In warmer places, this month signals an end to drought and the beginnings of rain. But in colder climes, we must plant to keep the landscape from fading past the red-gold to black and white and grey. We start lettuce, spinach, and radishes or bring our favorite plants indoors so that, as the autumn turns to winter, we can remind ourselves that green still exists.

Yet, despite the looming cold and killing frosts, the autumn gives us plenty to embrace. The first scent of wood smoke wafting from neighborhood chimneys. Hayrides and laughing children. The heavy coziness of winter bedding. Homecoming. Comfort food. Leaf piles to jump in. Pumpkins to choose and to carve. Warm clothes to pull out and pull on. Jeans, worn and comfortable. Clear skies and bright stars. And the colors – like the world has suddenly been unmasked – are glorious.

In celebration of Fall, I’d like to shine the BC spotlight on bloggers writing about how they experience the season. Their writing this week has helped me to appreciate autumn as a time of transition and change, and of comfort and beauty.

I hope you, too, will get acquainted with...

Trixie and George at Farm Home Life for whom the chillier weather is a signal to pause for reflection.

Thomas at A Growing Tradition, who shows us that autumn is all about color.

The Crafty Gardener, who just can’t get enough of Wooly Bears! (My children love them, too!)

Robin at the Bumblebee blog, for whom Fall is about bittersweet goodbyes, taking stock, and living a good life.

Daphne at Daphne’s Dandelions, who has noticed walking sticks and raspberries… and acorns (at last!)

Maribeth at Dackel Princess, whose apples and growing pups make a reader feel happy. She says, “I cannot believe how quickly time is going by.” I have to agree.

And, Mimi at Our Family Attic whose Halloween Cocoa touched with Pumpkin Spice is my new favorite thing.  You, Mimi, are a lady of taste.

So many BC bloggers are writing about autumn.  Are you?

Written by Julia Kelly, a BlogCatalog Blogger Advocate
http://midwestmoms.blogspot.com/
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I am so proud to be a part of BlogCatalog's effort to add value for its members through the Blogger Advocate program.  I'm even more proud to spotlight one among many excellent blogs in the Family portion of the BlogCatalog directory.

We Are THAT Family... you know the ones is insightful, at times poignant, and quite often hilariously well-written blog. Its author, Kristen Welch, has created a vivid chronicle of the life and times of her family of five and built a community of devoted readers at the same time.

Kristen's writing speaks so clearly about her family's experience and her own learning curve from pre-maternal “expert” on “what children should and should not do” to mother-in-the-trenches. What struck me most was how early in the process she was willing to admit what all mothers have at some point discovered -- that no little tribe is perfect, especially when you're sitting in the driver's seat.

To explain her blog’s title, she writes,

Through the years, I’ve been in different conversations and either said or someone said to me, “You know THAT family?” They don’t even have to say a name usually. My mind automatically pulls up THAT family.
You know the ones.
The family that always has troubles. Something out of the ordinary is always happening and they are usually followed by disaster.
As I sat in the Emergency Room last night with my little boy, it dawned on me: Oh my word, WE are THAT family.

And so, she has been able to craft, with a writer's skill, an impressive account of her family's amusing imperfection. When she writes about her son knocking loose his front teeth, I think to myself about my own son's close encounter with the ice at the skating rink. When she laughingly writes about mopping the bathroom floor, blogger-style (i.e. overflowing the bathtub because she was checking her blog), I recall the hundred times I've boiled the teakettle dry while taking a 'quick look' at my stats.   The mom in me gets where Kristen is coming from. So does the blogger in me.

In fact, what puts We Are THAT Family at the top of its genre is the author’s willingness to speak honestly about the craft of blogging, her motivation, and her relationship to the blogging community. Her post, When Bloggers Don't Blog, resonates with me, not just as a mom-blogger, but as a writer who takes part in an online community and must grapple with the ways in which it changes over time.

So, when I was asked to write my first feature as the BlogCatalog Family Blog Advocate, I thought I would finally drop Kristen a line. And just my luck, in between chapters of Captain Underpants, Kristen set down her chocolate bar and tall glass of sweet tea long enough to answer a few questions about We Are THAT Family … you know the ones and bloggy life in general.

MM: In your blog bio, you write about connecting to the mothering community as an original motivator for starting your blog. How have your reasons for blogging evolved over time?

KW: I still blog for connection, although it has evolved into so much more. I am a writer, so I need to write. It's how I process. I'm a better mother, a better wife, a better person because I blog. Recently, I started viewing blogging as my job. Not so much for income, although yes, I would like to make money doing what I love, but because I'm proud of what I do.

MM: Mothering well takes a great deal of time and skill. So does quality writing. How do you balance the time demands of both (without overflowing the bathtub every day?)

KW: The balance isn't easy to strike. Parenting is demanding and requires my full attention. Writing is time consuming. I have my toddler in Mother's Day Out two days a week. I write many of my posts on these two days, often several at a time and usually a week ahead. I edit some at night. My hubby's job requires at least an hour of his time every night. We usually 'work' side-by-side. ... Sometimes the pendulum swings too far in one direction and I'm good at neither. This is a constant struggle for me.

MM: What one piece of advice do you wish a veteran blogger had given you when you were just starting out?

KW: One piece of advice I wish I'd had was for someone to encourage me. I spent months and months AND MONTHS trying to figure out the whole blog world. It was an enormous learning curve. I found the greatest help and joy to be participating in other people's blogs.
MM: Is there an other blog or blogger whose work inspires you?

KW: Shannon from Rocks in My Dryer is definitely an inspiration. I'm also proud to say she's become a good friend. I also love to read The Pioneer Woman.

So, whether you’re a mom in need of a laugh, a newbie, or a veteran blogger from any genre, I hope you’ll give We are THAT Family… you know the ones a look. But more than that, I hope you’ll take Kristen’s message about positive blogging to heart. I can say it no better than she already has when talking about the impact one blogger can have on another:

You may have certain goals for your blog or it may be a helpful outlet to you. Whatever the reason, people are reading your words, whether you know it by their comments or not.

So, blog well.

Written by Julia Kelly, a BlogCatalog Blogger Advocate
http://midwestmoms.blogspot.com/
Follow Julia on Twitter