The reality of Mommycosm

Have you heard about the new Reality TV series being developed about Mom Bloggers?  The producers of Project Mom Casting have an open casting call and are looking to connect with Moms at BlogHer'10 next week.  They will be granting interviews based on entries supplied by midnight Monday, July 26, 2010.  I figure, what the heck, it's worth a shot.  Right?  

So here's my entry:

Mommycosm is a world where motherhood is fueled by yoga and pilates...or yoda, pie and lattes, depending on the day. 

Hi, Mom Casting!  I’m Kim Grenon, aka Ashlie, the Mommy behind Mommycosm.

My entry 3+ years ago into the blogosphere happened serendipitously.  I was rocking my SAHM gig when an ex-employer offered me a web research opportunity.  I could work solely from home...in my pjs at midnight if I wanted.  Seriously, I wasn’t looking for an at-home job just then, but it felt like a no brainer.

I distinctly remember my boss outlining one of the first projects.  He wanted me to gather lots of information about top blogs.  I remember asking “Um, what’s a blog?!”  He assigned me the task to set one up from scratch to see how it is done.

So, I did.  I set up Mommycosm.  Task accomplished and we all moved on.  Right?

Not so much.

You see, I found my voice and continued to blog - on my own time, of course.  I didn’t realize how lonely I was until I started to make these amazing connections with other moms...and dads...and dogs.  Also, it felt good to shake “mommy brain” enough to formulate complete sentences in a forum where I wasn’t being interrupted 50 times. 

That’s gold, people.  Solid gold...with sparkly diamonds.  

After I established a decent readership, opportunities to review free products and represent brands that I actually use practically started to come out of nowhere.

Needless to say, this blogging thing stuck - well beyond that first task within that first project.  It stuck well beyond the next project...and the next.  It even stuck after my boss decided to close the company a few months ago.

So, here I am.  Why?  For the free products? 

Nah.

Mommycosm isn’t the biggest nor most monetized Mom blog.  It has been online since 2007, which practically makes it a dinosaur in blogging years.

I continue to blog for 2 reasons:

1. Through the sharing of day-to-day stories, I have made real connections with many fabulous people.
2. Through the sharing of day-to-day stories, I have also made a real connection to...myself.

I am no longer afraid to call myself a writer.  I realize now that other parents both love their kids with the fiery passion of the sun AND want to run away some days.  I found that my heart has the ability to ache over the loss of other people’s children - even when I have never met them in person.  I now know that it is worth the embarrassment to get fitted into the right sized bra.  I have learned how to be a better marriage partner and how not to let resentment grow.  Just as important, I’ve learned that other married couples are not having sex every night either.  I have learned that one cup of coffee a day is a NEED, not a want.  Praise be.  I am not alone.

This fall both of my kids will be in school full days.  This is the first time in 8 years I will have significant "me time."  I am unsure how I will fill it.  While I continue to travel down a road of self-discovery, I will continue to blog along the way.

This is my blogging journey.  This is the reality of Mommycosm.