Lots of Gratitude and a Few Lessons

Why a picture of penguins? Because I didn’t have a picture of each of you. Which is really what this post is about. (Well that and some other random thoughts—one of which includes penguins.) So please stick with me through #1. It’s longwinded, but heartfelt.

Lesson #1: When you get an email saying that you’ve been nominated by the Circle of Moms editorial staff as one of the best Bay Area Mom Blogs—and you’re me—you think it’s probably a mistake. But you go with it, because, well…wow.

But you quickly realize that not only is it not a mistake, you’re neck in neck for the top spot. And in a contest like this one, that’s not a place you can get to alone. (Because try as you might to suddenly acquire 1041 devices to vote on, that’s just not realistic.)

So you check out Facebook to see who the 67 folks are who have “liked” your personal voting page and try to say thanks to each of those people, but Facebook has this silly thing called a privacy policy that doesn’t allow you to. And then you get kindhearted emails forwarded to you with responses from others’ family and friends and you want to thank each of them. Not just for voting, but for having the faith in your words to share them with others. Oh, and the sudden influx of comments on posts from strangers turned readers, that’s pretty amazing too. Because it means my mom isn’t the only person voting for me (though rumor has it she did call some neighbors to check me out). Then as the clock struck 5pm on Friday, the shouts and thumbs up from my neighbors, the excited texts from friends, the tweets of congrats—it was all overwhelming. In the best possible way.

Because when I started Using Our Words just a little over a year ago, my hope was to build a community. A place where parents could celebrate big and little victories, while laughing about everyday defeats. This contest taught me that we’ve—yes, we’ve—done just that. I’m humbled. I’m grateful. I’m ecstatic. So since I can’t thank all of you individually, please know that each and every vote, email, text, comment, share, congrats meant the world to me. I hope you continue to enjoy reading my words and using yours to be a part of the conversation. Because, as far as I’m concerned, it’s just getting started.

Lesson #2: We had amazing foresight when we purchased distressed furniture. (Too bad babies don’t come that way…though I think ours is getting worn in rather quickly.)

Lesson #3: While they may use the albino alligator to get you in the door, the real show at the California Academy of Sciences in SF is the African penguin feeding. Did you know they have 70 feathers per square inch? Or that they can dive as deep as the Statue of Liberty turned upside down in the water? Or that they have little bodies with huge personalities (can anyone say toddler?!)? Or that they can hold your kids’ undivided attention for almost 30 minutes? Impressive, I know. Oh, and a tip for the under-pampered moms: Close your eyes long enough in the rainforest and you can imagine you’re getting a facial.

Lesson #4: In our house the term “baseball” is really a catch-all for baseball plus duck, duck, goose plus dodge ball.

Lesson #5: When my boys started responding to my orders requests with: “Yes, your majesty,” I decided having sassy kids isn’t so bad after all.

And now, back to the most important thought, thank you again for putting Using Our Words at the top of the list of Bay Area mom blogs! (But really, no need to call me your majesty…unless you want to.)