I Won't Be Offended If You Stop Reading My Blog

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Last week a bigger blogger wrote a post that started getting echoed throughout the blogging community. Bloggers were linking to it in agreement or disagreement and stating what the liked or didn't like about the post.
Here's the run down: "Jane" (another blogger used this so I will run with that) stated a few reasons why she probably stops reading a blog. I actually think a lot of her points are very valid to why most of us move on from certain blogs in blogland. I will tell you that I personally have stopped reading any blogs that focus on heavy daily drinking and I cannot stand blogs that only have giveaways or guest posts. Now I did run a lot of giveaways over the past month, but I always did them late in the day and only ran them on days where I posted personal content first. I will never just post a giveaway on a week day. That's just my take on balancing things.
Anyways, the blog post responses that interested me the most were ones coming from moms saying they didn't agree that just because someone posts a lot about their child that it should qualify them as "boring" or uninteresting. They especially felt this was true because "Jane" doesn't have any children of her own, so how can she understand what it's like when a child enters your life?
And this is where I really wanted to put in my two cents of what I have learned over the past 9 months.
I remember sitting in a coffee shop with another blogger, right before I announced my pregnancy on the blog. I was so worried about what would happen with my readers once they found out I was having a baby. I told the other blogger that I had a plan: I would only post "baby" stuff once or twice a week and the rest would still cater to my 20-somethings that followed my blog pre-pregnancy. I did not want to turn into a "mommy blogger".
Well, as months passed I found that I liked writing about my pregnancy. I liked sharing what was happening and changing in my life. I enjoyed getting feedback from other moms and I really loved finding other pregnant bloggers who understood what was going on in my life at the time. It is pretty standard that I post about "baby stuff" about 3 times a week now.

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A lot of the readers I had before this past January have disappeared. They don't comment on my posts, they don't like any of my pictures on instagram - these are girls I used to video chat with or who originally sent me gifts when they found out I was pregnant. At first I was kind of hurt by this, but then I realized it is a completely normal occurrence in real life - so why should the blogging world be any different? These girls are not in the same stage of life as me. Some have jumped on the "crazy drinking" train that has sadly swept across a lot of blogs. Some are just newlyweds and have no interest in anything having to do with pregnancy or babies. They aren't really interested in what's going on in my life because it could feel unrelatable to them.
Now I still make an effort to post recipes, DIY, blogging tips and marriage posts. I still do have ladies who have stuck around and who are great friends of mine, regardless that I am having a child. One of the craziest things that happened is an insane amount of 20-something readers also became pregnant over the last few months, so we all went from newlyweds to expecting moms and continue to watch and learn from each other as our lives change significantly.
Your blog is your own space. Many of us started them to record what was going on in our lives. Well, when you get married or have a baby, that's a huge change in your life. Bloggers criticize others because they say your child shouldn't become your whole world. They claim you are "boring" if it seems like all you like to do is stay at home and take care of your kids. And they urge you to not put up posts of pictures of your children all the time - they would rather you stick to the recipes or fashion that you have blogged about in the past.
To that I say 'I won't be offended if you stop reading my blog'. When I have my baby in a few weeks, I WILL be posting pictures of her. BlogHer informed me through an email that in this next month they will be switching me to "mommy blogger" status based on my content. I laughed when I saw the email because even they have noticed a change in my blog...and you know what - I am fine with that.


This baby will be mine and Ryan's entire world. We waited so long for her - through tears and loss I prayed for this child. Just like my life has gone through different chapters, my blog is a place that changes with my life. I am not sad that I lost all of those readers over the past nine months - because I am happier than I have ever been with my blog. These 9 months have brought so many moms and mamas-to-be into my life. They have provided encouragement, advice, prayer and laughter to me. They were exactly what I needed in this phase of my life. I appreciate each and every one of my readers, and to those who aren't moms or aren't expecting, you are still really important to me. But I encourage all of you to not be scared about your blog changing as your life changes.
I'm not going to lie, the majority of other blogs I read are "mommy bloggers". It's what I am interested in and what relates to me. But I still have 50+ blogs I read a day in my "20 something" category on Bloglovin' because I still love keeping up with my non-mom friends as well.
I just wanted to share what I went through this year with my blog, in hopes of being real with you. I am now officially "boring" by some other blogger's standards. But in the gaps where I previously had relationships with bloggers who no longer read my content, I have filled and hugely surpassed those holes with some of the most amazing women who I am blessed to have in my life. I have more "real" relationships now with bloggers than I ever had in the past. Change is ok. Babies are fantastic. And if you want to post pictures of your little one 7 days a week, that doesn't make you boring - and I would still read your blog (:


Check out one of the sweetest ladies I know: