Last night, I weighed my options.
I could sit in front of CNN, cocktail in hand, and wallow my way through story after story of this weak and wobbly economy as the For Sale sign sits forlorn and useless (at the moment, at least) on my front lawn. But then I thought about how I’m the only parent here currently and indefinitely, what with Mr. Asthma Mom already in Denver and all, so I figured I should muddle my way through the news sans alcohol. Silver lining of real estate, I seek you.
Actually, I do have something positive to write about this morning:
This Sunday, October 5, is the One-Year Blogaversary of the Asthma Mom blog.
In fact, this new feature I keep talking up? Is commencing at the end of October in honor of Asthma Mom’s Blogaversary month. And the rest of this week’s posts, including tomorrow’s regular Weird Health feature, will highlight the one-year marker, too.
Today, I give you the very first Asthma Mom post, link here and excerpted here:
I’m a non-asthmatic, non-allergic thirtysomething woman parenting 2 elementary-age children, one with the lung disorder that takes and just keeps on taking. It has been a long and crazy ride with lots of sleepless nights since my asthmatic child’s diagnosis, and not in the good way. But I’m sure any readers of this thing have asthmatic children themselves, so you are likely already familiar with the joy that is raising a kid with a chronic breathing problem.
Sound familiar? The write-up served double-duty as my first post and my former *About this Blog* tab.
I started Asthma Mom for so many reasons. There were so many stellar asthma sites (see the left sidebar for links) out there already, and not only did they cover the medical aspect of this disease better than I could, but they were vastly different from what I wanted to accomplish.
My goal?
To talk about asthma itself, yes, but also the other, related issues that parenting a child with asthma generates. Things like the way I check daily weather, pollen counts, and air quality. The politics of health care and the environment. The way raising a child with a chronic health problem prompted me to green up my whole household and my family’s diet. The tips I’ve learned from nurses, therapists, other parents, or that I’ve come up with myself to address my kid’s lung needs during travel and in school and during the holidays.
Because my daughter’s asthma changed my whole life. Her very serious symptoms as a young child, for example, delayed my career much longer than the two years I expected when I first left my job to be a stay-at-home mom. The very course of her illness, the way her asthma took much too long to get under control, directed me to learn more about it than I ever expected, and that’s knowledge that led me to write and edit BellaOnline’s asthma page and now, this blog.
And I know I’m not the only parent who went through this process. The regular, real fear that your little kid might stop breathing in the middle of the night changes you. It teaches you what panic and terror and helplessness feel like at the same time that it forces you to ignore the trivial parts of life and focus on the essentials. It makes you appreciate and think about good health in a way you probably never did before. My daughter’s asthma changed me so much, and I started this space to talk about that, too.
The unexpected part? I never thought I’d grow Asthma Mom to this point. It started as a very personal, casual, off-the-cuff conversation with myself and has morphed into something more comprehensive than I planned. This isn’t the first blog I’ve maintained, but it’s the one that’s developed the most.
Now, Asthma Mom is poised for some changes. Additions, I should say, because I’m not eliminating anything. I’m excited about the future of this blog, and I’m grateful to all of you who’ve kept reading throughout the year. I hope you’ll stick along for the ride.
Happy Anniversary Amy!
Congratulations! And look how much you’ve accomplished!
Thanks for being such a great resource and for making the paths of other’s a little smoother!
Happy Anniversary to you! I am looking forward to your changes or additions or whereever your path takes you.
Oh yes – living with a sick child will change you. I thought I had problems with one of my children. He had tourette’s syndrome. Lucky it was the mild version.
It was tough for a bit, but he did outgrow it.
But my daughter’s daughter was recently diagnosed with eosinophilic colitis. Not much is known about that, so her journey will now just begin. And she thought the beginning was finding the cause, making the diagnosis – no, now its – what do we do with this?
She’s only 20 months old.
Congrats on growing your blog – upward and onward to success!
Thanks to you both and Wendy, I hope your daughter finds a good community of parents facing similar issues–whether online or otherwise. I write this all the time, but asthma messageboards saved my sanity when AG was younger.
Haha ^^ nice, is there a section to follow the RSS feed