I originally started this post by apologizing for the lack of posting yesterday and then a voice in my head said, no ones cares that you didn't post anything yesterday, you self-involved schmuck... even I'd gotten used to the whole NaBloTooMo thing.

The other day while The Dormouse was throwing a tantrum about washing her hair (yes, Washing. Her. Hair.) and I was dealing with her, trying to keep her screaming to a minimum and keep from waking the sleeping Caterpillar who hadn't napped that day, suddenly I realized I was forming a blog post in my head and trying to figure out how I would write about this later. And that's when I decided that I needed a vacation.

I don't want to be one of those people who completely frames her life around blogging. I don't want this blog to turn into a series of "hey I went to the bathroom today... and then guess what happened... I ATE BREAKFAST" posts. I don't want to be so obsessed with my online life that I can't really participate in my real life. I don't want to be creating events and activities for my kids just so I'd have something to write about, it should be the other way around. And believe me, the irony of the fact that I'm writing about being too obsessed with my blog ON MY BLOG is not lost on me. I think that's proof enough that I need to dial it back a little and plug back into my life and my family.

It's an interesting question to consider: What is the purpose of a blog?

I think everyone has a different point of view on that subject. Some folks are looking for fame and fortune. Some a book deal. Some just need a community of friends and people to hear them and that, for whatever reason, doesn't happen in real life.

I've said before that one of my purposes here is to keep up with family and friends because I am a horrible communicator. But if that was the only thing that was important to me, I could just teach myself to use The Phone more often. So that can't be my only objective.

I do want this as a record of the events and stories of my life for my children. But I have several of those old-fashioned thingies -- you know... that ancient record keeping device?... the thing with the flat stuff and the writing implement you wield in your hand... I believe they were called paper and pens -- and I haven't kept a consistent journal or diary in fifteen years. So that can't be the only reason either.

I think that the main reason this all has to be online for me is because other people who are not necessarily my family may read it (emphasis on the "may"). And what that does for me is make me think more, be more careful about what I choose to write, and use the skill of writing more when I write it. It makes me practice tact and consider others' feelings (although I haven't always been successful in that) and strive more for the experiences I had in school when I was required to actually write in some sort of professional manner and present it for scrutiny. But the downside of the blog format is it's easy to get caught up in posting something, anything, without considering those things. It's actually the reason when my mother people tell me I should find a way to make money doing this, I balk. I'm glad I'm not a professional blogger with a posting quota is because I can choose to dial it back a bit when I need to do so.

So here's to dialing it back and enjoying the holiday season in real life more. I'm sure my family at least will appreciate it.