musings of a mommy: LUE Mother Blogger Interview, Thrice is Nice

For my third Mother Blogger interview, I present to you Sheila of musings of a mommy. I've known Sheila for a long time but we only recently began deepening our friendship with coffee dates at Dieterich's and math tutoring sessions. Yes. Math tutoring. Sheila, a former high school math teacher turned stay-at-home-mom, spent a few hours tutoring me in algebra this past semester so I could know what Colin was talking about if he needed help.

Here are Sheila's answers to the Mother Blogger interview questions:

1. How long have you been blogging? May 28, 2004 - I've been blogging for two years now.

2. What made you start a blog? I started my blog when my friend, Sherry, started hers. She was moving to Montana, away from a close group of friends, and she wanted to stay close to them. She started a blog, and sent me a link and wanted comments. I got sucked right in.

3. Who is your “target” audience, that is, who do you want to read your blog? My target audience started out as my extended family. Many of my husband's aunties and cousins read me daily, but never comment. My mom and mother-in-law also read. I knew that Sherry would read me, and so have a few of her friends, who I met at her wedding, so I consider them my friends now. My target audience has extended to include several friends in my life now, several friends who have moved away, and I know I get the occasional new mommy, just because of my title and other moms who link to me.

4. What is your greatest challenge as a mom? My greatest challenge as a mom is my own selfishness and anger. It actually surprised me that this would be my biggest challenge as a mom, but it is.

5. How do you keep your identity as a PERSON, outside of being a mom? My identity as a person is kept intact through my friends and my hobbies. I have a great circle of friends, and they make me come out and play without the kids. They tell me how great I am and remind me of who I want to be. I have several hobbies besides blogging - the two biggest now are reading and knitting.

6. What piece of advice would you like to pass on to moms everywhere? I am actually writing a post on this topic this week! The best advice is this: pay attention to your kids. If there is a trend of disobediance or defiance, then they need more positive attention. They need some one-on-one time with one of their parents, or both. Spending time with your kids, doing something that THEY want to do, is the best way to aviod a discipline problem.

Well, that is the Sheila interview. I leave you with a bonus picture taken recently at her birthday party. Someone. . . SOMEONE. . . ordered her a cake with her blog profile picture on it. How adorable is that? It also just happened to match her swimsuit. Crazy!