I started Beyond Mommying with one mission in mind: to share my mommying journey, lessons learned and practical advice. (More on how Beyond Mommying got started.)
I never wanted fame in life. Even though I would have gladly been a professional dancer, I never expected to be world-renowned. I have never wanted to be in the spotlight (other than on stage!) and will be perfectly happy in life even if I never achieve my “15 minutes of fame,” (though I certainly would never turn down a fortune if the opportunity ever comes my way!)
Beyond Mommying was never about making it big, even though my “Winter Car Seat Safety” post saw 1,622 views in one week (my tiny version of going viral!) and over 13,000 different people have visited my little blog during its short life (which seems like a lifetime to me!)
Beyond Mommying was never about making money, even though I have received free products, tickets, gift cards and even monetary compensation for my work.
And while all of these achievements are really awesome, I have to say that what happened with my blog in recent weeks is perhaps the best thing to happen yet:
I’m an expert!
I’ve always believed in my talents as a ballet teacher, I know that I can train, mold and develop beautiful ballerinas (even if I’ve yet to find the right place to let me fully utilize my talents). And I’ve always been confident in my talents and understanding in the early childhood field. Child development and working with children has always been logical and easy for me (perhaps why my parenting appears effortless and easy?)
But my knowledge, skills and abilities have never been recognized before. I’ve never been invited to teach a dance “master class”. And despite having a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education, I have never before had the opportunity to share my knowledge with anyone other than my small group of co-workers at the various preschools I’ve worked.
Until now. My hard work during my years in the classroom getting to know small children, all the studying for my master’s and all my writing and knowledge sharing on Beyond Mommying has finally paid off: I was asked to offer “expert” advice for a Care.com article on the cognitive development of 5 year olds!
I never really thought the M.Ed. that I can put behind my name would ever amount too much more than a promotion at work (the same promotion that someone with a CDA, A.A. or B.A. could get) though I have always certainly hoped that some day it would get me a college professor job or teacher trainer job.
And while those things haven’t happened for me yet, I think being recognized as an expert on a respected platform like Care.com is a pretty darn awesome achievement and I can’t help but wonder what other opportunities it might bring my way in the future!
I’m finally starting to feel like I’ve found a place in this big, wide blogging world! In April alone, I was featured in the Care.com article as well as had an article published with Mamalode.com AND found my post on Today Parenting Team holding strong in the top 10 (which also landed me a nod in a Today.com main website article).
Things certainly have been going my way and I didn’t think I could be more excited, and then yesterday happened: I found out I was selected to be on of 12 (TWELVE!) South Florida bloggers to be chosen for South Florida Parenting Magazine‘s Mom Approved Panel. This means me and my words will be shared on their website, print magazine and e-newsletter and my wisdom and advice will reach hundreds of thousands of parents all across South Florida. It is such an honor and amazing opportunity and I can’t wait for what other amazing opportunities might await me on this journey. Thank you so much to all my loyal (and new) readers who have accompanied me on my journey and stuck with me through my blogging and life ups and downs!
