My Real Life

I've wanted to start my own blog for a while now, but I got stuck on the name. I have a real problem with names. I can't remember them, and when it comes to deciding on a name, it takes forever. It took years for me to settle on my first son's name. Let's just say I was glad I fell in love with someone who liked the name Nathan James. Days after Nathan's birth, I started thinking about another boy name. After all, I was seriously short on time. Two years later, Daniel Luke was born. I had two middle names, Luke or Isaac. I loved the sound of Daniel Isaac, but couldn't bear the thought of his initials being D.I.S.

So, you can imagine that naming a blog was not as simple as sticking a few words together. It had to be just right. It had to mean something. A couple of days ago I was in the shower when the name came to me. (The shower is one of the few places I have creative thoughts these days, mainly because it's the one place where I'm not juggling a wiggly baby and a preschooler who likes asking why.) I want my blog to be about real life, no pretense, no prettying up the truth, because I want people to know about my life, in all its wonderful, awful, messy reality.

I think sometimes that's what we need more of. Don't misunderstand me. I love reading about people's successes. Goodness knows there's enough bad news in the world, and we need to spread every positive, uplifting story we can. I find myself inspired by others who overcome the odds and achieve something. But there's also the part of me that thinks, wow, I haven't done anything like that. How did she train for a 5K and work a full time job? How did she find time to sew all those cute clothes for her kids while simultaneously feeding them, playing with them and keeping the peace? Or, my most recent nemesis (the cake, not the person), how did she bake that perfect looking cake from scratch? I don't like any of these people less for their successes (indeed, I would like to borrow their success for my own life), but sometimes, what I need to know is that there is another mom out there whose house is messy more than clean. Or someone else who still hasn't lost the last five pounds to get back in those pre-pregnancy pants.

I just want to celebrate the reality of my life as it is, the bad and the good. Yes, I'm trying hard. Sometimes I succeed. Sometimes, I have an epic failure. But mostly, I just continue living my life day by day, getting some things right, but letting other things slide. After all, who really can do it all and be good at it? If you can, please, do me a favor and don't tell me about it.