Never pass up the opportunity to learn from fellow bloggers

February 11, 2010 | Jill | Comments 78

I enjoy learning things from other blogs. There is no one right way to blog, so it’s interesting to see how others succeed. Even more interesting, learning how other bloggers make money. I make a little here and there, mainly I just aim to pay for Kendall’s Mother’s Day Out Program and hopefully will be able to add on a gym membership soon. But, when I hear of other bloggers making over $1,000 a month, I have to stop and take notice.

So there’s this blog, and it’s focused on living frugally. I can appreciate that. It’s an admirable lifestyle, even if one I wouldn’t necessarily sacrifice as much as this blogger has for it. I can’t sit here and say I know that much about the blogger or her life because I really haven’t read very many of her posts. What I can speak for are the few posts I have read, one being the post in which she discloses making over $1,300 her 5th month of blogging. “WHAT is her secret?!” I thought to myself. I had no idea there was so much money to be made in blogging about living off of less than $1,000 a month. So I scrolled up and I found this post. “Hmmm… so that’s what I’m doing wrong,” I thought.

I’m not posting pictures of deplorable conditions in which my child lives and sleeps and then telling all my (well-meaning) commenters how wrong they are to suggest I might hurt or kill my child! Duh. Why didn’t I think of that sooner? So it’s a snow day here, and I wanted to put off doing the dishes. I took a few minutes while Kendall was shouting “NO!” at Dora and all her demands to do a little rearranging in his room.

As you can see, I’ve rigged an ingenious way to store and display our precious stuffed animals that really mean a lot to me and my husband by hanging a rope from the window and across the back of his crib.

The blinds don’t seem to block out enough light, so I threw up this fun animal print blanket. It will be perfect for when I finally finish the Jungle theme in here.

I have carefully stacked some books in between the top of his crib and the wall. I’m not worried about him pulling them down on himself because he’s never tried to before, and I know he won’t figure it out before his 2nd birthday when I plan to take him out of the crib completely and turn that into full time book storage.

Speaking of the crib, you will notice there is no mattress at all. I find that makes it much easier to clean up when he has accidents. In fact, I don’t know if you can see it, but there is a pan underneath the bed that doubles as a litter box for my cat. I find the cat really likes to hide out under there because it’s so cozy, so I figured I’d just kill two birds with one stone by throwing the shit collector under there to save space and help me with clean up after midnight accidents.

I’ve strategically placed a blanket over his dresser and crib and held it in place with old paint cans that now double as storage for all his old teethers and pacifiers that we will pass on to the next baby. I use the space below to store things like an old laptop he likes to play with and some more stuffed animals.

Finally, I’m getting pretty tired of how cluttered my kitchen counters look, so I thought I’d go ahead and move the knife block to the windowsill in here since he’s never interested in the windowsill anyway, and it’s not like he actually plays in here. Plus, there is a giant plastic tub in front of it that will deter him from messing with the knives, and I always say the best way to childproof is to set boundaries. Obviously, he will know that this purple bin is a boundary he should not cross.

Now, don’t even bother making DEMANDS of me to change any of these things. I don’t care if you are a firefighter or have successfully kept 12 kids alive through adulthood. You don’t know my life. I am simply posting this to share with you, not for you to make ridiculous DEMANDS of me.

Okay, I admit. The above is a joke. Well, I mean my picture is a joke… in case you couldn’t figure that out. Unfortunately, the original blog is not a joke.

However, I can’t sit here and pretend I am above reproach when it comes to the order of my house. Here’s a picture of my bathroom vanity. It’s been like this for close to 3 months. The sink is so clogged I don’t even use it anymore and just use my husband’s. I have an up-close picture of the sink, too, but decided not to share it with you because it’s possible many of you will be reading this while eating lunch and, well, it’s not pretty.

Yes, the “truth about my house” (or #truthaboutmyhouse if you ever want a fun read on Twitter), is my master bedroom is sorely neglected and the master bathroom is even worse. However, I do like to keep glaring safety hazards and messes contained to rooms my kid doesn’t sleep in (and guests don’t see).

I will now sit back and wait for the cash monies to roll in so I can hire a maid and never have to scrub sink again.

In all seriousness, I am concerned for the safety and well being of this blogger’s children, based on the pictures of that room. I would send her an email or comment telling her so, but considering hundreds of others have done so before me, including safety professionals, and she shows no signs of wanting to take any one’s advice, I figure it would fall on deaf ears. Please note that I linked to her blog merely to provide a reference for you and I certainly don’t encourage or condone anyone to go over there an harass the girl. It’s not like any amount of *that* is going to change anything either. It’s my sincere hope that whatever meager income she makes off the direct hits from this blog she will use to purchase a sheet for her son. It’s on me.

Kendall is 21 months old, napping in his room, and I promise I put everything back the way it was this morning when it was safe.

Filed Under: Headed to Toddlerhood