Perhaps the question shouldn't be "who do you blog for?". Perhaps it should be "why do you blog?", or "who knows about your blog?", or "what do you get out of blogging?".

For some reason I've been thinking about this a fair bit lately. I read several blogs regularly and even more of them sporadically, and it seems everyone is in this for different reasons. What are yours?

Me, well, I started the blog primarily to keep my family and Andy's up to date on the boys. My family is a few hours away--just far enough to make it inconvenient to visit very often. And Andy's parents moved away to Phoenix, which is about 25 hours from here by car. Since they've moved we've seen them once. Also, I have good friends that live far away. So, one day during a slow time at work, and after seeing a magazine article about blogging, I sat down and wrote a quick introductory post. Then I called my mom and told her about it, and e-mailed everyone that I thought might be interested.

For awhile I wrote a post every few days. All the posts were about the boys because, after all, that's what this was about. Right? While I was beginning my blog, I also browsed around and began reading a few other blogs regularly. I didn't comment or anything, just lurked around. But one day, a post that Ann Adams wrote just cried out for me to say something. I left a comment, and the neatest thing happened. She visited my blog and left me a comment! Until then, I'd had no comments from anyone but my mom and my aunt, who have since started blogs of their own. It was such a nice feeling!

I began cruising around the blogosphere, leaving little comments everywhere I went. Some folks visited me and left comments, others didn't. No biggie--I was having a blast! And somewhere in there, I began posting more often. Pretty soon it was nearly every day. The other big change was that I quit talking about the boys every post, and began to share some of my thoughts and feelings. It was so nice to just get those thoughts out of my head and into reality, and it was even nicer when even just one person commented with a virtual hug or an "I understand, I've been there."

I love my blog. Sometimes I struggle with what I want it to be. There are times when I'm angry or upset and I debate whether I want to post about that or not, because just as there are nice people hanging out on the internets, there are mean people who derive great satisfaction in posting the perfect nasty anonymous comment. Sometimes I'll notice I've posted 8 straight posts about the boys and figure I'd better make a change before ya'll get bored. Sometimes I'll ramble about myself for several posts before remembering that perhaps the grandparents would like to hear about the kids. It's a balance, I guess.

I notice that many people with blogs don't tell their families about them. Then they come online and rant and rave about their mom or their mother-in-law or their sister or whoever else is driving them crazy. Now, I'm not complaining--sometimes those posts are hilarious, sometimes they're very sad and I want to offer support, and sometimes (but not so often, OK, guys? remember, everyone, my family rocks!) I can totally relate. I always wonder, though, don't you worry that one day they'll find your blog? Wouldn't that be awful?

Something else I wonder about is how much to write about the boys. They're not babies any longer, and while I still think they're adorable and wonderful and small, one of these days they may not appreciate me posting all kinds of things about them on the internet. Not that I'll stop writing about them, necessarily, but perhaps I'll have to change the tone. Wouldn't it be awful if, when they are 12 or so, a classmate ran across the blog and read about potty training and pacifiers in the archives, and the temper tantrum they threw in Wal-Mart just the other day?

Well, that certainly was a disjointed jumble of thoughts. Hopefully you made some sense out of what I'm saying, at least. So, tell me about your blogging philosophy. I'd like to know how you do things at your place!