WHY DO I BLOG

I started Tall Mom tiny baby in the fall of 2012.

At the time I was a local morning television host, was newly pregnant with my first child, and had just celebrated my second anniversary with my darling husband. My job as a full time TV personality was soon coming to an end, and I was quickly morphing into a new mom whether I liked it or not.

I had enjoyed sharing people’s stories while I was on television, but I realized that I had my own stories to share. Some were funny, all were honest, and I thought that some might actually be useful to others.

A dear friend of mine, Benjamin DeCastro, recommended that I start blogging – so people who got to know me on television could continue to stay connected with me as I transitioned into my new life as a mom.

I took his advice, and Tall Mom tiny baby was born.

My main goal for my blog was to be honest about my life as a TV personality, as a wife, and as a new mom. Pinterest, facebook, twitter, and even other blogs are all great for their own purposes.

In a lot of cases, however, I found many people portray themselves as picture perfect. Hair done, makeup on, kids dressed in perfect beautiful outfits, photographs of amazing trips, and the house cleaned/decorated to a tee.

Best yet, many people were trying to tell me that pregnancy was beautiful, warm, and they made it seem like it was going to be easy. But, what I was experiencing wasn’t easy. It was hard. It was hard as hell, and this whole thing of being a pregnant new mom started to weigh me down. It wasn’t glorious. It was hard. It was tiring. And, most of the time, it was gross. Things happening in places that I didn’t even know existed.

Then a moment of total clarity happened when I was looking up Pinterest items for a newborn baby room.

I wasn’t getting the full truth from a lot of bloggers when it came to being a new mom, going through birth, or being pregnant. What I was reading, I thought, was a filtered look at what the mom – life is all about.  

So I decided I didn’t want other moms to have to siphon through all of the “pretty looking perfect stuff” that I had to in order to get a real look at what it’s like. I decided I was going to tell the truth – warts and all.

I wanted my blog, my story, my passion, to be a one stop shop for new moms. The buck was going to stop at Tall Mom tiny baby.

If it was about mucous plugs, postpartum depression, poop in my hair, or the days when my husband wanted to be physical – and I just couldn’t stomach the thought because I’d been attached to a baby all day – and the last thing I wanted was to be touched even more. The truth of mom-life was going to be on my blog. That’s what I was giving to the world. And, what I was giving to myself.

But, I had no real idea of what I was doing, I just began to write and post photos.

Friends and family would read my posts, and I started to connect with a couple of new communities – some with new moms, and others were bloggers.

I never really thought about how I could earn money blogging, but knew that bloggers sometimes did it. The opportunity to start sponsored posts fell into my lap by the recommendation of another Rhode Island based blogger, and I’ve been happily blogging as well as earning some extra income ever since.

My husband and I realized how much we love the online media form, and decided to start up our own company. As a direct callback to how it all came about, we named the company Tall Mom Media, and started an LLC under the same name. We have since then created three podcasts, two more blogs, and have realized that blogging has now become a huge part of who we are.

We love to learn from others, to share our stories, find and connect with like minded people. We share some of our deepest secrets, our greatest achievements, our biggest foibles, and are able to find friendship through blogging.

Recently, several people have reached out to me, inquiring about how to start a blog. I never thought about it before, but after just over three years of blogging, I have learned a great deal. Somehow, I went from being a literal nobody, to actually kind of knowing what to do.Of course, blogging is an ever changing art form where the author has the ability to share things with literally the entire world, even if they just want to write it for their own self or small family like I did.

Other bloggers have helped me out greatly along the way, and I figured it was my turn to start helping newbies as well. I’m not promising you riches from blogging, and some of my ideas may or may not work for you. But I am willing to share what I know, what didn’t work for me, and give you some advice.

Talk soon, friends!

Mary