Melinda from Purple Slob in Recovery has nominated me for the Blogger Recognition Award! Yay!!! Thank you, Melinda!! Thank you for thinking of me even after all these absent months. Honestly, I don’t know how I even deserve this recognition after dropping off for so long…but here I am, hoping to use this award as a kick-off to start blogging again.

Alright, so here are the rules of acceptance:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
2. Write a post to show your award.
3. Give a brief story of how your blog started.
4. Give two pieces of advise to new bloggers.
5. Select 15 other bloggers you want to give this award to.
6. Comment on each blog to let them know they have been nominated and provide a link to the post you have created.

1. DONE

2. This is it!

3. How My Blog Started

I started this blog at my children’s urgings that I should write a blog…and that it should be about them. Hence, Coral Reef, Star Fish, Ocean Breeze and Sea Pony were born (see my About page). I have always thought that parenting is one of those things that you do without instructions, and you never know if you’re doing it quite right or not. This is how the title Swimming Without the Manual came about. I wanted this blog to be a place where other parents could come and see and maybe relate to my own insecurities and imperfections about parenting, and where I could connect with others who are also “in the same boat”. I wanted people to know that we are all basically swimming without the manual when it comes to parenting.

4. Two Pieces of Advise

Given that I have blogged so sporadically, I don’t feel qualified to give advise here but this is what I have…for what it’s worth:

• Write from your heart. I’m not saying that you have to reveal your deepest darkest secrets in your blog (there are other blogs for that), but my favorite blogs are usually those where the blogger lets his or her humanity and personality show through.
• Go see people. Blogging is a community. I love to write, and I can write in hundreds of other forms (maybe not hundreds, but you know…). When I say that I miss blogging, however, what I mean is that I miss the community; I miss the interaction. Reading other people’s blogs serves you in several ways. One is that you learn from others. You may see techniques, layouts and, of course, life experiences that you can learn from. Also, commenting in other blogs is a good way to get your own blog noticed. When you read a post that you like, don’t be shy to leave a meaningful comment. Writers love to know what their readers think (I know I do). Leaving a comment leaves a little piece of you and a small sample of your writing on that site. That blogger or someone from their audience might like what they see and click on over to your blog 🙂

5. My nominees: (in no particular order and intentionally not numbered)

• Single Mom Unschooling
• The Newly Mrs. B
• The Sweet & Sour Beauty and Lifestyle Blog
• Wandering Through Life
• Frankie Tells it Like it is

6. Done