best of

My Blogging Best of 2016

/ Shannon Brescher Shea / 2 Comments

my-blogging-best-of-2016

2016 was an interesting year, if you mean interesting in the “old curse” sense. While 2016 was the year where democracy apparently went to die (and not just because of Trump), I had a much better personal life than last year. It was damn hard, but good in so many ways.

We welcomed Little Bird into the world, watched Sprout go through a lot of transitions, and missed out on a shit-ton of sleep. (My children don’t hate sleep so much as love everything else in the world so much more, especially driving their mother and father slightly bonkers.)

Plus, my blog readership grew substantially! Thank you so much to everyone who has read and enjoyed these posts in the last year. Although it’s dinky compared to a lot of other people, I’m still proud that I’ve nearly hit 10,000 views this year.

Looking back, many of my favorite posts were the ones where I was honest and vulnerable about my struggles as a parent:

 

I also messed around with format and structure a bit, which I hope was as much fun to read as it was to write:

 

Some of my most important posts described lessons learned, especially as connected to a lot of the awful events of this year:

 

Others reminded me of some of the more off-the-beaten path places we visited in Washington D.C. and beyond:

 

And last but not least, I greatly enjoyed both doing and seeing people’s reactions to the Outdoors Family Challenge and my profiles of biking families for Bike Month!

If you want updates and more articles, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Better luck to us all in 2017!

The Best of 2015

/ Shannon Brescher Shea / Leave a comment

Besides the fact that it’s the end of the year, this is my 200th post! So it’s a good time to look backwards.

This was a challenging year for me. I dealt with some difficult personal issues that I didn’t write about yet, but plan to in the New Year. There was also a lot of national tragedies, including those dealing with police racism, gun violence, and climate change. Plus, it’s just exhausting raising a two-year-old.

My favorite posts reflect these frustrations, especially reflections on how social justice issues intersect with being a parent. I also commented on less serious social issues, including Santa Claus and Halloween stories.

Here are some of my favorite philosophical posts this year:

At the same time, Sprout was old enough for us to take on a number of adventures that we weren’t able to previously, including concerts, camping, and Sesame Place. We found a lot of joy in the small moments in life together. Here are some of my favorite family field trips this year:

On the other hand, my most popular posts covered some quirky pop culture subjects, including my favorite band, the political implications of children’s literature, and kiddie music.

I hope that you enjoyed reading my posts this year! I look forward to writing about our family’s adventures, challenges and reflections in the New Year.