The Little Blog that Could

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“I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.” The Little Engine that Could teaches us all not to underestimate our potential.

I think that sometimes in the mom blogosphere those of us who have smaller blogs sometimes feel like we’re never going to “make it big.” Yes, I write here at 5 Minutes for Mom, which is definitely one of the top blogs in the Mommy Blogging arena, and I am proud to be associated with them. But my personal blog Snapshot — well, it probably looks a lot like the rest of yours. I’m by no means a blog star, and I’m coming to terms with that.

It seems like the blogs that are recognized in the online media are always the same big ones. There are reasons that they are popular: good writing, sound advice, fun giveaways, a regular posting schedule, weekly or monthly carnivals that invite others to get involved. But don’t you think luck plays a part in it too?

Luck is what brings that initial traffic to the blog. Perhaps they get mentioned on one of the “big blogs,” and people click over to check them out. Maybe their creative comments get noticed on other blogs, and people follow them to their own blogs and like what they see. Who knows?

Remember when I invited you to nominate your favorite Mommy Blogs in Scholastic’s first Mommy Blogger Contest? I took the time to nominate many of the blogs that I read on a regular basis — not just the ones that are recognized all the time — or the ones that I thought could “win.”

You know what happened? Scholastic went through those 500 nominations one by one and they selected the top 10, based on their opinion of content. It wasn’t based on popularity or number of nominations, and I think that a few smaller blogs hit a lucky break.

Even though I nominated her, I was as surprised as my friend Katrina to see that Callapidder Days was in the top ten! Yes, there are a few of the “big blogs” that you’d expect to be on such a list, but there are also several “Little Engines that Could” on there.

I’m not going to try to sway your vote, but I will say that I didn’t nominate Callapidder Days because we are friends in real life who started off blogging at the same time (I shared that story last week on my blog). I nominated her because I truly love her writing, and her thoughtful observations about life as a mom. If you want to check her blog out yourself, she created a Taste of Callapidder Days post for those who might be checking her out for the first time.

I invite you to check out the 10 finalists and vote before March 13.

This post was written by Contributing Editor Jennifer Donovan, who blogs at Snapshot and manages 5 Minutes for Books (and is very proud of her friend Katrina.