Apparently, it’s still a thing. Lucky for me!

I have been meaning to write for some time now, but, you know, kids. Kids are very handy for blaming things on.

I imagine that my first several (ha! that’s hopeful) posts will be kinda like the first season of Friends. Awkward, you know? Everyone was just a little too much and trying a little too hard. But I hope that I will find my groove and maybe–just maybe–I will end up with gems like “The One with All the Wedding Dresses” or “The One with the Cop”.

See what I mean about finding my groove? My very first reference had nothing to do with horror or parenting.

Let’s see, what do you need to know in order to decide whether or not you should hang out with me? For starters, I have two kiddos in elementary school. Babyhood and toddlerhood were hard as crap–I am so thankful to be beyond that. It wasn’t my cup of tea and honestly, parts were scary. I suffered pretty badly from postpartum anxiety and probably depression. I’ll definitely be exploring that in this space.

But we all survived, and now they are weird little people with well-established personalities. My oldest is drawn to horror as well, so I am constantly trying to figure out what will be ok to share with her and what will send her straight into the therapist’s chair for years to come. My youngest is not-so-much into horror, but she wants to be like mom and sis. We have fun, and parenting will definitely be a big topic here.

I love horror–specifically supernatural horror. I cut my teeth on The Shining at the tender age of 11 (what kind of parents did I have? Geesh!) and devoured any Stephen King books that were lying around my house. There were a lot. I like scary movies too, but since kids, my consumption of anything but family-friendly sitcoms and The Great British Baking Show has really fallen off. I plan to write about horror in all forms, especially the horror that I have tried to introduce to my kiddos, and the new ways in which they help me see old works.

I am a person of faith, and my beliefs really influence what I find to be scary and how I interact with horror. Some things are silly-scary, some are gruesome-scary and some are holy-crap-where’s-the-rosary scary. I will definitely spend some time on this and the strange conversations it brings about in my home.

Lastly, this blog is about coming into my own–finally!–well into my 40’s. Maybe like you, I spent so much time researching and reading how to be the best parent while I was pregnant. Then when the kiddos got here, I looked to others for solutions to my problems first instead of trusting my instincts. I think that the availability of information and others’ opinions makes this a common experience. This is scary, too. Parents are disconnecting from themselves and trusting strangers with good marketing plans to raise their children. Talk about horrifying! I will look back on this in my own parenting journey, laugh at it, and try to encourage the hell out of new parents that may find this blog. You know what to do. Really.

These are my initial goals, aside from establishing a regular regimen for writing. Maybe something will come of it, maybe not. I’m so glad you’re here, though, and hope that we can hang out again soon.