Well that title was probably a bit much, but The Diary of Dad is returning though things are going to look a little different around here. If you have found this post through my Facebook page, E-mail list or WordPress followers then this post is for you!
I am constantly getting asked (It’s happened twice) why I stopped writing and let this blog fade away peacefully. The obvious answer being that I was far too lazy to keep going but that is only 98% of the truth.
The other two percent is a little more complex. I had got myself into a little bit of a dilemma and chose not to move forward with it, though kept paying for seven years to keep the memory alive.
Those nosey enough to have a look around may notice that there have actually been quite a few little changes recently and several new posts on the blog in that time. I’ve been hiding away in a secret bunker and had no intention to share these with you all.
Last week I ruined it all. When finishing another masterpiece about how to make a paper plate spider, I forgot to untick the little box that automatically shares to followers and the secret was out. At least to the three people who find my E-mails anyway. So it’s time to come clean and reveal my big plans.
The reason I stopped writing was pretty simple, the blog had no future. The limitation with a parenting blog is this: Kids get older. Becoming a Dad was the most incredible time of my life and sharing it all with you was a great part of the journey.
Robbie, My Son, had no objections at the time (that I could tell anyway.) Now he’s seven and might not like me detailing every moment of his life quite so much. I’m also pretty certain that future smelly teenager Robbie would not be too happy if I were still sharing every aspect of his life to the world.
Quite simply, if the blog is to stay alive then I needed a change of direction. So here’s the bit that makes you realise just how weird I am. I really don’t want to annoy anyone.
One of the biggest things in blogging is gaining a little following. Whether that’s through E-mail, social media or just word of mouth it is all crucial to growing the blog.
For me though, a little voice in my head kept telling me that I shouldn’t hit the share button as those who signed up to hear about Robbie growing up probably do not want to make paper plate crafts, nor have their mailbox and socials full of posts on how to do it.
On the other hand, those following the new direction of the blog may not be interested in stories about me getting lost in a park and babbling on about the kind of nonsense that has been known to show it’s ugly face on this blog. So here’s my new plan.
I fully intend to continue writing pointless, moany and generally meaningless posts on this blog which will possibly make you chuckle. I also intend to write useful parenting views, activities and reviews here too. I want to keep this blog going for a long, long time. Far beyond the timescale that Robbie will allow me to write about him.
So here is where I’m at going forward. I will be sharing most, though not all, of my posts in the future but do not expect anyone to read them all. If something comes up that you are not interested in then please don’t feel obliged to open it up expecting something different in the post.
I will take absolutley zero offence should you chose to mute me, unsubscribe or send me to spam (where I probably belong) though would prefer you didn’t!
Just please don’t get annoyed at me for sharing my own posts with my own followers. Every logic in the world tells me that I should hit share but the tiny evil voice in my tiny evil brain is stopping me!
If you have read this far then firstly, well done. More importantly, let me share with you what is changing. When I opened up the site after a few years of being idle, I noticed that it basically didn’t work.
The menus didn’t click, most page links just returned an error message and some posts were almost unreadable on certain devices. I’m in the process of fixing all of this whilst still making new content and ideas to bring back the glory days.
This has been easy enough for a professional like me. I managed to change my E-mail in just under thirteen hours and this morning deleted an entire day’s worth of layout struggles after realising it looked as though it was made by a toddler.
Blogging is a struggle now in a world of AI. Websites do not get clicked as often through Google due to AI answers and it is incredibly important now to get the odd click through social media and signups. I honestly do appreciate everyones support in getting this blog started in the early days and hope you will pop back here from time to time if you see anything relevant to you. Until then, Thank you and let’s just be glad that the greatest Dad blog of all time is back!
This fancy grid took 5 hours, you should look at it!
