Mom + SEO Junkie = Burnt Toast

Okay - not dumb, but I am certainly noticing a lack of “effort” put forth to remember anything, especially facts and dates.  We were talking about something she’d learned just a few weeks ago in social studies and she said, “I cant remember when that happened, let me go Google it.” 

Of course, I chimed in with how it was BEFORE the big Goog and how we had to remember everything off the top of our heads for tests and quizzes (and walk to school in a blizzard barefoot…..)

She said, “Well we can Google stuff if we’re taking a test near a computer, it’s not considered cheating because we used a resource to find the answer.”

A “resource?”  How about using your BRAIN to REMEMBER the answer.  Does this mean that we dont have to encourage our kids to be smart, just “resourceful?”  I think this is doing the kids a disservice, can they look stuff up on the ACT or SAT (do they even still DO those tests?) - How about the MCAT?  “I’m sorry Mrs. Hill - I dont know how to save your life - let me go Google your symptoms and I’ll be right back - dont bleed to death while I’m gone.”

Back in the day we had to rely on good old brain-power to get us through our days - is search making that obsolete?  If Google has all of the world’s information organized, are the next generation of geniuses just going to be really really good searchers?

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So i was inspired by Rand Fishkin’s post (and more recently Rebecca Kelly’s) over at SEOMoz.org to put together a day in the life of a SEM addict w/ 2 small kids - 2 dogs a cat and a husband - - - I know I’m insane - who has time to write this stuff down?

• 3am - wake up thinking about SEO crap and get up to look something up online
• 3:30am - go back to sleep
• 5:30 am - alarm rings so I can take dogs for a walk - yeah right
• 6am - pound alarm with fist and yell at dog #1 to get off bed
• 6:15am - pound alarm again and yell at dog#2 to get off bed
• 6:20am - get up - stumble around upstairs and roust Kid #1 (10 yo girl who insists on an hr to get ready every morning) and Kid #2 (6yo boy and it takes me a full hour to get him out of bed.)
• 6:30am - shower, hair and makeup
• 6:45am - throw dogs out to do their thing - yell up stairs so kids are moving and getting dressed
• 6:50am - make lunches for 3 kids and feed dogs
• 7am, 7:05am, 7:10am - yell upstairs again and threaten death or baked beans for dinner if they dont get moving
• 7:15am - check email and answer quick ones - delete junk mail and glance at calendar for the day
• 7:20 - kid 1 makes an appearance whining cuz there is nothing to wear - i point to pile of unfolded clean laundry on the couch and chug coffee
• 7:30 - run upstairs and drag kid #2 out of bed and dress him - push them out the door to run to the bus stop - as usual nice bus driver guy waits for them
• 7:35am - load up dog #2 and head for work
• 8:05 am arrive at work - boot up puter and find more coffee
• 8:15-9am - answer more email and call a few east coast clients
• 9am: prepare for daily meetings - arrange portfolios and make sure I’m ready to go
• 9:30 - R&D meeting
• 10:30 back at desk for more email and some tasks - call a few more clients - crank out some optimization and do some PPC maintenance
• 11:30 - wander around office looking for food
• 11:45 - drag some unsuspecting co-worker to lunch w/ me
• 12:30 back at desk for more tasks - meet w/ various people to discuss upcoming trainings and do some one on one training
• 2:30 - find more food and coffee - maybe even a diet coke
• 2:45 - answer even more emails - read my feeds and blog some -
• 3:45 - call west coast clients and check in or work on some projects that never seem to get done
• 4:30pm head home
• 5:00 pm walk in house and get accosted by 2 kids, husband, 2 dogs and a cat
• 5:30 pm find some food to feed this damn army of people
• 6:30 pm laundry, dishes, baths & such
• 8pm - bed time - this takes at least 45 minutes because of “oh i forgots” and “can i have a glass of water”
• 9pm - back online - work on personal projects, read feeds and blog - answer some late emails from clients and/or friends
• 11pm - bed time
• 11:30 - kick the damn dogs off the bed again

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My darling 10 yo daughter, Madison (left - a few years ago,) is at summer camp this week. It’s amazing how much quieter the house gets when you go from 2 kids to 1 kid. My son is 6 and full of energy, but he wastes that energy outside when his sister isnt here to pick on. Not only are they not fighting CONSTANTLY - I’m not yelling at them to stop fighting CONSTANTLY.

I spend 1/2 hour reading last night - without locking myself in the bathroom! I’ve decided this is a happy-mom’s key to a balanced life. As documented, I’m not that great a parent. I’m sure if I could parent through Instant Message or email I’d be much better, but alas, that doesnt happen apparently.

Now the next step is to get them both in camp - at the same time - and have a whole week of “vacation!”

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Okay - part of me really disapproves of this - that’s the good mom part and it’s voice is soft and often buried by my sick sense of humor.  Baby Pearl has captured the blogosphere with her foul mouth and manhandling of Will Ferrell. 

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You may have read earlier in the week (er..last week?) a post where I lambasted the National Pork Board for a Cease & Desist letter they sent Jen Laycock at TheLactivistBlog.com

They have since apologized profusely, started a fundraising campaign for the Milk Bank of Ohio and have gone out of their way to make it right!

Good Job and congrats Jen to a positive outcome in this very strange event.

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Okay - if you’re squeamish about mom breast feeding stuff - dont read this post - it’s mom stuff - not SEO stuff!

Jennifer Laycock over at Search Engine Guide was served papers today by the national Pork Producer’s board of Porkers (or something like that - i’m not really worried about getting their name right) because of a T-shirt she’s selling at the Lactivist blog with the slogan “The other white milk.”

(Read the article)

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I just drove 3 hours over 2 mountain passes (luckily in good weather) to my parent’s house north of Denver. The traffic was insane - tell me again why we live in the mountains?? It sure isnt to “get away from it all…” “It all” is still here!

My daughter (who is 10 and has requested I call her “hipchick” on this blog) is taking a test tomorrow morning for smart kids. Apparently this is the 4th grader equivalent to the SAT….she’s excited - scares the crap out of me. She gets the math smarts from her dad……common sense from me

Tomorrow after the test I think we’ll visit the butterfly pavillion and then go shopping at a REAL mall - we dont have those in Glenwood - but we did get a Target…(that’s a whole other post.)

I’ll let you all know how the pavillion was - in the mean time -

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