Pages

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Ask Your Dad's 100th Post


This is my 100th post. I'm not sure what that means. I don't get an award for it, nor should I. It is kind of an arbitrary number, but since I didn't write about my one year blogiversary, mainly because the word "blogiversary" makes me throw up in my soul a little bit every time I type it, I thought that I would take a minute and do what I swore to myself I would never do when I started this blog – blog about blogging. Blog blog blog. If you say it enough times it just sounds silly. Anyway… on with the self indulgence. I promise to only do this every hundred posts or so. 

I have no delusions of grandeur. There are much better bloggers out there. There are much better writers. Despite its name, I have never intended for this to be an advice blog. As I mentioned in my very first post, this blog is my joyful cry for help. It is a place of humor, self reflection and conversation. It is my own little corner of the internet where, unlike most areas of my life, I can have a little control. I can put my thoughts down, and then I can shape them. I can use as many commas and run on sentences as I want. I can argue with myself over and over and over, until what you see on your screen is nothing like what I started with. 

For a long time, I hid my writing in a shoe box under my bed, or a file folder on my computer marked "private." I only shared it with my wife and some close friends. When, after some not-gentle prodding, Stevie convinced me to start Ask Your Dad, I never thought that I would find the support, friends, and opportunities that have come my way simply by writing about being a dad. Aside from actually being a dad, this blog is among my proudest accomplishments. And you are a huge part of that. 

So I'll leave it at that, and get started with the next 100 posts. Thank you to every single one of you who are just finding me, or continue to stop by and read my words. I'm honored and grateful for every second you spend clicking through these pages. I'm so excited to see where the future takes Stevie, Captain, Duchess, and me. You're all welcome to come along for the ride, we'll just need a bigger van.  

Love, John (Dad)

Here are some fun facts about our first 100 Posts:

  • 400K+ Total All Time Visitors
  • 1 Million Page Views!! (OK, to be honest we're a little under, but we'll hit it in the next few weeks.)
  • 5,209 readers have liked the Ask Your Dad Facebook Page. I remember celebrating 100!
  • 1,386 Twitter followers for the Ask Your Dad Twitter Account - Which is pretty good since all I really do is make poop jokes on twitter. 
  • 1 Tweet by Ellen
  • Featured on Huffington Post, ABC News, iVillage Australia, Mommapedia, The Good Men Project, and Lifetime 
  • At least 2 blog posts printed and hung on my mom's refrigerator. I'm pretty sure they're still there. 
  • I only made my wife mad once.
  • Most read post: Dear Hypothetically Gay Son (Thanks Ellen)
  • My favorite posts are this one, this one and this one.

OK. That's all. Thanks for indulging me. Back to writing about poop. 

P.S. One more thing!! There are a few friends/mentors whose support and friendship have meant the world to me over the past year. Mike of Dad and Buried, Zach of 8-Bit-Dad, Maria of Guerrilla Mom, Rob of Evolequals,Charlie of How to be a Dad, Jerry of Super Mommy Man, Amy of Pregnant Chicken, Adam of Fodder for Fathers, Eric of Dad on the Run, Brent of Designer Daddy, and Neal of Raised by my Daughter have supported me and helped this blog to grow far beyond anything I've ever expected. If you are looking for other blogs to read, you couldn't start with a better list. 

And lastly, Stevie... you rock my world. Thanks for letting me hide in the office and write about being a dad while you take care of the kids. I love you more than mac-n-cheese. 

And lastly, lastly, Captain and Duchess... stop hitting each other... and get that sticker out of your mouth. Dinner is in an hour.  

8 comments:

  1. Love this blog and looking forward to many more years!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Am I a friend or a mentor? I need to know for my resume. Congrats On 100!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey, congrats, dude. 100 is such a nice round number. I'm looking at my own post count and wondering if I've jumped the shark. But, my three-year-old totally thinks that jumping sharks is awesome, so I'm not gonna stop. Believing. Or holdin' on. To that feeling. Ok, I'm gonna go sing myself some Journey while I make a sandwich.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You always know how to get a sniffle out of me (because of your writing, not because I'm allergic to you). Congrats on all your milestones — look forward to sharing more of them with you in the future (wink).

    One question, though... are you taking your children to a warehouse? And is SDL taking the photo?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I WANT TO BE A FRIEND AND A MENTOR, AND I WILL USE CAPS UNTIL I BECOME ONE!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congrats John. Keep up the great writing.

    ReplyDelete