When I began this blog, I was inspired by my mentor and colleague, Hal Grotevant, whose Inner Geek blog demonstrated to me that it is possible and acceptable and appropriate for faculty to maintain a blog that balances the personal and the professional. Sadly, Hal has accepted a new faculty position at UMass-Amherst, so he will soon be leaving Minnesota (and possibly the ending of Inner Geek). It's a great move for him but a tough loss for us at Minnesota. I hope he resumes Inner Geek or a new blog in New England.
Meanwhile, my good friend Hapa9 recently started a blog about his travels with the Norae Shanty to Hawaii and he emailed saying it was hard to keep up on the blogging. It definitely is a commitment. I sometimes can't believe that it's been over 2.5 years since I started posting entries and I keep on going.
But I write this entry to really promote two other blogs. The first is my blog child (i.e., I like to consider myself the BlogFather) to Harlow's Monkey. In two short years, JR has become one of the most famous adoptee bloggers in the country/world. Her blog gets way more hits than my blog ever will. The child overtakes the parent. Ah, a familiar story. I'm quite proud of her achievements and I know she will continue to flourish as an advocate, critic, and scholar in the field of Adoption Studies. Everyone should read her most recent post on Who Deserves To Be A Parent.
The other blog is not a blog offspring of mine but I rediscovered someone whom I first met back in the late-1990s when I was just becoming aware of adoption issues, specifically Korean adoption. Third Mom is the counterpart to Harlow's Monkey as it is written from the adoptive parent perspective. Margie and I met when the Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network (KAAN) was just taking shape. I was asked to help advise their first national conference in 1999 and had the opportunity then to meet Margie. Margie's blog provides space to introduce, challenge and encourage adoptive parents to think outside the box on adoption and parenting. I think her child's quote from which the name Third Mom originated says it best.
"Let me tell you about all of my mommies!" said my five-year-old son one day as we sat in our kitchen. He began counting: "There's my first mother in Korea, then Mrs. Cho (his foster mother), and then you - you're my third mom!"
Read these blogs every day and I guarantee that you will learn and grow and gain perspectives that will better your life. Do it!
Posted by richlee at April 10, 2008 09:41 AMOh, my. Thank you, Rich, I really appreciate this. And I hope you know how much I've learned from you, too!!
KAAN is in Chicago this year, come please!!!
Posted by: Margie at April 11, 2008 06:51 AMRich - Thanks for citing my blog. I've thoroughly enjoyed your blog these past few years; it's entertaining, insightful, and educational, all at once. I do hope to continue Inner Geek even after I leave the U of M. Stay tuned!
Posted by: Hal at April 12, 2008 07:29 PMThanks Rich, for the nice shout out!! And for showing me "way of the blog."
Posted by: Jae Ran at April 13, 2008 09:53 AM