For the last five days, I have had conflicting emotions. On one hand, I was relieved that the crazy month of April was over and I didn’t have to work at odd hours to schedule my posts. On the other hand, I missed reading and interacting with fellow bloggers who have now become a part of my extended virtual family. To spare myself the state of confusion, all that I have sincerely done since 2nd May is to catch up on my sleep. Today morning, when I saw the link for a reflection post, I jumped in to share my experience of an eventful A2Z challenge this year.
#AtoZChallenge 2019 Tenth Anniversary Reflections badge
After my first successful Blogchatter A2Z challenge last year, I had written about my experience through a post filled with learnings, gratitude, and nostalgia. Last year, I had no plans in place. I was undecided on the theme until it was time to reveal it. Not a single post was based on predecided topics or written in advance (I didn’t even know that there was an option called schedule). This year I had decided to be a bit more organized in my approach since I had been waiting for the A2Z challenge for months together. I wanted to have a theme ready, wished to sort out the topics of the posts and even considered writing a few of them in advance. But old habits die hard. The plan to plan my posts stayed only in a state of planning as I dashed towards my usual last-minute execution mode.
When I started thinking about a theme two nights before the day of the theme-reveal post, I considered all the possible categories that I write about. Unfortunately, nothing seemed interesting. It was Sr. T’s idea that I write about the most relevant situation in my life at that moment which was all about Tuneer’s school admissions. I didn’t want to make the articles sound boring or coated with advice. In fact, I am the kind of flawed mother who would perfectly fit into that category of clueless parents seeing advice from the experts. So I thought of turning my harrowing experiences into humorous ones. All that I was worried about was how to stretch a topic so narrow into creating twenty-six posts. Yet whenever I sat down to write my post of the day, the fun element in reminiscing those memories helped the words flow effortlessly into a draft.
For someone who had barely written more than two posts per month in the first quarter of 2019, April gave me the perfect opportunity to get back to the groove. Amidst all this, the kid started school and I started juggling my role as a mother and a writer. But I had some amazing company in the form of fellow bloggers and the Blogchatter community. Their encouragement in the form of comments, shares, and feedback helped me stay focused. A2Z challenge is much beyond bringing down the Alexa rank or affecting DA/ PA in a positive way. It is actually about the camaraderie of the blogging community brought together by Blogchatter. It is not just about writing posts but also about reading and discovering some brilliant writers. End of the day, it is about friendships that go much beyond the virtual blogging world.
If I have to ponder over what changed in the last one month, I can safely say that I grew up in my role as a mother because of the love and support that I received from a lot of my fellow bloggers. They assured me that I was doing fine as a mother. Strangely, Tuneer also settled down in his new school (something that I never thought would happen anytime soon) after finding out that he was my muse of the month in April. Sometimes I wish that I could have planned this journey a little better. It might have stopped me from feeling stressed about completing my posts on time and moving on to read others. But that would have affected my basic traits. I am sure that I will return as a third-time participant next year and I am also confident about my last minute impulsive writings again. Yet I can safely say that I am already looking forward to some more learnings, meeting a lot more amazing bloggers and writing another reflection post in 2020.
Thank you for choosing to be a part of my journey this year. I hope to see you soon on my blog again. Until we meet again, ciao from Tuneer, Sonia and Sr. T.
All my A2Z 2019 posts are available here.
All the A2Z 2018 posts can be read here.
soniasmusings 
A nice read Sonia. My blogging experiences have been similar, there have been moments of great passion where there was 1 article per day atleast. And then some months of absolute radio silence. Most of all, I have enjoyed the conversations with fellow bloggers, understanding their views of thought which has always given more boost and ideas to think about for new articles.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was a delight reading your posts first thing in the morning. I have followed Tuneer thru his school adventures and relived my memories of my kids’ school days.
BTW adorable familt pic!
See you around more. Waiting for Ray now
LikeLiked by 1 person
Congrats, Sonia, on completing the A to Z, and that, too, without a plan in mind! I did begin early, but after the letter S, things changed in my world, and I had to complete the posts as and when I could. Yet, it does feel so good to see that in spite of everything I managed to complete it, after all!
I loved your posts, as you know, and I would like to repeat that you need to chill down, mommy!!
Oh, I forgot if I asked you earlier….What does TUNEER mean? It’s such a cute name!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Shilpa. I am so glad that we kept in touch with each other. Even I have learned a lot from your posts that I consciously try to include in my routine.
Tuneer means arrowcase – that wooden case that used to hold arrows in the earlier times. Actually I had read this name years ago in a Bengali novel. It was beautiful and unconventional. That’s how my son was named.
LikeLike
Yes, Soniaā¦I am glad, too, that we are in touch, even through comments on each otherās blogs. That means a lot!
Give my love to little Tuneer!
LikeLike
It was always a pleasure visiting your blog and reading your fun-filled and yet realistic posts every day. I think to turn your harrowing experiences into humorous ones worked for you at least I enjoyed reading them, your flow of words was so effortless and intriguing enough for anyone to come back and look for you next.
Congratulations to you.
Lots of love to Tuneer. See you around š
LikeLiked by 1 person
I feel like now Tuneer is our family member. How you explained his behaviour, likes, dislikes & hobbies. I love to read about his activities. He is so cute. God bless him. Wonderful series Sonia! I enjoyed every part of it. And the best part, I found one more friend for me also through this challenge.
LikeLike
If I really think over it SoNia, you turned a one dimensional project into multidimensional. While all your posts were around the admission procedure, there was a lot of fun in them and much learning too. It will be a good gift for Tuneer when he grows up!
LikeLike
Your posts were the reflections of your real life experiences, you added humors very intellectually, overall it was a mixed read and also amazing.
LikeLike
I identified with your theme over everyone elseās as I had also recently gone through the same admission procedure for my son in Delhi. The only difference was that his school begins in July, and so he went back to his playschool for a bit in April.
I could identify with most of what you said, and that was what really connected me to you as a reader. It wasnāt the humour, or the great writing skills- it was a more basic connect, one mom to another.
Congratulations on successfully completing your second challenge, and I am so glad I came across your work through this platform.
LikeLike
Your blog was one of my favorites, even though I never got so stressed when my kids were little, so many years ago now.
LikeLike
Congratulations on finishing the challenge š I had my posts pre-written this year and I kind of missed the fun of winging it daily
Debbie
LikeLike
Hi, I have nominated you for the Mystery Blogger Award ā https://www.gleefulblogger.com/mystery-blogger-award-the-gleeful-way/
LikeLike
Hi Sonia
I just nominated you for The Sunshine Blogger Award
Do check my post
https://soniadogra.com/2019/05/10/the-sunshine-blogger-award/
LikeLike
I am glad I came across your blog š
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Swati
LikeLiked by 1 person