Category: Contests

With twenty-eight twenty-nine awesome entries, I’m happy to say that the July Group Writing Project has gone very well, in spite of my intermittent maintenance as I traveled for my brother-in-law’s wedding (which was lovely!). Without making you wait a moment more, here is the final list of entries:

• No Market For Used Teenagers by Robin
• Thank you Mom! by Michelle Buck
• July MamaBlogga Writing Group – Thanks Mom! by Jennifer Hitchcock
• Thanks Mom! by Mama Zen
• To my mom by Deb
• If She Were Alive Today by Mommy Zabs
• Danke Rot Koph by Kymberlyn
• Will she ever say it? by Lisa
• Thanks, Mom. by Kulia
• Thanks, Mom! by Laura Spencer
• Thanks Mom – Group Writing Project by Amber
• Dear Mother…Thanks Mother! by Corey
• Thank you, mom by Lynnae
• My Mother, My Mentor, My Friend by Jill
• GWP – Thanks mum. by Amanda Regan
• Thank you Mother by Donetta
• I wanted to say thanks by Summer
• Thanks to my Mommy by Southerngirlmusings
• Group Writing Project – July by Jenn
• Blue Denim by bellevelma
• Thanks, Mommy! by Stacey @ Look, Mom, Look!
• Naming the Mother by Daisy
• I’m turning into my mother… by Summer
• I learned by example by Heather Erbe
• Making Memories with Your Kids—Be Crazy, Unpredictable by Karen (Pediascribe)
• There’s Loving and Then There’s Liking by Dawn
• Thank You Mom in Law by Julie
• Right from wrong by Jordan (MamaBlogga)
• Thanks for coming by Kate @ Babylune
• [Late addition] Day late, dollar short by Sara (could I be any later?)

All of these great entries clearly took time and consideration. Read through them and find inspiration from adults and mothers now thanking their own mothers for everything from hair color and blue jeans to looking forward to spending time with them and creating simple memories. I hope you’ll find someone offering thanks for the very thankless thing that you’re struggling with doing for your children now, wondering whether they’ll ever appreciate your efforts. And I hope that they do appreciate your efforts.

Now, feel free to spread the link love by copying the above list (instructions) and posting it to your own blog. Believe me—they all deserve it.

The Winna!
Chosen at random, the winner of our prize, a $30 Amazon.com gift certificate, is <drum roll>…

Thanks, Mommy! by Stacey @ Look, Mom, Look!

Congratulations, Stacey, on not only winning the gift certificate (again, she was chosen at random!) but also on writing a most excellent entry! The gift certificate will be winging its way to you soon!

Still working on your entry? Even though we’ve awarded our prize, we’ll continue to accept, read, link to and comment on submissions through next week.

A strong finish for our last two days: eleven great entries for the July Group Writing Project, and once again all these entries are of the highest quality! Again, we have a wide range of thanks for everything from simple memories to Levi’s. As always, read, comment and enjoy!

• I wanted to say thanks by Summer
• Thanks to my Mommy by Southerngirlmusings
• Group Writing Project – July by Jenn
• Blue Denim by bellevelma
• Thanks, Mommy! by Stacey @ Look, Mom, Look!
• Naming the Mother by Daisy
• I’m turning into my mother… by Summer
• I learned by example by Heather Erbe
• Making Memories with Your Kids—Be Crazy, Unpredictable by Karen (Pediascribe)
• There’s Loving and Then There’s Liking by Dawn
• Thank You Mom in Law by Julie

A simple one for today: thank you, mom, for being such a good example of a stay-at-home mom. When I was little, it was difficult for me to understand that there was any other kind of mom.

But you were never “just” a mom to us. Thank you for proving that you can—and even should—be there with your kids.

Tune in Monday to get the final list and find out who wins the $30 prize!

With thirteen more entries over the last two days, things are moving right along for the July Group Writing Project, and of course all our entries are of the highest quality! Today we have a wide range of thanks for everything from hugs to hair color. So read, comment and enjoy!

• Thanks Mom! by Mama Zen
• To my mom by Deb
• If She Were Alive Today by Mommy Zabs
• Danke Rot Koph by Kymberlyn
• Will she ever say it? by Lisa
• Thanks, Mom. by Kulia
• Thanks, Mom! by Laura Spencer
• Thanks Mom – Group Writing Project by Amber
• Dear Mother…Thanks Mother! by Corey
• Thank you, mom by Lynnae
• My Mother, My Mentor, My Friend by Jill
• GWP – Thanks mum. by Amanda Regan
• Thank you Mother by Donetta

And don’t forget to submit your entries before Saturday!

I’m grateful to my mother for working so hard to establish family traditions. Everything from nightly dinner together and monthly dinner with our extended family to crafts throughout Christmas has not only given me wonderful memories but helped me to build a relationship with all of my family.

I know my mother did this deliberately (of course). I didn’t realize it, though, until I heard her talk about how hard she worked to establish these family traditions. We got to know each other, stay involved in one another’s lives and build relationships with my sisters that I know our friends envied. (Somehow, though, that relationship always seemed to manifest itself by quoting television commercials in unison, which is hardly enviable, but still.)

I suppose I don’t really need to thank my mother for this, since I’m sure she doesn’t feel underappreciated in this aspect of our lives—she’s already been able to reap rich benefits from our family’s traditions.

Thanks, mom. I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow! Or, as Cookie (Monster, not Brooke) would say: “Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha! Oh boy, oh boy!”

Don’t forget to submit your entries!

We’re off to a bit of a slow start for the July Group Writing Project as far as number of entries, but the caliber of entries is way up there! All of our wonderful entries today detail the complicated relationship they’ve had with their mothers at some point—and all of them found something to value from that relationship. Today’s entries:

• No Market For Used Teenagers by Robin
• Thank you Mom! by Michelle Buck
• July MamaBlogga Writing Group – Thanks Mom! by Jennifer Hitchcock

Read and comment—these thoughtful entries deserve it! And don’t forget to submit your entries to the Group Writing Project on the theme of “Thanks, Mom.”

This is a rather random thing that I actually think about quite a bit, especially now that I’m a mother myself.

Thanks for making us eat our vegetables, Mom. No, really. We’ve all grown up to be pretty good about eating our veggies. Granted, I don’t know if we’d eat Brussels sprouts or eggplant, but my sisters and I have developed a love for cucumbers, green beans and broccoli.

Part of the reason I appreciate this so much is I now appreciate how tough it can be to get your kids to eat vegetables. Hayden actually eats almost anything with enough persuasion—the hard part is working them into your family’s diet. So I really admire my mom for always making sure we didn’t just have meat and potatoes (or spaghetti or any other meat/starch combination) on the table.

Thanks, Mom.

Don’t forget to submit your entry and spread the word!

This writing project has ended. Please view the full list of wonderful entries at the July GWP Finale, and subscribe to MamaBlogga to find out about the next group writing project!

After May’s Group Writing Project and June’s Group Writing Project were such a success, I’m excited to do it again. So, as promised, this week is the July MamaBlogga Group Writing Project!

The theme for the June Group Writing Project is “Thanks, Mom.” We’re writing about things that we’re grateful for that our mothers did for us. I’m hoping that these entries will be encouraging to one another as mothers as we struggle with doing things for our children that they just don’t seem grateful for, but feel free to go in any direction that appeals to you.

Even if you don’t choose to participate, please encourage others to participate—even non-mom bloggers can write on this topic! I’d love to get as many entries as possible because there are a lot of moms out there who deserve (and need!) to hear this gratitude.

• Your post can take any form as long as it reflects this theme—this includes anything from serious to sarcastic, addressed to your mother, a mother figure, your mother-in-law, etc.
• You can participate with a blog post, a podcast, a video, a page on your website, etc., etc. If you don’t have a website, contact me and I’ll be happy to publish your entry here on MamaBlogga.
• Only NEW posts (i.e., posts have not been published prior to 23 July 2007) are eligible. Posts must be submitted through the submission form before Saturday, 28 July 2007.

Why participate?
There are lots of reasons to participate! All entries that meet the guidelines will be listed and linked to here on MamaBlogga. This an opportunity for you to discover new blogs (and for others to discover yours!). Last week, I came up with five ways to get the most out of the GWP.

And, of course, there is one more incentive: one lucky post author, drawn at random, will receive a $30 gift certificate to Amazon.com (to be announced Monday, 30 July 2007).

Finally, we’d appreciate it if you linked to this post or to the guidelines/submission form on your entry post so that others can learn about the project and participate.

Now get writing!