Everyone into the (Reflection) Pool

They mean everything and they mean nothing. I’m talking about those awards that bloggers pass around to each other to recognize being awesome, funny, thought provoking, or just plain nice.

There are no limits to the numbers of awards given. What’s more, I’d continue blogging even if everyone stopped reading. My blogging is for Clare, so she can have some record, years from now, of things going on in our lives when she was young. The only recognition I’d like is maybe a “thanks” or “that was cool, Dad” from her someday—if she doesn’t hate me for publicizing our lives.

That said, the awards are pretty cool aren’t they? And so is the recognition. Let’s face it—I may be writing primarily for Clare, but if it were only for Clare, I’d keep it in a file on my computer. I like that I’m writing a blog. I like the look it has. I like that people read it and comment. I like that I feel that I’m part of a community of dads and moms who write about their families. And I like getting awards.

A couple weeks ago, Em from Notes from My Corner bestowed me with the Blogger Reflection Award. Em is a fellow New England dad with a blog that I found only a few weeks ago.

The Blogger Reflection Award is given to bloggers “who have been an encouragement, a source of love, impacted you in some way, and have been a Godly example to you. Bloggers who, when you reflect on them you get a sense of pride and joy…of knowing them and being blessed by them.”

Wow. I’m not sure exactly how I impacted Em or what I encouraged him to do, but I hope it wasn’t illegal. (He did have that recent questionable romp with a bear.) The description is a lot to live up to, but I’ll take it to mean that the award should go to bloggers who are respected as good people, good writers, and good neighbors in the blogosphere.

These are the rules that go with the award:

1. Copy this set of rules.
2. Reflect on five bloggers and write a least a paragraph about each one.
3. Make sure you link this post so others can read it and the rules.
4. Go leave your chosen bloggers a comment and let them know they’ve been given the award.
5. Put the award icon on your site.

Picking people to pass anything like this on to is the worst part of these things. It isn’t that I don’t know five bloggers who deserve it, it’s that I know far more than five. There are some that I read regularly, and others who I don’t get to often enough. Some I’ve been reading since before I started blogging myself, some I found only recently. You all deserve it, but these are my five:

Alissa at Life’s Little Adventures tells it like it is. She doesn’t try to be funny or smart or likeable, she just is. She’s even admitted that she breaks the “rules” of blogging. If she’s had a boring or miserable day, she’ll tell you. If her boys are driving her to nearly want to give them away, she’ll tell you. Her photos are great and the stories of Drew and Nick are sometime hilarious. She’s one of the most honest and sincere bloggers I read.

Above Average Joe is a good guy despite being a citizen of Red Sox Nation and that state north of Connecticut. He finds the balance perfectly of letting us into his family and not revealing any details at all. I wouldn’t know his kids, The Champ or Peanut, if I stepped over them at a Yankees game, but they’re a couple of my favorite kids in the blogosphere. (Okay, all of your kids are my favorites—after Clare of course.) Joe’s a funny guy who isn’t afraid to show his sensitive, loving dad side too.

Phil of A River Runs Through It is one of our senior citizens. No, he’s not lining up for senior coffee at McDonald’s (as far as I know), but he has been a dad blogger since 2004—that’s quite a while in the blogosphere. I read his blog before I had one of my own, and he was one of the first commenters to welcome me here. He’s a proud at-home teacher to his son and a stay-at-home dad (to that son and a younger daughter) in an area of the country where there aren’t so many dads at the playground. You could probably say he's one of the pioneers.

I found Bacchus at Family of Choice not so long ago. He’s written for a couple years about the process of adopting a son with his partner. This summer, Baby R (due for a blog name change now that he’s two) legally became part of the family. This is another blog with honest, funny, but sometimes just run-of-the-mill-here’s-what’s-goin’-down writing. And you’ve got to respect a guy who lets his blog readers redecorate his bathroom.

Finally, Rob at How About Two?, like a few other dad bloggers, began blogging last fall while his wife was still pregnant—pregnant with twins as the blog title suggests. In February of this year, Rob blogged about his wife’s delivery, and—eleven days later—about the loss of their son. Life, of course, goes on despite whatever crap is thrown at us. Rob’s blogging right through and about one of the worst things a parent can face, and emerging as a great blogger dad to his daughter, is definitely encouraging. I haven’t been following every post on his blog, but I’ve meant to give him a blog “shout out” for a while. This is a great opportunity to do that.

That’s it. Five bloggers. And an award for me. Thanks again, Em. I’ll be keeping it on the shelf over in the sidebar along with my other pieces of flair.