There are dozens of blog posts in my head, but lately I’ve had trouble completing even one. (You may have noticed?)

Elsa maintains a strict rule that Mama is not allowed computers, paper products, or pens without her personal supervision. If I try to sneak out my laptop during playtime, she appears instantly by my side to chew the cord or whomp the keyboard. So motherhood is no help. Still, the kiddo does, eventually, go to sleep.

(rare sight) 

E’s bedtime is when our real day begins — grown-up conversations, bill paying, Web surfing. By that point I’m half-way to brain-dead (sometimes more), but I can’t pretend I don’t have time to blog. The two hours I spent playing Spider Solitaire tonight would attest to that.

At heart, my real problem is a failure of confidence. Stay-at-home parenting works a number on your identity in relation to the outside world. After decades of academic and career successes, suddenly my biggest achievement each day is wrestling one tiny human to sleep. And too often I fail at even that! Somehow, this makes it harder and harder for me to face the empty page (or screen, as the case may be) and believe I can fill it with thoughts that anyone out there would actually want to read. Therein lies the real roadblock.**

I figure desensitization is the only way around this sudden blogophobia, so expect lots of posts for the near future!

What causes you to have blogger’s block?  How do you overcome it?

** (Also, parenthood is making me not good at words plus how to use them.)