Have you ever given your email to a website in exchange for something?
Like a discount or freebie?
And then they send you emails for awhile and you might read one or you might not
But mostly you delete them
And you subscribe to more emails for more freebies
And you spend a lot of your precious time deleting emails that are useless to you
And one day you get tired of deleting
And you take a moment to scroll down to the bottom of the emails and click the unsubscribe buttons
And it’s such a great feeling
I do this all the time
I make a decision based on my thoughts about the emails or the company or my priorities
And I try to declutter my inbox
It’s not worth my time to be subscribed to something I do not love or that does not bring any joy or value to my life
On this website, which you are reading now, you can subscribe
You get new comics in your inbox every Wednesday and a new Kid Quote every Tuesday
The comics are real life stories that other moms have shared with me and whatever I might blurb about
It is absolutely no cost to subscribers
Unless you decide the emails do not bring you value or joy or they are not a priority then they are costing and wasting your time
Then you have the option to unsubscribe
Which is a wonderful option
My email list grows weekly by one or two new subscribers
And a few people who have subscribed to Chattersticks have also unsubscribed
And I think it is very important for people to make this decision
And I wish I could thank the ones who took the time to unsubscribe
Having an email service added to the website costs money and the cost goes up with the amount of subscribers
It is better for me to have a small band of committed and hopelessly devoted fans than a huge list of lukewarm not invested subscribers
And it is better for you to not have an unwanted email in your inbox every week
I love sharing the stories because I feel a connection with each person who shares a story, many whom I have never seen or met in person
And the readers who love them get the same feeling of connection and joy in the things kids say and do and in knowing that other moms and kids are just like us
Hearing the funny and sweet and crazy things kids say helps me to lighten up about motherhood too and to look for the joy in the everyday
It’s nothing major, just everyday moments with kids and in the life of a mom
Yet it feels so awesome to connect this way
And when people send me pictures of their kids with the magnets I send for free to each story submitter and tell me how they love their stories and ask their mom to read them again and again, I always think ‘oh yeah that is why I do this’
It is to spread joy and love
That’s not always so easy to remember
When I have a stack of 25 stories to draw and I feel pressure to get them all drawn and not keep anyone waiting and get those magnets made and in the mail, and I think ‘I don’t know if I can keep up!’
Then I am reminded by your emails you send and pictures and words and reactions to the stories and I feel the joy reciprocated and I realize I have nothing to ‘keep up with’
I get to go at a pace that works for me as a mother of nine and that pressure is only from my own thoughts
The story sharers have never been anything but appreciative
That’s so awesome