Top 10* blog posts from the past 10 years

( * as determined by Blogger's pageview stats for "all time" -- i.e., since May 2010, which I guess is as far back as they go...!  Interestingly, four of the top 10 posts come from the current year.)

(with apologies to Lori Lavender Luz, from whom I lifted this idea ;)  )

#10: Childless/Condo Halloween (October 31, 2016):  In which I talk about my changing relationship with Halloween as a childless woman -- particularly since we moved into a condo earlier in the year.  Interesting and timely, since yesterday was also Halloween (as well as my 10-year blogoversary!).

#9: "Rocking the Life Unexpected" by Jody Day (January 3, 2014):  My review of Jody Day's ground-breaking book (which has since been expanded & retitled "Living the Life Unexpected."). I would highly recommend it!

#8: "Maudie" (May 2, 2017):  My review of the movie starring Sally Hawkins & Ethan Hawke, about the Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis (and yes, there's a bit of an ALI angle).

#7:  "Emotional labour" and childless women (February 28, 2017):  I reflect on the concept of "emotional labour" and how it applies to childless women.

#6: #MicroblogMondays: Selfish? (April 24, 2017):  I reflect on the myth that people without children are "selfish."

#5:  Mugged  (April 18, 2017):  Pre-Mother's Day rant: "Where the frack are the mugs for aunties??"

#4:  Dear Aunt Flo (February 12, 2012):  Looking back on a very looooonnnnnngggg & tumultuous relationship with Aunt Flo (i.e., my period) -- & kindly telling her it's time to get lost. (For the record, it's now more than five years later... I am 56 years old... and she's STILL HERE...!!!!!!)

#3:  Article: "Canada's U.S. baby boom" (May 5, 2008):  I shared the text of a newspaper article I found about how the lack of NICU spaces in Canadian hospitals was resulting in women with high-risk pregnancies being sent to hospitals in the United States. I shared it because I sympathized with the plight of these women (& their babies) -- many of whom had already been through the wringer with infertility treatment and prior pregnancy losses. But as I observed in a post marking my 4th blogoversary in 2011, I noticed that, for some strange reason, this post seemed consistently popular:

I couldn't figure out why this particular post drew so many hits, particularly throughout 2009 -- until it hit me that the rise in interest coincided with the U.S. debate over "Obamacare" (!!). 

In other words, I suspect my post was being read & passed around by anti-Obamacare forces as an example of the supposed inadequacies of the Canadian healthcare system (&, by implication, the superiority of the U.S. system). This was certainly NOT my intention. I know our system is not perfect -- but I daresay there are women in rural communities in the U.S. who likewise have to travel some distance to get the healthcare they need (not to mention women who are denied the care they need because the hospital doesn't accept their health insurance -- NOT a scenario we ever have to worry about in Canada). Sorry to my American readers -- I would never trade!

#2:  Giving up vs letting go (April 5, 2013):  I shared a quote that I found in a Facebook item, from someone named Danielle Koepke, that articulated the difference between giving up & letting go. I had no idea who Danielle Koepke was (I tried to Google her several times) -- I just liked the quote.  It's only checking again now that I realize her name is spelled "Daniell" without an "e".  As you can see in the comments section, she seems to have some detractors.  ;) "Danielle Koepke" is #10 in the top 10 keyword search terms that brings people to my blog, which helps explain some of the traffic on this post over the years.

#1:  Oh, the irony -- Julia CHILD was childless (August 9, 2009):  I wrote this post after going to see the movie "Julie & Julia," with Meryl Streep as Julia Child. This is by FAR my most-ever viewed post. How far?  My #2 post (in terms of page views) has racked up more than 3200 page views (albeit over just 4.5 years). By comparison, my post about Julia Child has had more than 25,000 page views (albeit over a longer period of time, 8 years). It is also among my top 5 viewed posts in terms of day, week and month.  It's also one of my most commented-on posts, with 53 comments logged to date (and counting.... they are still coming in, from time to time!).  Five of the top 10 all-time keyword searches that lead people to this blog (including the #1 keyword search "Julia Child children")  relate to the "Julie & Julia" post.

(This was an interesting exercise, and I enjoyed looking back at some of these posts. Have you ever checked your stats for your most-viewed posts? Noticed anything interesting?)