#MicroblogMondays: Odds & ends

• Just a reminder: It's World Childless Week!  :)  Lots going on! 
• Back to school photos seem to have (finally!) tapered off as most kids returned to classrooms last week. As I said to another CNBCer, I don't think it's the photos themselves that bother me as much as all the accompanying commentary...!  
• (I did see a couple of brilliant adult parodies online, including one of a male schoolteacher holding up one of those blackboard signs (which included the line "my wife made me do this") and another guy holding up a chalkboard citing "day xxx of work."  ;)  )  
• This time last week, we were sweltering, running from air conditioned condo to air conditioned car to air conditioned stores and back again. Yesterday was grey and chilly, to the point that I had to put on socks and yoga pants for the first time in months. They're back on today, and I had to wear shoes & a jacket when we went out earlier. There has to be a happy medium somewhere... right?? (Thankfully, things should warm up a bit later this week...) 
• Remember the annoying online friend I posted about a few months ago, on a mommy group getaway?  Her first grandchild -- a girl, of course -- was born a few months ago, and I have barely been able to click a perfunctory "like" on the flood of gloating grandma posts on social media. Why is it so easy to be happy for some people, but others...?? 
• Looking forward to a rare girls' getaway of my own later this week!  :)  

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.

Next week is World Childless Week!

Did you know that next week (Sept. 10-16) is the second annual World Childless Week?  WCW aims to raise awareness of the childless not by choice (CNBC) community, specifically. (Why is it held on/around Sept. 16th?  The answer might surprise you!)

Last year I wrote, "I didn't write anything about it here before, partly because I didn't learn about it the week was underway, and partly because I am still wading my way through the abundance of great related reading I found online."  I added, "Through my reading and by following links, I discovered a few new childless/free blogs & sites, which I've added to the blogroll & resources links on the right-hand side of this page. Check them out!"

This year I'm more aware and slightly better prepared ;)  and I'm looking forward to many new discoveries and a lot more great reading!  Check out this summary of what's planned and find out how you can get involved.  One simple way to do so: join the #IAMME campaign on social media!  Details here.

(I don't know if I'll be able to post every day during WCW on the daily themes -- but I did want to make sure you all knew about this event in advance!)

Some other bloggers' recent posts about WCW:

• Gateway Women (Jody Day) 
• Lesley Pyne
• Not So Mommy (Brandi Lytle)
• Infertility Honesty (Sarah Chamberlin) 
• Life: A Bird's Eye View (Samantha)
• No Kidding in NZ (Mali) 

17 years of childless living

Aunties Day -- now in its 10th year! -- is this Sunday, July 22nd.  :)

Aug. 1 is International Childfree Day, recognizing those who have chosen not to have children.

World Childless Week, which raises awareness of the childless-not-by-choice community, is Sept. 10-16 this year. (Did you know there was one??)

So far, there is no one specific day devoted to those of us who consider ourselves childless vs childfree (although I believe some CNBC bloggers are looking into this) -- but from my personal perspective, today (July 18th), would be a good choice. ;)  I've written several times over the years about the Childless Living message board at iVillage (now defunct), where I first sought & found support after making the decision to end fertility treatments. (I've now tagged those posts with "iVillage Childless Living message board.") My first post to the board, a couple of weeks after my final IUI failed, was on July 18, 2001, 17 years ago today (!).  In the years since then, I have come to consider July 18th as the day when I took my first steps toward acceptance of my permanently childless future.

Beyond my personal case ;)  today is Jody Day's birthday (her 54th). :)  If you don't "know" Jody (and if you're childless not by choice, you should!), she's the founder of Gateway Women, an influential global friendship and support network for childless women. Today on her blog, she wrote:

...fifty-four has got me thinking about how different it was for me a decade ago when I turned forty-four. That was a pivotal year for me because it was the year that I realised that my childlessness was not some bad dream that I was going to wake up from on day; it was my permanent reality and I was going to be childless for the rest of my life.

She goes on to list "ten things I’ve learned in a decade of recovery from childlessness." (Have a read! & wish her a happy birthday!)

A lot has changed over the past 17 years. Today, we know that as many as one in four women born in the 1960s & 1970s will not have children (for a variety of reasons), and a growing number of us are speaking out and writing about our lives and experiences. Message boards (although they still exist) gave way to blogs -- many, many more since I started blogging almost 11 years now! -- and to online communities such as Gateway Women and Life Without Baby. So, whether you are 10 years or 17 years (or more, or less) on your journey down this road less travelled -- and especially if you are just starting out -- please know that you don't have to travel alone!