Best of 2012
Before we ring in the new year, we’d like to take a second to look back at the last year and say some very heartfelt Thank Yous – 45,343 to be exact. In 2012 Rocket City Mom had 45,353 unique visitors and we are a just a little blown away by that number but so happy that you stopped by!
To celebrate, we dug into our Google Analytics page and picked out the top 10 most popular posts on our site this year. Some articles were funny, some were poignant, some were informative and the best were all three. Enjoy this look back and on behalf of all of the RCM staff, we wish you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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What Hate Feels Like
This heartbreaking and personal post from regular RCM contributor Sarah Lena about toenail polish, being a little different, and why the long lines at Chick-fil-a this summer made her mad was read and shared far beyond the Tennessee Valley and for good reason. It was definitely a must-read article this year and we are proud it came from one of our own.
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Crestwood Offers New Option for New Moms
Apparently a lot of our readers are soon to be moms, or know someone who is because this article about the new LDRP rooms at Crestwood not only got a lot of views but it was the second most shared post on our site this year.
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I’ve Been Keeping a Secret
A good title goes a long way as proven by this article which was really just an excuse for me to finally share the news that 2012 was going to be a big year for me. With baby Iris on the way, I brought on Stephenie as co-editor of the website and it was here that I told the world about both “new additions.” Many of you left well wishes in the comments and on Facebook and I appreciated them all. It was just one of many moments this year that reminded me of how lucky I am to be a part of this wonderful community of moms.
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Pregnancy Isn’t Always Pretty
After I finally told everyone the big news, I wasted no time posting non-stop about my pregnancy, local childbirth resources, and the like. Many of those articles were popular posts but none as much as this one where I dished about how, for me, pregnancy was not always rosy cheeks and butterfly kicks. I guess I wasn’t the only one.
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The Trouble With Boys
This article was one of Stephenie’s first as co-Editor and boy did she deliver! As always, the best articles are those where a writer shares his/her personal experience in a way that helps other parents. In this post about her family’s struggle to help her young son find an educational environment that was right for him, Stephenie does just that. Of course, like a good former librarian, she also talks a lot about books that she found helpful and lists suggested readings for other parents that find themselves in a similar situation. Based on the popularity of this post, there were obviously many who have.
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Tips for Speaking to Pregnant Women
Behold the power of social media. In this case, Reddit got a hold of this article by RCM contributor Ashley Sparks, who shared her views on what’s appropriate (and more importantly what’s not appropriate) to say to a woman who is expecting. It seems that there is no shortage of people who still think it’s okay to ask about a pregnant woman’s weight. Tip # 2 – It’s not.
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Summertime in the Kitchen
Thanks in large part to it’s popularity on Pinterest, this article by RCM contributor and Misty Ridge Farms owner Stacy DeSmet was another big hit of the year. In it, Stacy reminisces about summers spent at her grandparents farmhouse but it’s the ridiculously delicious zucchini bread recipes that made this post so popular.
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The Courage to Be a Stepmom
I knew we’d found a gem in RCM contributor Lexie Robinson Austin when the first non-book related article she wanted to write for our site was about how difficult being a stepparent can be. She ends the first paragraph by saying, “I don’t plan on changing the world with this post or even changing society’s notions about step-parenting. All I can do is share my story.” We’d like to state for the record that we are really glad she did.
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Teach for America Explained
We’re not a terribly controversial bunch here at RCM and most of our articles aren’t either. But, we are dedicated to bringing local parents information that they’ll find useful and when it was announced that Huntsville City Schools (HCS) was bringing in Teach for America (TFA) to fill a gap in available teachers, we decided to ask local parent and Education professor Jason O’Brien to help us make sense of this controversial decision. He did and you listened.
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Maternity Swimwear=Cruel Joke
I knew as soon as I laid eyes on that yellow maternity swimsuit that I had hit internet gold. First, I questioned who would EVER buy such a thing, then I wondered who would design such a thing and then I just had to write a post about it! You’re welcome.
Rocket City Mom is a website about raising children in and around Huntsville, Alabama. Started in late 2010 by a local mom and newcomer to Huntsville, Rocket City Mom has grown into a thriving community of local parents and now boasts a staff of four, thirteen regular contributors, and tens of thousands of Tennessee Valley readers making it the #1 Parenting Resource in North Alabama.