When I first began blogging nine years ago, I set out with the goal of being able to write coherent pieces that chronicled my life as a mother. Which meant I blogged about my kids. A lot. I never sought out validation for my efforts. It was merely enough that I had been able to find a tiny particle of space in the Interweb that I could call my own and the freedom to do with it as I saw fit. Now that my kids are older, it is more important than ever that I continue to evaluate my work here on Toronto Teacher Mom and maintain a blog that I am proud of, especially if they happen to read some of it some day. It is also proof to my kids that, if you stick to your goals and give it your all, you can achieve what you once thought unattainable. You see, I never enjoyed writing as a child, or English class for that matter, save the occasional creative writing or poetry assignment. In fact, I loathed the subject. I was unable to express myself clearly using the written word and despised essay writing. I often struggled with reading as well and even made up a book report once based on a book I had never read. What? I just wanted a shiny star sticker beside my name!

While I never got a shiny sticker that day, I did learn that it takes hard work and persistence to overcome hurdles. And although it may be tempting some days to just give up entirely, I take pride in my achievements thus far and have no regrets other than being unable to tell my nine-year-old self: "Hey, you've got this!" It is, therefore, with a humbled heart that I accept a shiny sun in lieu of a star sticker from BrighterLife.ca in recognition of my small contributions to their site over the past year.

Take a look at their roster of favourite family writers. You'll be sure to find some real gems. 

Thank you to BirghterLife.ca for the 2013 and 2014 Family Writers Awards! Here's to a fabulous 2015!

But that's not all. I am honoured to be included among a list of some very talented writers. I invite you to check out Brighter Life's list of favourites. You are guaranteed to find some wonderful blogs if you haven't already come across them on the web.

Today, I am sharing with you the first of a series of features on Canadian Mom Bloggers here on Toronto Teacher Mom. For the very first feature, I'd like to introduce you to an old blogging friend of mine. Yes, we go way back. Like almost a year and a half. Meet Wendy a.k.a. Mapsgirl. I first met Wendy last year during my first ever tour of the CN Tower with the lovely ladies from Mom Central Canada. And now, we keep bumping into each other at a bunch of awesome social media events both on and offline. Our kids seem to get along quite well, too, so that's always a bonus.

Wendy is the owner of funny things are everywhere as well as a cartographer, hence the alias. She also happens to be a car seat technician and is very passionate about child car seat safety. As part of her seven-year blogoversary celebration, she will be giving away seven awesome prizes for seven weeks. For week 5, Wendy has teamed up with Safe Kids Canada and Young Drivers of Canada to spread important information on Child Passenger Safety. At the end of the week on June 5, she will be choosing a winner of a True Fit Convertible Car Seat by The First Years. The contest entry form is located at the bottom of her Lucky 7s Week 5 post and you can enter daily. Don't forget to enter her other Lucky 7s giveaways, eh.

Are you a Canadian Mom Blogger who would like to be featured on Toronto Teacher Mom? Send me an email at diana@torontoteachermom.com to discuss details.