I love looking back at my year of blogging.

2014 was a bit of a strange one, in that I didn’t spend as much time posting as I had in years’ past.  Life sort of went in a different direction for awhile there.  Still, it is heartwarming and encouraging to see that you guys still show up, and you still read what I have to say, no matter how fickle I may be with my writing.  And 2014 holds the distinction of my most-viewed blog post EVER, so thank you for that! You’re still reading and sharing older posts too, which is very cool  – My Promise to My Children, Just Wait Till Your Kids Are Teens, Why My Kids Will Never Be Socialized, and Entitlement are all posts from previous years that are continuing to be shared enough to make it into the top ten most-read posts for 2014.

Here are the top ten new posts from 2014, from most to least amount of views:

1.  5 (Alternative) Reasons Modern-Day Parenting Is In Crisis – I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.  You guys really respond when I write rebuttals to mainstream parenting articles.  While I will forever have mixed feelings about these (one criticism that particularly stung in the past year was that “it’s the easiest thing in the world to critique someone’s else’s work when you don’t have any original thoughts of your own” ) overall I am happy to be a voice for the other side, and I’m glad I wrote this.  A follow-up to this post made the list as well, at number 10.

2.  Five Words & Phrases We Need to Stop Saying About Moms and Motherhood – This one was born of straight-up frustration.  It felt good to write it.

3.  Phone Fear and “Real” Relationships – Our relationships – with our children, our friends, our spouses, our loved ones – are the most important thing in the world.  Anything taking precedence over those relationships should be checked, for sure, but throwing out the baby with the bathwater by villifiying phones and social networking isn’t the answer… especially when those phones and social networks can sometimes be the very impetus to said relationships.

4.  Hitting is Hitting is Hitting – I’ve written about it again and again and again, and I’m sure I’ll forever continue.  I’m glad that these are getting read.  Hitting is wrong.  Full stop.

5.  Ten Tips for Happier Living With Your Teenager – I’m super happy that this one made the list!  I ADORE having teenagers, and am so disheartened by the negative image of teens in society at large.  I think that the more positive words out there about life with teenagers, the better.

6.  And They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Arrogance, Judgment, and Intolerance – Writing about issues pertaining to faith and Christianity is scary for me (my Christian critics are mean), but I’ve been called to do it more and more.   So much so that this past year I actually started a separate blog for exactly that, although I largely ignored it after just a couple of posts.  I think it’s important though, so this year, it’s definitely something I’d like to write about more.

7.  Giving Our Children Everything They Want…  – This is the only one on the list that I actually had to look at to see what it was.  A response to a mainstream parenting meme…. of which I am sure there will never be a shortage of material.  Let’s stop being so afraid to tell our children, “YES.”

8.  The Elephant in the Room:  Do’s and Don’ts When a Friend is Depressed – This one was personal.  I’m humbled and honored that it resonated.

9.  I Don’t Care Where Your Kids Go To School – Homeschool.  Unschool.  Public school.  Own your choices.  Do what makes you and your children blissfully happy.

10.  We ALL Need Boundaries – some thoughts on my nanny response, one week later – Sometimes there’s just too much to say for one little post or comment, and a follow-up is necessary… to either clarify, expand, or answer comments/critiques.  This was one of those times.

And that’s the list, created by you, of my top ten posts of the past year.

Do you have a favorite?

Thanks as always for reading, and I can’t wait to see what 2015 holds!