San Antonio mom blogger Adriana Silva with Thirty On…Mom

This week’s  San Antonio Mom Blogs’ featured mom blogger is Adriana Silva. Want to be selected as a Fan of the Week? Like San Antonio Mom Blogs on Facebook and participate!

Adriana Silva is a mom, a wife, a full-time employee, an Autism advocate, and a blogger. She juggles a busy life, four kids, and two blogs with grace, refreshing honesty, and a cutting-edge sense of humor.

You began blogging at Thirty On…Mom in 2011 with the idea that you would write about the months leading up to turning 30. Two years into it, have your ideas about blogging changed? How?

Yes. At first I used blogging as something personal and secluded. It was just me and the computer, but because of blogging, ironically enough, I have become more social. I look forward to reading other blogs and interacting or meeting up with other bloggers. Also, I feel more responsible for what I write because people actually read what I am saying. I try to stay true to myself without being too offensive. At the time I started the blog turning 30 was really on my mind. Now, looking back, turning 30 and on was only one aspect of me. Yes, I am 31, but I’m also a mother, wife, anxiety ridden, a bit crafty, a tad awkward and all of these things are intertwined with each other and so why not write about it all and share humor with people. I really think that laughter is the best medicine.

Around the time you started Thirty On Mom, you began a separate blog, N-Zilla….Loveable and Destructive, about your little boy. The stories you share about his growth and advances are inspiring and your love for him shines through. Do you ever find it difficult to be open and frank about personal topics?

It is very hard. I have anxiety about it. Sometimes it is painful to put down in words what I am feeling or going through. Many times I don’t blog for weeks or months at a time on N-Zilla’s blog site. As he gets older I often think about the future of N-Zilla’s blog. How will what I write now affect him later? If he could tell me…would he tell me to stop? It’s not all puzzle pieces and rainbows like some AU meme’s might suggest. It’s real. Like the time we got kicked out of a restaurant. Just like parenting in general, there are high and low points in raising children. BUT, if by writing this part of my life brings awareness and acceptance, and if I can help another mother or another family start to weed through the whole AU process and find some commonality or shed light and humor out of N-Zilla’s blog, then that is inspiration enough for me to keep writing about my experience with my lovable and destructive son.

As a working mother of four kids, how do you make time for yourself? How do you remember the person you are inside of the mom you’ve become?

I have not yet fully come to appreciate my flexible work schedule but it allows me to work around my husband’s work schedule and my children’s appointments, especially N-Zilla’s schedule. I have a strong support system for childcare. My very best friend is also my daycare provider for my younger children. It makes it so much easier to go to work when you leave your children with someone you trust. After dealing with postpartum depression I realized I was no good to anyone if I didn’t take time of myself. Blogging helps me stay in tune with who I am and I have a great group of girlfriends who I either have coffee with once a week, Ryan Gosling movie and wine night at least once every few months, and many trips to Target with a side of Starbucks.

Facebook: love it or hate it and why?

I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. Love because I get to connect with family members that I left behind in California like my sister and brother and my niece and nephew. I get to connect with many other bloggers on Facebook. But, at the same time, I like to keep family, friends, and blogging separate and that’s hard to do. I like Google+. It allows me to choose who sees what. I like Twitter and I love Instagram.

Through your blog I’ve learned to decode the overwhelming educational acronyms used by our public education system like IEP, ARD, PPCD, and LRE. It’s enough to make your head spin. But, in that same vein, the related Ryan Gosling memes you share are truly awesome. Which one is your favorite?

My all time favorite one is this one:

I recently saw the movie Drive and I kept fantasizing about spa day after Thursday’s occupational therapy appointment. Sometimes all you need is to hear someone say, “Hey Girl, I got this.”

Find Adriana: Blog | Blog | My Autism Team | Twitter | G+ | Instagram