So, what’s the deal with the Winey Parent blog?

Meghan and I co-created this idea back in September of 2018. After I constructed the website and put enough things in place to make sure we could post and everything wouldn’t collapse into itself, we started generating posts.

The Winey Parent is this place where Meghan and I could share our parenting adventures, including personal experiences, product recommendations, food and cocktail recipes, and an overall lighthearted vibe to help parents when they need it most. So, what’s been going on with us and the WP?

After two years of homeschooling, Marshall and Adelaide reentered public school this year. It’s hard to believe they’re in 3rd and 4th Grade, but they’ve gotten back to it and we’re happy to see them thriving. They’ve taken on extracurriculars, each taking part in their own scout programs, while Adelaide also took part in a running club. 

At this stage of their lives, ages 8 and 10, they’re starting to branch off into their own things. Adelaide is a gigantic bookworm, while Marshall has jumped into board games. Despite them discovering different things that make them happy, they’ve also found ways to continue enjoying each other’s company. Meghan and I are constantly listening to them play together, giggling and laughing, and we’re exceedingly grateful to see them have such a close bond.

Meghan and I, well, we’re both getting older, a little grayer (or balder in my case), and, boy, do our backs ache constantly! Our downtime usually revolves around YouTube videos as we follow along The Endless Adventure, Travel Beans, The TRY Channel, and a boatload of murder mystery documentaries, because that’s how one goes to sleep, right?

About that Blog?

For two and a half years, I ran, wrote, and constructed a majority of the Winey Parent, because Meghan already has a full-time gig as an amazing teacher. We’re talking website updates, social media posts, article ideas, pictures, videos posts and editing, and all the while, trying to also find affiliates to help produce something substantial with regards to financial earnings. We’re talking multiple posts a week for a good portion of this run, if not more, before reducing to once every few weeks; and, then, April 2021 saw a parenting update – and there wasn’t another post for a year.

April 2022 saw a children’s book review, because we’d already done a few, and that was the last post we created until this update. We tried a variety of posts (or series); baking with our kids, meal planning, budgeting, experiences with homeschooling, and even our love of Phil Rosenthal led us to be a part of the Feed Phil Team where we promoted his fourth season of Somebody Feed Phil.

We tried a bunch of stuff to see if running this blog would be sustainable – meaning, will it produce enough income to validate me continuing to do it. Because I love what we’ve done; I love what we’ve created. We even tried A Bartender Vlog, and I also created A Winey Parent Podcast where I rambled about Survivor and Fringe, two of my favorite shows. What worked or made sense in the long run? All of these ideas were fun to consider and process – and, yes, I’d love to crank up the podcast again – but, did it do enough? Did I do enough?

That’s how I look at everything. Yes, the world should not revolve around money, but if it’s not generating that substantial thing we all need, then I have to spend more time elsewhere. I’m a writer for a few different sites and I’m always looking for opportunities to write and provide a more stable income.

Does this mean the Winey Parent is gone forever?

I don’t know. I love the Winey Parent. Stealing a line from Phil Rosenthal, “Come on, people!” Winey (whiney) parent – how much of a better name can you have for your blog. “We like to wine when there’s whine” might be a phrase we’ve uttered once or twice. Yes, this blog experience has been a lot of fun. Meghan and I have had so many laughs, fun brainstorm sessions, great adventures with the kids, and quite a few date nights as a result of the Winey Parent.

Don’t get me wrong, it was endless work; website management, writing, editing, building, sharing to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, looking out for product to share when we saw a great deal; heck, we even made our own t-shirt and product designs. All while trying to share bits of ourselves to highlight to parents they’re not alone in a very stressful world. Beyond the scope of our screens, we are taking care of our kids, our partners, and all the while wondering if what we’re doing will make us happy and healthy at the end of the day.

Needless to say, I don’t have a definitive answer about closing shop on the Winey Parent, because I adore what’s been done. I’m proud of the work we’ve put into it and I definitely don’t want to say goodbye. But, it’s only fair to share reasons why the blog has been so quiet over the past year or two. It’s not lovely to use the word “failure” when describing a passion project, but I’m not sure of any other way to say it.

A blog to remember fondly

Not everything has to be so concrete to say something was a failure, but I guess if the goal was to do this thing (aka, the parenting blog), hoping it might also be this thing ($) and it’s not, then it feels like I have to say it. I really appreciate everyone who has followed along this journey, and I hope the content we’ve created on the Winey Parent has been useful to other parents out there in some way.

Sharing parts of our world has not always been the easiest thing, but that’s why I’ve always made a point to be silly and share that dorky side as often as humanly possible. This isn’t goodbye, but now you know why the Winey Parent has been quiet for quite some time. Meghan is still teaching. I’m still writing. For now, though, you’ll just have to make do with the content we’ve already created, because we’re not sure when we’ll pop back in.

I hope all of our followers are doing well. We’re still happy to chat if you reach out. Above all else, we hope your parenting adventures are making you smile more often than not. That’s what we’ll be trying to do. So, this is not the end, friends, but perhaps a chance for something new.

With love,

Travis