2014 Year in Review
It's December 31st and I've been spending a lot of time recently thinking about how to make Arden's Day better for you. As we head into the eighth year of my little blog's life I'm looking at ways to make the blog more informative, social, easy to consume and worth coming back to. In the process I've been reading a lot of old post from 2014 and found a few that are worth revisiting before the ball drops. I hope you read to the end of this long post, I'd like to share something very personal to me before the calendar flips.
From January 2014
It baffles me, but one of the most popular things on the blog this year was a photo of me looking tired, How to Spot a D-Parent. It was even reposted on Diabetes Daily and become one of their most popular post of the year. Of all the things I wrote, shared and talked about this year, you liked seeing me looking ragged the best. Tells me we are all pretty damn tired.
From February 2014
Dexcom was approved for pediatric use, one of my non D storIes blew up on Huffington Post and Miss Manners was all the buzz but all you guys wanted to see was pictures of Kris Freeman's abs. Parents still read this post every day when they wonder if their child is too lean for pumps and a CGM. Kris's abs turned out to be quite the public service.
From March 2014
My blog titled, Pitstop Fail won Best of Betes Blogs for March - a huge thank you to the person who nominated it and voted!
From April 2014
A Forgotten Wallet Buys a BG of 25 and I got yelled at a little bit in the comments. BTW, Kris Freeman could have easily been mentioned here too, you guys sure love abs.
From May 2014
I changed my expectations for what 'in range' means and lowered Arden's a1c, Living Between the (Diabetes) Lines.
From June 2014
June brought the lowest A1c Arden has gotten to date, A1c Countdown: It's Endo Time.
From July 2014
This was the month of #ShowMeYourPump but Arden's Day readers were more interested (By just a few hits) in Arden's Sudden Needle Anxiety.
From August 2014
In August I tried with all my blogging might to get you to believe that Diabetes and Fear don't have to go together, Guts over Fear was written, the hashtag #DiabetesandFear was tweeted and my quest was underway.
From September 2014
I traveled to the Dominican Republic to deliver a speech to a group of D parents during the summer but wasn't able to share the video of my talk until September. My time in the D.R. led to a very popular post, my first invitation to give a keynote at a JDRF event (Info coming soon) and a whole lot of new understanding about the rest of the world.
From October 2014
Hello Dexcom SHARE you are the remote monitoring I've been waiting for.
From November 2014
Arden changed her first OmniPod without any help from me while she was at a sleepover, I'll Take Insulin Pump Change for the Win Alex.
From December 2014
I shared our experience with getting an insulin pump in the hopes that it would give you the freedom to speak your mind because, Don't Let Doctors Push a Pump on You, that's why.
I can't thank you enough for reading about Arden's day. I hope you have time to check out one more post from 2014, it's one I wrote today about what diabetes blogging means to me, you can find it here. Have a happy, healthy 2015... you are all in my thoughts. Best, Scott
Dblog: Best of Arden's Day 2013
These are just some of my favorite blog pieces from 2013. Please let me know if I missed yours, and I'll add it to this list along with any words about the post that you have to share. I want to wish you all a safe and Happy New Year...
New blog posts will begin to arrive in early January. Be well! Scott
The Diabetic Problem - A poem by Arden
I'll Have Two Eggs Poached, Toast and a Scoop of Maturity - Arden decides that she wants a lower A1c
Hoping vs Living - Talking honestly about a cure
What Lies Beyond My Understanding - The fight to figure out insulin
Sesame Chicken you Motherless $%&^@ - The best laid schemes of mice and men
Softball Aristotle - Arden gets thoughtful
Holy @#%&*$% A1C - Celebrate
Number Thirty Seven - A scary low at the worst time
Arden's Hands are Growing - Something good has to come from all of this
The day I made Katie Couric laugh - Exciting day in an exciting year
When things go wrong, they go wrong - The title tells the tale
Helping Children with Diabetes Gain Independence Part 1 - Proud of this series
Dear Teacher: The DX - It needs to be said
Little People, Big Problems - Kids feel just like we do
What do you want to tell diabetes? - The one where you all cursed
Small World - Feel good
Fifteen-Year-Old type I told, "We are not a hospital or charity" - This is why we educate
Your Favorite Posts: November 2013
Diabetes Awareness Month 2013 was the most popular month in the six year history of Arden's Day, surpassing April 2013 (The month my first book was released).
After Arden's Day first appeared online in 2007, it took one year to reach 1,000 views and I was so amazed that I grabbed a screen capture to mark the occasion - a lot has changed since then.
The top five blog posts from November 2013 (ranked by views)
When Things Go Wrong, They Go Wrong
The Blood WOn't Come Out: Day of Diabetes Deeper Look
Lace Up 4 Diabetes Shoe Laces GiveAway
Most months, the popular posts on the site differ from what is popular on the Facebook page. This month however they were very similar, with the exception of this post (I think it was the picture that people loved)- After School low, meet Ben and Jerrys.
...and my announcement that I'll be reviewing the Prep Pad made many of you very happy (I'm excited too!).
The most popular topics on Twitter had to do with the Novo Nordisk shoe laces giveaway and my 'Day of Diabetes' tweets.
Thank you all so very much for your continued support and for fervently reading the site. The guy who took that screen capture of the thousandth page hit... he would have fallen off his chair if he saw how many of you read Arden's Day in November of 2013. Seriously, I'm staggered, thank you!
Arden's Day is on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr and Google+. I follow back and love hearing from all of you through these various social media channels. Stop bye and say hello. I'm @ArdensDay or ArdensDay in all places.
Now for a shameless plug: My parenting book, 'Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal: Confessions of a Stay-At-Home Dad' is available everywhere that books are sold and would make a perfect holiday gift for the readers in your life.
Your Favorites: June 2013
June was heavy with softball related posts, A1c talk and more book stuff than I imagined would still be going on. The book stuff is still happening because of the overwhelming support that you all showed when my initial Yahoo based interview with Katie Couric was posted a few weeks ago. That post was so popular and well shared on Yahoo that they just ran it again on their front page yesterday, this time with a 'Yahoo Favorite' tag attached! So amazingly touching and cool... That video led to me being invited on to Katie's television show, which led to me being asked to write a blog for her website, which led to... oh wait, I'm not allowed to talk about that just yet.
On to the a recap of your favorite blog posts for June 2013.
On Arden's Day
Holy @#%&*$% A1C - Also the most commented on post of June
DexCom G4 Platinum: Second Look - from December 2012
Pictures from my Katie Couric Interview
Mail Order Medication Exceptions: Did you know?
Meanwhile on Facebook
Pictures from my Katie Couric Interview was far and away the most seen and commented on post
Forget me, come see Arden tonight
Then there were literally a dozen posts that all had similar numbers
On Instagram you seemed to like seeing me in Katie Courics make up chair the best...
I'll see you in July!
Best,
Scott
Your Favorites: May 2013
The most popular blog posts from May 2013:
OmniPod Rash (from November of 2011)
The FaceBook posts with the most likes:
Pictures from my Katie Couric Interview
The announcement that my book won the Gold Mom's Choice Award
May of 2013 was the second most popular month in the history of Arden's Day! So much has been going on both recently and over the past year. Yesterday, I did my last bit of book promotion for a few weeks when I sat down with Katie Couric to film a segment for her Yahoo/ABC program, 'Katie's Take'. The segment is scheduled to go live the week of June 10th, just in time for Father's Day. I can't wait to see how they edit what I said.
I'll be doing a book signing that same week on June 13th in Pennsylvania and then we leave for a little family getaway a few days later. When I return, I'm going to start thinking about how to best celebrate Arden's Day's sixth birthday. My little blog has been going since August 16, 2007 when I posted for the first time at 3 am and I want to throw it a party... I'm just not sure yet how to do that.
Enjoy your summer!