Five Questions With… Christi Jensen
Posted on August 14, 2007 in Five Questions by DM
Five Questions With… is a weekly series on DMweblife highlighting Des Moines area bloggers and their blogs! This edition features Christi Jensen of small.town.fun, who is a busy mom with lots of ideas for things to do (activities, places to visit, etc.) with your kids. After exchanging several emails with Christi, I must say I envy her ability to pause amongst the hub-bub and really find moments to connect with her family.
1. What’s the focus of your blog? (Or if you’d rather, What’s the main reason you began blogging?)
From the blog: “Hopefully, we’re giving you some ideas for things to do while you’re hanging out with your kids. For so long, my kid and I sat in the living room looking at a picture book from 1956. Now we actually have fun.”
I began blogging because I wanted to start a craft blog, popsiclestick (now defunct), but quickly realized I was just rehashing what everyone else was covering. It was the beginning of the craft “high” and I wasn’t getting any response from my employer (a magazine publisher) and I was running into these amazing artists that I wanted to share with as many people as possible, so I started blogging.
small.town.fun grew out of that and the fact that I have a four-year-old and I’m a person who will do just about anything to avoid actual cleaning. Starting a “what to do in DSM with kids blog” was a no-brainer (which also fits my personal mission statement.)
2. What aspect of blogging do you enjoy the most?
It sounds base, but I blog for the feedback and the personal satisfaction of publishing my own finds. It’s so much work - ideas, bookmarking, contacting people, finding art, etc., but I’ve “met” the widest range of people through my blog. I “know” so many great parents here in the metro and all over just through the blog. I got picked to blog at 2modern.com based on the merit of small.town. and that makes me feel great.
3. What’s an activity besides blogging that you can’t live without?
Once again, I’m risking judgment, here, but the part of my day that gives me the most satisfaction is the half hour before my son goes to sleep. We try to do a lot of stuff on the weekends, but weekdays are a wreck. After dinner, etc., the part of the day that makes the rest of it vaporize/worth it (depending on the day) is that time when we’e hanging out on the bed in wind-down mode. We talk about kid stuff, make up ridiculous games, cuddle up and basically reconnect. It’s like showering off the daily grime.
4. What’s the best advice - personal or professional - you’ve ever received?
I don’t know that it’s advice, but I think about this almost every day: I get stressed out or overly freaked about my responsibilities and transfer that onto my kid - you know, when you’re late and your son/daughter is in poop-around mode and you’re losing your marbles and they just put on the stops - it’s easy to let that be so important and it’s easy to let that make you act in a way that’s honestly unbecoming.
When I get like that, I try to stop and visualize those thousands of pieces of paper that fell out of the sky in NYC on 9-11. Each one of those sheets of paper was at one point so important - had to be copied in triplicate, filed a certain way and CC’ed to a whole list of execs. On that day, they meant absolutely nothing. It’s easy to sacrifice what’s truly important for what seems important at that particular moment.
5. What’s something you’ve accomplished in the past five years that you are particularly proud of? Parenthood is a huge accomplishment - for anyone. Sure people do it every day, but it’s super hard. It’s a choice, I’ve heard all that, but it’s a choice that keeps this planet alive. Regardless of cynicism and angst, hope springs eternal and that’s manifested in children. That said, it’s hard to say goodbye to your friends when dinner’s over and the evening’s just got interesting.
I’m really proud of how my husband and I’ve taken a completely foreign job and have decisively worked at doing it to the best of our ability. It’s dynamic and you’re constantly reinventing the wheel, but there’s so many resources available today and I’m amazed at how pro-active the world’s become even in the four years since we had our son. The Governor’s educational initiatives are going to immediately translate into better opportunities for children and parents in terms of education and job opportunities. That’s huge. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished as parents, but I’m also excited to see our State and Country recognize the tremendous benefits to our communities when parents actually have the time and resources to devote to their children.
And the Secret Sixth Question I asked Christi:
You bring back a very striking visual when you reference the papers falling from the sky on 9/11. Have there been any other moments in recent history that have had such a big impact on you?
The most life-changing event I can think of that’s not politically loaded is the birth of my son. I can’t believe I was allowed to have a child - I’m so not organized or together - but I see how far I’ve come in the past 4 years. I’m happy that most of my life was in place before he came (I’m 40 and was married for five years prior), but I can’t express enough how unready one is for this kind of new roommate. We still dress ourselves out of laundry baskets, and most of the toys still live in the livingroom (despite bedroom AND playroom storage), but we’re making progress!
And in case you’re curious, that is the photo Christi sent me to use to illustrate her Five Questions! She told me: “My son took that photo and I use it all the time for my avatar. It’s funny and depressing at the same time cuz our kitchen was a wreck when he snapped it. It also contains a product I depend on heavily to make the java sludge I cough down each day bearable 
” - Ed.
Des Moines-area bloggers: to be considered for this feature, just drop me an email with your name, location, and blog address, and answers to the five questions I’ve asked here. I’ll reply with your “Secret Sixth Question”!
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2 comments to “Five Questions With… Christi Jensen”
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Janet, Thank you so much and thank you for your stellar blog. I finally subscribed, so I won’t have to remember to be on top of the latest. I can’t wait to hear about your Fair experience. We’ve been twice and because it’s been so hot, I haven’t gotten my family to the chicken barn. I love, love, love chickens. My son went through the Pioneer kid’s farm, so I finally had my photo snapped with some stuffed hens. Let’s just say I’m glad you put up that milk picture…
I’d also love to tell everyone about my latest blog, gussied up (gussiedup.squarespace.com). Please check it out and if you have some part of your home or garden that you’d like to share, please send it along.
Janet, thanks again. You rock.
Thank you for the kind words - glad you are enjoying things here!