Ok, so I’m not that drunk, but I’ve got several beers and an abnormally large glass of whiskey under my belt so I’m close enough. Also, it’s been a 12 hour work day with an inordinate amount of mental stress and anxiety so fuck it. I’m tipsy posting.
It’s hard to find things to write about when you don’t plan ahead and decide to write a post with absolutely no inspiration other than, “hey, I’m going to write and see if people read it.” And I know some will read it. If stats mean anything, several hundred of you will read what I have to say. You guys and gals are awesome. And maybe that’s what I’ll write about.
Mad Dad is amazing. I’m not talking about me, although I’m kind of amazing albeit slightly disfigured. I’m talking about the Mad Dad community. Mad Dad started with about 30-40 followers, mostly friends and family, that would read my weird posts about parenting. It was like this for months. Then it happened. Mad Wife went viral. I didn’t do shit to earn it, but I reaped all the benefits. I went from 30 followers to about twelve thousand in a few days. Mad Dad became a legit AF literally overnight. People started reaching out asking to guest blog to boost their own page numbers. I got requests to review products that I agreed to, but it fell through (so far… I gotta follow up with those guys)… But shit. Mad Dad became something I never thought it would. A real Facebook page with a real community of truly amazing men and women whom I’ve grown to respect and love over the past year.
We’re at over 18,000 followers now. That humbles the shit out of me. I’m not that funny, I’m not unique, and quite frankly, there’s a woman out there who could do this 100 times better than me but doesn’t for some reason. But I do try to be genuine. My post “The Mad Wife Wants to be Mad Single” was read by over seven THOUSAND people all over the world. There was nothing funny about that post. It was raw, real, and exposing. I had various drafts of that post on my desktop for months before I finally got the courage to post it and the response was… There are no words. Except to say cut it out to the people hate-mailing Mad Wife. She has her reasons and I still love her so show some respect, please. Hate mail is not helping my situation in the least.
But I learned something of incredible value when I posted that post. It broke my heart to write it and somehow my pain echoed throughout the community. The response and support I got was beyond words. More than that, I learned that I could be myself with The Mad Dad. I could post at my best and my worst. I think that’s when I really truly found my voice. I can be me. I can write whatever the fuck I want. If people don’t like it, they can unfollow and believe me, they do. But the core group here sticks with it and I’m grateful to be able to interact with ALL of you on this blog page.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I had a miserable day today. My marriage is crumbling. I miss my wife so much that I can barely sleep. And I have a soul crushing amount of stress and anxiety in my life that would probably best be met with intensely qualified professional help, but then there’s you. You guys cheered me up tonight. Not just the few that I’ve been bantering back and forth with THIS night, but all of you. To the guy who reached out to say he loved my 1./page and that it inspired him to try and create something of his own to the amateur cake maker asking how my kids were doing after a never ending bout of the flu. The chick that won’t stop talking about Christmas music, the girl who said “keep up the good work” in my first few weeks. The woman who PMed me to ask how I was feeling after my accident… You all are wonderful. I’m blessed… And I hate using that word, but I’m blessed to have this great community of followers who are not only entertained by the stupid shit I have to write, but who are also supportive in ways that they can’t begin to comprehend.
So I guess this is where drunk posting led me. To a great big thank you to everyone who has ever taken the time to like or comment on one of my posts. To every single person who has taken the time to strike up a casual conversation of private messaging. You all make The Mad Dad fun for me. You are why I do this. You help keep me motivated to write and post more when some days I just want to crawl under the covers and drink whiskey. So thanks. A lot. You all are the best and I’m looking forward to growing this community with you. It’s been a wild fucking ride and it has only been getting better.
Cheers.
-Ken
Insiders Note: Most of my posts are heavily edited for content and brevity. This post was written in 30 minutes with a "fuck it" style attitude. If you liked it, let me know. Maybe this isn't such a bad idea.