June 2015 Archives – Mummascribbles

I have a bit of a problem. I over-pack. For everything.

If I am off out with the toddler, I tend to pack everything but the kitchen sink. I think it stems from the fact that he was a very sicky baby and I had to have all manner of spares with me to get through a quick trip somewhere. The amount of times I found myself without a muslin only to have him spew everywhere…not good. So from that, I always over pack. You should have seen how full the car was on our recent holiday. We are away again in three weeks and I can guarantee it’ll be just as full. It’s a good job we only have the one child right now, if we have another, I really need to re-think my over-packing problem!

I over-pack my handbag as well. Being a working mum, I get to have two sets of bags to use on a regular basis (I blinking love bags!). My work bag is already heavy without having anything in it, so once I start adding diaries, brushes, spare shoes, lunch, it weighs an absolute ton and I start getting a numb arm. Again, not good!

There is always a lot of stuff in my bags that I don’t need. I mean I barely ever wear the lip gloss that has been sitting in there for at least a year, I barely ever write in my diary (I really should because I’m terribly forgetful) and really, Zach does not need two bottles of suntan lotion!

So, what do us mum’s really need in our bags? What are the things that we just cannot live without? I am here to tell you!

Baby wipes
These are a must. Everywhere you will go, you will need wipes. There is not one day in Zach’s two years and nine months on this planet that he has not required a baby wipe (or ten). Whether it’s for snotty noses, food smeared lips, exploding bums or muddy hands, you will forever be reaching into your bag for the wipes. There have been occasions where I have completely failed in packing wipes and they have always been the times when I have needed them most. He once spewed in the car on the way home from my mum’s after my day at work. I had no wipes. I had no tissues. I had nothing. The poor mite had to sit in his car seat covered in vomit for the remainder of the journey and I had to phone ahead to warn the other half to put the bath on as he was going straight in for a dunk! There have been times when I’ve had to pinch wipes from other mummies because I’ve forgotten mine and there was a time when he puked in the supermarket and the other half had to go dashing off to the baby aisle to buy some! Never ever leave the house without wipes!

Spare clothes
Once, in the middle of the woodland burial park that my dad is buried in, Zach fell bum first into a muddy puddle that he’d been splashing in. I didn’t have spare clothes (and the wipes were in the car!).

Safe to say, once we got back to the car he was stripped of his trousers and driven home in his nappy. Thankfully it was a warm day. To play it safe I would suggest packing a pair of joggers, socks, t-shirt and vest if it’s on the chilly side! Although if you have a sicky baby like Zach was, I’d triple that if you are out for the day – and maybe pack spares for yourself too

A dummy
Ok, this is not based on now as Zach hasn’t had a dummy since he turned 2, however there were numerous occasions when I stupidly left the house without one. Bad move people, bad move. If your child has a dummy, do not leave it at home. In fact, just keep a couple in your bag permanently (remembering to sterilise them every now and then!). There was one time that I was made to buy an emergency pack in the supermarket when my wailing baby would not stop wailing and wanted his dummy to help him go to sleep. There was a time when I had to borrow a dummy from a fellow mummy friend. Life is much easier if you simply just have one in your bag!

Nappy bags
Another must. I can guarantee that you will need them and we take them everywhere. There will be times when you are out and there is no bin, no baby change area, nowhere to throw the poo covered nappy that is in your hands. The joy of the nappy bag is that you open it up, pop it in, tie it up and throw it in your bag until a bin has been located. That said, DO NOT FORGET that you have put a poo encrusted nappy in your bag. The daily use of my beautiful Pink Lining Yummy Mummy bag came to an end when I did just this. With two poo filled nappies. The stench was incredible. It has aired out though I think – I refuse to not have that bag in my life, even if it’s just to look at! I mean, once upon a time it looked like this! How could I ever get rid of it?!

Water
I always have a bottle of water packed for Zach. I like to try and get plenty of it down him throughout the day so it’s a must pack. Of course, as with everything else, I have forgotten this on occasion (just not as often as the other stuff!)

Snacks
Always pack food for your hungry growing toddler. We usually have a banana or Satsuma – or less so a Satsuma now since he’s decided he can only eat them like he would an apple, (i.e. an absolutely juicy mess), and I tend to have some kind of crispy business too. Some Organix carrot sticks or bar. I still try and keep him on the healthy straight and narrow where I can!

Keys
I know…a really simple thing that can be so easily forgotten when you are rushing out of the house with a gazillion things and a whinging toddler who doesn’t want to go to nursery! Keys also have a tendency to slip to the bottom of your bag and you will spend 5 minutes in a complete an utter panic thinking you’ve dropped them somewhere (because you remember locking the front door behind you so you must have lost them), before feeling that metal and feeling complete relief. Especially on Tuesday nights when your other half doesn’t come home until 11pm.

Purse
I actually hardly ever use my purse because my debit card is in my phone case to make tapping in and tapping out at tube stations easier. I rarely have cash on me but my purse is beautiful so I get it out to look at (and to get comments on hehe!).

Phone
I’m a blogger. I can’t live without my phone. I genuinely feel like I’ve lost an arm if I leave it at home. Luckily, I have a Bluetooth speaker system in my car which connects automatically. Basically, if I’ve left my phone at home, my car tells me before I’ve made it to the end of the road!

Phone charger
My phone is coming up to the end of the contract which means it is nearly two years old. This means the battery is rubbish and as I abuse it so much on the journey to work, I need to be able to charge it before I leave for home. I realised this when I didn’t have it on me once. My battery drained, I went to go home and the trains were completely messed up and I couldn’t get to nursery in time to pick Zach up. I had to get the other half to call my mum to get her to pick him up for me! All because my phone was nearly dead and I couldn’t do it myself! I always have my charger with me now.

Diary
As mentioned earlier, I hardly write in it but it is gorgeous and I like to think that by having it, I’m organised. Also, if I get it out to actually pop something into it, it makes me feel like I have a busy life! Which I do, it’s just usually mundane busy! Nursery, work, nursery, home etc etc!

Deodorant
I always take this to work. On a warm day, the tubes get hot and sweaty and I need a top up of sweet smell when I get to work! Nothing like feeling fresh and not stinky!

Book
I love to read on the train. It’s the only time I get to do it so I generally always have a book in my bag. The only benefit of commuting is getting to read!

Sunglasses/umbrella
Different times of the year, different things are required in a work bag. At the moment, it’s both of these things because the weather is unpredictable. I have been known to forget my umbrella, the weather changes and I have gotten soaked on the way home. Just a couple of months ago, it rained all the way home. I got soaked between the office and the train station, dried on the train, then got soaked in the few seconds from tube station to overground station, dried again and then got soaked between the train station and car. I looked awful by the time I’d got to nursery!

Wipes
I have learnt over the past couple of years that having wipes to hand is of the utmost importance even when there isn’t a baby or toddler around. Sometimes us mummies fall in puddles and get food round our mouths too. Especially when we sit at our desks chomping on a breakfast of champions!

And there you have it. That is my guide to the absolute essentials that are in both the toddler bag and the work bag. What essentials can you not leave the house without? I’d love to know.

This post has been written as my entry into the Pink Lining Ambassador Search.

Last weekend I went to BritMums Live, my first ever blogging conference. The lovely lovely ladies at Kidster sponsored me and I am so thankful to them for giving me the experience that I just had.

I was so excited during the morning, that the whole way there I felt fine and had no nerves. I got off the tube, walked the short distance to the venue, turned the corner and saw this.

Then it happened! The nerves kicked in, I went all shy and hovered like a little mouse, desperately seeking the familiar faces of those I talk to on a regular basis.

It didn’t happen.

Not until I was at the registration desk inside collecting my badge. It was then that I spotted Louise from Little Hearts Big Love. Phew! We recognised each other and that was that. I had a friend…yay! It was lovely meeting her in person (she really is as sweet as you imagine her to be), and we spent a while in the exhibition area where along came a lady who had her babies delivered by Louise back when she had been a midwife! Amazeballs.

Wandering around and the next person I bumped into and very excitedly squealed at was the very beautiful Sarah from Run Jump Scrap! We hugged, we selfied, we chatted

Suddenly I was feeling far more confident and happy in my new surroundings and I took to wandering around the exhibition, chatting to brands, grabbing freebies and eating cake!

Then it was time for the sessions to begin.

The keynotes
Each and every keynote speaker was fantastic. There was Ella from Deliciously Ella talking about her journey from being seriously ill in hospital to becoming a successful blogger and author.

There was Victoria Wright from Not Just a Funny Face who discussed the trials and tribulations of not looking the way people think we should look.

Then we had the lovely Carol Smilie who was talking about her journey from TV presenter to entrepreneur (I feel a whole blog post coming on about her product) and finally, Caprice. Now, I wasn’t sure what to make of Caprice being on the agenda and I feel bad for being so judgmental – she was fabulous and her journey to motherhood and entrepreneurship is incredible. Then when she said the words “because we need two incomes to survive”, I nodded along and felt a little better about my situation of having to work for financial reasons.

The sessions 
All other sessions were parallel ones and in some parts I found it so hard to choose what ones to go to. The ones I chose were:

How successful bloggers do it
This was fab. I’ve worked with quite a few brands over the last twelve months and it was really fab to have a PR specialist up on stage telling us the best and worst ways of working with brands. Also up on stage were three wonderfully successful bloggers telling us all about their experiences with brands. I came away with a lot to think about.

Social media optimisation
I have to say, this wasn’t quite as inspiring as I hoped it would be. There was some good information there but there were too many questions throughout by delegates that meant there wasn’t much of a presentation from the panel. Because it was all focused around the answers to questions rather than they’re complete insight, it wasn’t quite what I’d hoped for.

Creating great graphics for your blog
I definitely needed to go to a design session. If there’s one thing I think I need to work on, on my blog, it’s the design, photos and graphics. I’m a bit rubbish at it, mainly because I just about have time to write, I definitely don’t have time to spend hours editing photos! But, I need to do more and in this session she gave away some brilliant tips on making everything a little bit prettier.

Marketing your writing
Possibly one of my favourites, the lovely Joanna from The Creative Penn gave so many tips on marketing ourselves, on writing, and talked of her experiences of not only successful blogging but of becoming a bestselling author! I came away truly inspired by that session.

How to be a social media manager
Ok so I was torn between this and the Pinterest session! Social media won because I already use it so much, I was looking for tips, advice and a potential new career 😁 there was a fab panel of ladies up on stage telling us all about their journeys to becoming social media gurus!

The bloggers keynote session
This session ended the conference. It was roughly an hour and a half with thirteen of the most amazing bloggers reading their wonderful posts. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house throughout some of the heart wrenching ones but the sorrow was mixed up with a fab working mum story, a brilliant poem and a hilarious letter from one of the dad bloggers to his 8 month old baby. It was such a brilliant end to the sessions.

Being a social butterfly
Of course it wasn’t all about the sessions. Oh no, there was plenty of wine drinking, plenty of nattering and also the Brilliance in Blogging awards on Friday night hosted by Carol Smilie. I’ve never been to an awards ceremony and I loved it. Clapping ruddy great claps for the brilliant winners and whooping in joy for all of my nominated friends. With shocked winners and tearful speeches, I reckon it was better than the Oscars!

World record attempt?
And then of course, there was the highlight of the weekend. The challenge of beating the world record in the number of mummies dressed as mummies. We were presented with a whole load of toilet rolls (all recyclable) and a demonstration of the best way of wrapping our fellow bloggers up! The smallest among us seemed to nominate themselves and I helped to wrap up the lovely Louise! Talk about getting up close and personal to break the ice!

The results came back a little later on and the question was, had we done it? It was close, it was tight. We were told the precious record was 50 mummies.

We wrapped 51!!!

Yessss – we are world record holders!

Of course, nothing could quite beat the biggest highlight for me, of meeting many of the blogging buddies I’ve been conversing with over the past year. There were so many I wanted to meet. There were so many I did meet and there are a pile that I failed to bump into!

It is impossible to name all of the amazing people I did meet and I would like those people that have not been mentioned to not be offended! This post would be a novel if I named you all.

But there were some that I needed to tick off and it was so amazing to meet:

My absolutely gorgeous co-host of Twinkly Tuesday, Caro from The Twinkle Diaries. Having shared hundreds of emails over the past few months, meeting her was a dream

Then there was Jess from Mummy of Boy Girl Twins. She’s gorgeous and lovely and everything I imagined her to be. Our first actual meeting was queuing for the loo. Yep, we hugged in the toilets!

The lovely Lucy from Mrs H’s Favourite Things sprung up behind me and it was one of those squealy moments! She is such a wonderful person inside and out, I just adore her.

And then there’s Aby from You Baby Me Mummy who is like my blog goddess! She’s a bit of a blog celeb in my eyes and she’s blimmin lovely!

Along with those, I spent my time hanging around with Amy from Everything Mummy, Heledd from Running in Lavender, Kat from Beau Twins, Steph from Diary of a Midlife Mummy and Sarah from Extraordinary Chaos. They are all simply fab

We even all went to a restaurant for dinner! All 14 of us 😁

I was sad that I didn’t really mingle with any of the dad bloggers that were there! I spotted Tim from Slouching towards Thatcham a few times, but sadly never quite got beyond hello!

To say I had the most wonderful time at BritMums would be an understatement. I had the best time ever and have been on a bit of a come down ever since! I’ve definitely come back with more ambition, armed with ideas and inspiration and with some truly wonderful blogging friends.

See you next year everyone 😁

P.S. If you saw a sneak preview of this post when it was half written and unedited that’s because I stupidly clicked publish instead of save! Blogger fail

The British public are a real mixed bag. Some are really passionate about the country and place they live in while others spend more time moaning about it than anything else (a real British talent of course!). I know I am forever complaining about the weather (seriously, where is our summer?!), moaning about public transport (sardines anyone?), and yet love writing about and photographing the beautiful countryside that we have on offer.

Whichever side of the fence you fall on, there are things that really put the ‘Great’ into Great Britain. Okay, the weather might not make it onto the list, nor will the endless amounts of queuing for…well, just about everything, and the television and movies we make might be a bit of a mixed bag – but there are some standouts!

So with all this in mind, here are five of the things that make Britain Great:

Seasides
A white sandy beach in the Maldives might be the dream, but for some (like me!), that’s all it will ever be without winning the lottery. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t feel the waves lapping on the shore and catch the sun while you eat an ice cream on the beach. Britain has some amazing seaside locations with plenty for the whole family, and in recent years “staycations” have exploded in popularity.

The credit crunch forced many people’s hands to begin with, but now they are genuinely choosing the British seaside rather than an overseas holiday, allowing the management in the area to revitalise the seafront to provide more modern facilities and entertainment. We love a good staycation and always try and make sure there’s a beach trip somewhere in there!

Exploring the springtime beach!

Making the most of bad weather!
As mentioned, we don’t have the best weather. Even in the summer (i.e. now!), you can’t be guaranteed that you’ll go a whole day without it clouding over or you having to dive for a hoodie or coat. Yet when it does rain we all know how to have a good time and make the best of a bad situation.

Some choose to get their heads into a good book, others will use the opportunity to have a cup of tea and play online bingo on their tablets while others will brave the conditions and hit the shops – we’re all different but we’re so used to it now that we’re almost immune to a bit of rain! (Even if we can’t put the shorts and flip flops on as often as we’d like). Rainy days can be hard when you have children cooped up indoors, I always try and embrace the rain and get the boy out in his mac and wellies!

Exploring in the cold!

Food and drink
MasterChef and The Great British Bake Off have reignited our passions for food and drink. Now we’re trying to make more elaborate meals at home as opposed to oven chips, and heading out more often in search of amazing foods without the jaw-dropping price tags they used to come with.

Even the good old British pub has been revitalised in recent times and it’s always been the main place to congregate for people living in the villages with a bit of time on their hands and fancying a bit of a gossip! I do love a good gossip over a glass of wine – not that I live in a village!

Plus, when the sun does come out, we have ice cream (yay!), and Pimms (bigger yay!), to get through! Is there anything better than sitting in the sunshine with a refreshing, fruity glass (or jug) of Pimms, or getting stuck into a ‘99’ before it starts dripping?! I think not!

The Royal Family
I think we’re lucky to have a royal family. Other nations have an elected President or leader, but we’ve got Her Majesty and the family to give us something to talk about. If you bump into anyone from overseas, you’ll always have common ground for conversation if you mention the Queen – or, in more recent times, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge and their children, or Prince Harry! Whether it’s reading about the latest debacle he’s been involved in, cooing over the photos of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, or trying to spot them on a day trip to Buckingham Palace, I sure do love those royals!

Culture
It’s not all about getting out and about in the fresh air though, you have plenty of more relaxed things to do in Britain with all kinds of cultural experiences. Just about every city in the country has a museum to keep you entertained (and to educate the kids – and yourself), while there are libraries and sight-seeing tours to help you to understand more about the local area that you never knew! Although saying that, if you go to the Natural History Museum in the middle of half term, I can’t guarantee it’ll be relaxing!

Doing his best roar at the Natural History Museum!

So there you have it. Five things that make Great Britain great. What would you add to this? And if you are from overseas, what do you love about Great Britain when you visit? I’d love to hear.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post

I cannot believe it’s my blog birthday.

Mummascribbles is one whole year old. 

It was one year ago that I was feeling like I needed to write was I feeling down. Where I felt like I needed to have a place that I could go to when I needed to get something off my chest.

Because that’s why I started.

My first ever post, “Like the old days”, was me reflecting on a day I spent with Zachary. It was a day that reminded me of my maternity leave and the part time working. A time before full time work came along and stole those precious days that I had with him. It was a moment that I felt sad, bereft for how life used to be and I needed to get those thoughts and words out of my head. That’s how Mummascribbles came to life.

Did I think I would still be here writing a whole year later?
No way!

I’d tried blogging before with little success but suddenly I had something to write about. Suddenly I had an expertise in something and I could share that with the world.

Do I look back at those first posts in horror?
Absolutely! Have you seen some of those early posts? They are a bit pants!

Do I look back on that first logo that I ‘designed’ (if that’s what you can call it), and think it was awful?
God yes!

Do I regret any of it?
No way!

Over the past year I have written 233 posts! Wowsers!

I have worked with brands including the Gro company, Twinkl, Primula and many more.

I have been sent on holiday with Eurocamp for a blogger review.

I set up a linky that got so popular, I had to get co-hosts and it now receives somewhere between 160-170 links every single week.

I have become an official Your Baby Club blogger. (go register if you haven’t already!)

I have received my first ever sponsored post.

I am sitting at number 509 in the Tots100 chart. Out of around 8000 bloggers, I am creeping ever so close to the top 500.

I have been to my first ever blogging conference for which I was sponsored by a company called Kidster to attend. I had people coming up to me saying, “you’re Mummascribbles aren’t you?”. I felt completely famous!

I have met such a wonderful group of fellow bloggers who I have grown to know and love and some of whom I have now been fortunate enough to meet in real life.

Last month, I officially registered as self employed. So not only am I an event manager, I am a also a self employed blogger. Mummascribbles is a registered company.

A year ago, did I see any of that happening?
No way!

And you know what? It leaves me feeling a little bit emotional when I look at how far I’ve come.

I have written posts that have made people cry.

I have written posts that have made people laugh,

I have written posts that have helped people.

I have written posts that have made people click on a button and leave me a comment. Back when I started, there weren’t many comments and if there was one, it made me so happy. Receiving comments still makes me feel that way now. That person has read my post and enjoyed it enough to write to me.

So what have I learnt from a year of blogging?

Writing regularly improves your writing
Fact! Like I say, I look back in horror at those early posts! I mean they aren’t that bad but compared to what I write now they are. Writing posts several times a week, even if they are review posts, really allows you to hone in on your skills. You start to learn your own style of writing. You start to learn the types of posts that really get your audience going. You start to write better, clearer posts that you read back and think, ok, I’m actually pretty good at this.

Commenting gets you everywhere!
Seriously, if you want to get readers to your blog, you HAVE to comment on others. I have read so many blog posts that have said exactly the same thing and it was again reiterated at the conference I attended. Commenting is one of the most important things that you can do to get people back to your blog.

Linky’s are another important thing for blog traffic. Join in, comment on as many other posts linked up as you can and if you fancy it, start your own!

Be yourself
There is no point in not being yourself. Don’t think that you have to write a certain way. Don’t think you have to write about a certain topic to succeed. Write whatever you want and write it in your voice. If you accept sponsored posts, edit them so they are still in your voice. Just be you and no-one else. People will much prefer your blog/writing if you stay true to you.

You need to be a social media guru! 
I was already a bit of a social media addict but goodness have I discovered that I was a mere beginner. Facebook pages, Twitter pages, Instagram, Google+, YouTube. And now there’s Periscope (which I still have no ruddy idea about!). You HAVE to be social with your followers and your readers. You HAVE to interact as much as possible. With a full time job, a toddler and an other half that moans at me for being on my phone too much, I do pretty well, but I could do so much better with my social media interaction!

Your thumb will hurt if you constantly use your phone to blog!
I have iPhone thumb because I do most of my blogging on my phone!

You will never see a day trip or photo opportunity in the same way!
You’ll be out at a theme park and you immediately think, oh that would make a good blog post and you will take 20 of the same photo to make sure you get the best one for that post! My poor child has had so many ‘oh just do that again’ moments it’s unreal!

You will panic when there’s an upcoming holiday!
It’s been three weeks since we’ve been back from our hols and I’ve been playing catch up the whole time! A week away means coming back to a load of comments, a load of emails and a load of blog posts that you want/need to write! I still have one day trip post from our Eurocamp holiday that is sitting in my drafts waiting for me to add photos!

You will get to know some seriously amazing people
I feel so so lucky to have integrated myself into an amazing circle of bloggers. When I was able to give them all massive hugs at BritMums, go out to dinner with them and just generally hang around with them, it felt like being the popular kid at school

You will read the most amazing pieces of writing ever!
Bloggers post from their hearts. They write about such personal things. They might be wonderful things, they might be tragic stories. They share love and they share heartbreak. They share happiness and they share loss. I may have made people cry with my posts but not as much as I have been made to cry reading others.

You will want the best technology
Like I say, I do most of my blogging on my phone. Sometimes I use the work computer and sometimes the home computer. The home computer is the other half’s and it’s not very good for what I need. Therefore I want an iMac 😁

I use my iPhone for all of my photos. It’s fine, it does the job, but I want a proper camera that takes amazing photos.

That your other half might leave you
Although I’ve been told this is less for the blogging and more because I’m getting old 😁Though he did just say he might stick around longer if he gets his PC back (see, I need that iMac!).

And there we have it. One year on, little old mummascribbles is going stronger than ever. The most important thing I tell myself is to enjoy it. No matter how far I come, no matter how many sponsored posts and reviews I might get, just enjoy it because at the end of the day, it is my hobby. I might work at it during any spare hour that I have, but it is a hobby. A hobby that I absolutely love.

Happy birthday to me 😁

Today I read a post by the wonderful Aby at You Baby Me Mummy, in which she listed five things that can make your dreams come true. The very first point she made was that even though everyone has dreams, the majority of us are immediately negative, thinking that our dreams can’t be achieved and thinking it’s all very unrealistic. I definitely feel like that 99% of the time so I’m sure a lot of you relate to what she is saying.

Further on down she mentions that rather than be jealous of those who have already succeeded in our dreams, we should be looking to them for advice, looking for what we can do better, and looking at where they have got their success from so that we can learn from it and build our own.

Reading that made me laugh a little because (and I know she’ll be a little embarrassed of me writing this), she herself is who I look up to. The kind of person I think I can learn from. The kind that will guide me to where I want to be, just by doing it herself.

She also said that we should share our dreams. That rather than keep it bottled up, to share it so that any support and encouragement can go towards us realising our dreams.

And so here I am, sharing my dreams. Because maybe if it’s written down, in a place that people read and somewhere I can refer back to, it might one day come true. And I can look back and say I did it. I made my dreams come true.

My dreams

I wrote a post recently about how I’m unhappy with my work. I still don’t know what it is (although I’m starting to think it’s the company rather than my dislike for the actual job), and I had some comments from people who feel exactly the same as me. That they feel stuck because there is a reason why they cannot leave that job, be it the benefits, the money factor, the not knowing what the heck they actually want to do.

I guess what I didn’t mention in that post is that of course I know what my dream is. Of course I know what I’d rather be doing than what I do now.

My dream is to be a writer.

There, I said it!

I want to write.

I want to sit at a desk every day and write. Whether that writing is in the form of a blog post, a review, a magazine article, a novel (ok I might be pushing it there!), that’s what my dream is.

If I’m honest, I think that has always been a dream. I have always loved writing. When I was little I loved writing letters and when I was at school I loved the projects where we had to write an article of some kind. It was the same at college and university. In whatever form I am writing, that is what I love to do.

I don’t even know if I’m very good at it. I know I’m ok, I have enough feedback on my blog that tells me I’m doing something right but I don’t know if I’m good enough to do it for anything other than a hobby. At this point, don’t feel that you have to leave me a comment telling me what a wonderful writer I am, a) I won’t believe you and b) I’d actually much rather constructive criticism.

I was out walking with my sister last weekend and she asked how my blogging was going. We got into a whole conversation about my actual writing and she was very nervous to tell me about something she notices sometimes in my posts. She said she didn’t want me to be offended and I said don’t be so silly, sometimes (especially when using my phone), I don’t notice things and sometimes when I’ve proofed something five times, it looks so normal to me that I might not spot a typo or a grammar problem. I told her that if she ever spots something, tell me. I would much rather know where there is a little typo than it sitting there with me not knowing. So yes, constructive criticism always welcome!

Anyway, I digress.

Back to my dream. That dream of sitting at a desk and writing all day!

I can see it in my head. I have a complete visual picture of what life would be like if my dream came true. Since it’s not going to happen overnight (if at all), I’ll pretend that it’s when Zach is at school.

I get up in the morning, do the school run, have a quick chat with the other mums and then head back home where I have a little office (or corner of the room), where there is my desk. On that desk is a gorgeous Macbook (this is a dream right?!), a photo of my gorgeous little family, a little pot of freshly cut flowers from the garden, a pretty notebook, some pretty files, a couple of magazines (for creative purposes obviously), and a coaster for the regular cups of tea! Jess from Mummy of Boy Girl Twins has it spot on in her home office post!

I work for a few hours writing. In this particular dream I have a couple of blog posts to write, a review or two and a couple of freelance jobs that I have to do. I have notes, lists and idea bubbles scribbled all over my pad. I have a cuppa and keep at it, with music playing in the background to keep me company.

Lunch comes along and I might have made a date with my mum, or another school mum, sister or friend. In the afternoon, I get creative again, if not writing more posts, planning the next lot, researching, making more notes. I’ll do some admin, checking and responding to emails and social media fun.

Suddenly the alarm goes off (after there’s been another tea break of course), to remind me to do the school run. Off I go to get my little man and out he comes running with his friends to tell me all about his day. We might stop off at the park on the way home, we might go straight home and play in the garden. I’ll cook some tea, we’ll do any homework/school projects, then Daddy will come home in time to eat and join our fun until it’s bedtime for the little man.

We’ll catch up on our day together, watch some TV and no doubt I’ll be on my phone, doing any blogging and social media that is the norm!

We’ll go to bed and wake up to another day of my dream world.

And that right there. That is my dream.

And I know you are thinking, really, it’s not as dreamlike as that! And I know that you are completely right. Every job has its downsides. There would be deadlines to meet, people to answer to, worries about where the next payment is coming from and God forbid the dreaded writers block!

Nothing in life is simple. Every job comes with its own stresses and worries, but I can think of nothing I’d like better than to do this.

And of course, I have started. Whether I’ll get there or not is a different matter. But almost a year ago I made the jump into blogging. The jump into discovering what I love and using the year to develop my skills, to get myself known and to make connections that might one day come in very useful.

I have at least started. And I can but dream. That is all I can do.

I have been organising events for 8 years now. I have been the one to stand behind the registration desk, suited and booted registering thousands of people, watching them go into the conferences that have been in their calendar for months.

On Friday, the tables will be turned and I will be the delegate attending my first ever conference, BritMums Live. To say I am exited to be going is an understatement. My ticket was bought very last minute and I genuinely didn’t think I’d be able to go. To have then this week secured sponsorship, just days before the conference begins, has left me over the moon. And it is with this post that I very much thank and introduce you to the very new company Kidster.

Kidster is a mobile market place for mums and dads to buy and sell kids stuff.

Being a parent among other great things means you need to buy a whole bunch of stuff (a lot), and in the blink of an eye they grow out of that stuff and suddenly you are piling bag upon bag of clothes, muslins, shoes and toys up into your loft ready for the car boot sale that you keep thinking about doing! I once went through one of Zach’s drawers to find not one but two outfits that he had never worn and grown out of! They are up in the loft awaiting the possibility of a baby number two but how many of you no longer need such items and just don’t know what to do with them? Kidster knows what to do!

The core of the team are two first time mums Ana Pajkovic CEO and Marija Janjusevic COO.

As mums themselves, they’ve experienced the accumulation of all of the items that are bought when raising children. It’s the never-ending cycle of having stuff no longer needed that is taking up precious cupboard space and yet still requiring things in the next size up or for the next developmental stage. 

Ana and Marija saw an opportunity to change this cycle and make it meaningful, teaching our kids a thing or two about appreciation along the way. Extending the life cycle of products is good for people and the planet. They think collaborative consumption is a new economic model for the future. Why let something waste away unused in a loft when you can pass it on to someone who will love and enjoy it as much as you did? 

We all want the best for our kids and we all want things for our children that express their unique style and spark their imaginations. Kidster’s community of like-minded parents will be a logical place to look for such things.

The goal of Kidster is to fit seamlessly into the lives of modern parents and their kids. An easy access, easy to use buying and selling platform that you can use on the go, whether you are at your desk, in your house or on a train!

So, go check out www.kidster.co (it really is just .co), and register now for early access! 

I am absolutely thrilled to be working with such a fabulous company and look forward to collaborating with them more as they launch their business onto the world! Thank you so much to Ana and Marija for choosing little old me to represent them.

See all you Britmummers on Friday! Check out my BritMums Live meme here to know who to look out for! 

I’ve decided to make this into a regular-ish thing – maybe not weekly (I’ll see how it goes), but as often as I have a list of funnies to tell.

Zach is hilarious and intelligent and to document it all for myself and to share the funnies with you is just lovely! So here’s part two of my toddler’s funnies!

Zach: Wossat?

Me: It’s a dishwasher

Zach: It cleans all of the stuff up doesn’t it. And it opens. And it turns on.

Me: Yep, that’s exactly what it does!

Whilst sitting on my lap on the sofa, in quick succession he said,

“Can I have a cuddle? Think the dinosaurs is coming to check me. Think the dinosaur is going to check my trumpet and bite it. Think the dinosaur is in the garden. I’m not sad anymore, think the dinosaur is gone”
😮😮

“You put your sunglasses on and the sunshine comes out”

If only that was the right way round hey?!

Zach: I’m trying to do a poo poo

Me: Are you?

Zach: Yeah, I’m trying (whilst making grunting noises!)

Zach: Think I can go on the bouncy castle probably.

Me: It’s too late today sweetheart, how about we go home and get the rabbits out?

Zach: Think the weathers nice to go on the bouncy castle.

Me: The weather is nice but we just don’t have time. Let’s get the rabbits out instead.

After much thinking about this:

Zach: We could go on the bouncy castle with the rabbits!

When driving home one day last week:

“Hold on, I’ve got a good idea. I need to get a shopping bag and go to the shops. To get some chocolate and some trees. I love trees”

And here are a couple he’s said to my mum!

They were talking about exercising on the radio and Zach said

“Mummy does exercising, doesn’t she? She juggles”

They were in the garden and a bee was buzzing round the flowers. It went inside a bloom and she asked what it was getting? Zach answers with

“It’s getting the connector out”.

Obviously meaning nectar.

He makes me chuckle he does!

On the Wednesday of our Eurocamp holiday, we went off to the other halfs second researched place called Dennlys Theme Parc. It was about a 40 minute drive from where we were staying. It was probably my most challenging drive of the holiday – we had to go through tolls, we hit roadworks (apparently in France, the workmen love to lump piles of rubble in the middle of the road for you to weave round), and the road we needed to take was partially closed so we had to divert round. I was a bit panicky by the end of it but we successfully found the theme park…yay me!

I’d been a bit worried about taking Zach to a theme park, especially since he was allowed in for free as he’s under 1m tall. I thought that it may be because there wasn’t a lot to do for him (like how the UK works)’ but the other half had assured me that it was aimed at toddlers and it would be fine. I needn’t have worried…it was amazing. The most perfect place for a toddler. I’d say that out of about 20 different rides, there were only about 4 he couldn’t go on! They had signs by every one that was colour coded. Red meant that below that height you weren’t allowed on, Amber meant they had to be accompanied by an adult and green meant that they were allowed on their own. 

 

There was only one that Zach was allowed to go on on his own which meant me and daddy got to have lots of fun on most of them too! 

The first ride we went on was the swinging boat. What we didn’t realise was, it also spun around! I wasn’t sure how well Zach would take to it mid action but he was fine thank goodness.

Next up was a bumper cars in the water! I didn’t fancy getting splashed so the two of them went alone wifi I stood and took photos.

The ride that Zach went on on his own was a roundabout car ride. As you can see by his face, he loved this!

Next up was the turtle ride? This spun round and round and whilst this isn’t the best photo, it shows Zach’s enjoyment brilliantly!

Then there was the tractor ride that made Zach think he was driving! He loved this and it gave us a decent sit down

We went on the helicopter ride which was a firm favourite. He went on once with me and then once with daddy and then begged for more!

I made them go on the spinning pirate boats alone!

The train ride was another favourite of course! He loved pretending he was driving.

Then there was the horse ride (I liked this one best as it goes round the track and then in parts, goes into a trot!).

And then there was the rollercoaster! Oh yes, my thrill seeker of a toddler went on this…

3 TIMES!!

And as each time it went round twice, he did a total of 6! Unfortunately, the third time we went on, we sat at the back. We should have known, being thrill seekers ourselves, that the ride is very very different when sitting at the back! It was way faster and rockier back there and whilst he didn’t cry, it was a close call! Safe to say, we left that as the last ride of the day! I’m still dead impressed that my not yet three year old loved the big rollercoaster and was desperate to go on the one he wasn’t allowed on!

His most favourite ride of the day though was the bouncing frog ride. He loved this so much that he stayed on for 2 goes with me and then went on once with daddy!

This park is absolutely fantastic for children, from any age (I saw small babies with their mummies on some rides!), up to about 11 we think although there were plenty of adults going on the rides by themselves!

We had a fab day and Zach was absolutely exhausted by the end. He still tells us now that he did love the rollercoaster – but not the back!

Have you been to a similar theme park that is extremely toddler friendly? I’d love to know so we can keep it in mind for this little dude!

I am so excited to say that I have been selected to be an official Your Baby Club Blogger! I was so chuffed when I got the email and am very proud to be working with them and bringing them to your attention.

Set up by father of 2 Alec, Your Baby Club is a place for new parents and parents-to-be to join brand parenting clubs, enter competitions, claim free samples, free trials, discounts, free parenting magazines, catalogues, vouchers, parenting apps and MORE – all in one place. Their goal is to provide families with substantial insight into baby brands, so an informed decision can be made when it comes to spending their money.

Currently working with big name brands like Organix, Mothercare, Cow and Gate and many more, the team at Your Baby Club hope that you the parents can tell them exactly what brands you would like to see them working with for them to be able to offer the best deals, freebies and product information back to you. You can send your suggestion to them via Twitter or on Facebook.

Your Baby Club also supports a number of charities including Count the Kicks, believing that it’s important to sponsor causes that matter most to parents.

Importantly, unlike other parenting clubs, Your Baby Club will never sell any of your details to unknown third parties – quite refreshing in this day and age, don’t you think? Your Baby Club will only pass on your details to brands whose offers you have claimed. Quite simply, if you don’t sign up for any offers, your details don’t go anywhere, and if you unsubscribe you will never be bothered again!

If you’d like to register with Your Baby Club and get all of the latest offers, freebies, competitions and lots lots more, you can do so right here or by clicking on the lovely badge at the bottom of this post.

If you head on over there right now, among other fab stuff, they have competitions to win  £100 worth of Babies R Us vouchers, a Nuby Natural Touch bundle and you can get your hands on some samples of Huggies pull ups! What are you waiting for?

So, go register today and claim all of those goodies that are waiting for you!

Disclaimer: This post was written in collaboration with Your Baby Club. Please note that the above post contains an affiliated link which means that I will earn a few pennies if you register via it.

Do you ever feel like things just aren’t how you want them to be and yet there is nothing you can do about it?

It’s that feeling of being stuck in something that you can’t get out of.

I thought that when I changed jobs in October last year, it would give me new motivation, a new lease of life for the job I once loved. And I do like it, I like my team, I like my boss, the location is pretty cool although further away from home. And yet, 7 months in, I’m still not feeling it. I haven’t got that love back, that passion that I used to have. There are days when I wonder if I did the right thing in leaving my old company. There are days when I really miss my old colleagues and especially my old boss. When I miss the familiarity of the place and people that I worked with for such a long time. They say change is good but sometimes I question whether the change I made was the right one.

And then there’s the feeling of just wanting to get out of it entirely. I have days when I think I would be so much happier working in a shop. Where there is no responsibility, where I can go to work, do the job, go home and forget about it. That’s what I want. I don’t want the stresses of responsibility, the stress of having to prove myself. That’s the problem with a new job, you have to go in and prove your worth.

The problem is of course, is that the jobs which come with far less responility, that are far closer to home, don’t pay enough.

And that’s why I’m stuck. I earn too much money. I’m not bragging, I don’t earn enough to brag. Every month rolls by when we’ve spent all of our money on the mortgage, bills and food shopping. But I earn too much to be able to give it all up for something completely different. And I don’t know anything else. I have spent 8 years training in the job that I do. 8 years I have been doing this and yet regularly I am questioning if I am even capable of it anymore. I am unable to earn less. And yet there isn’t another job that I could earn the same money in because I don’t have the experience.

It’s a horrible feeling. Going to work and wanting to be somewhere else. Having quite a successful career and wishing you were stacking the shelves of a supermarket instead.

I kind of long for more of a mundane life. One where I’m rushing around less, one where I spend a bit more time as a mother and one that doesn’t require me to think about my job and what needs doing while I’m trying to go to sleep.

But here I am, walking from Waterloo station to my office. Going to somewhere I don’t really want to be, doing the job I’m not really sure I want to do anymore and knowing that I am well and truly stuck in a position that I cannot get out of.

I could change company again. See if that helps. I could beg with my tail between my legs for my job back at my old place, where I was 100% confident in what I was doing and 100% confident in the people I was working with. But would any of that help? Would I feel any happier doing this job in another company? Ive already tried it once and I don’t feel any happier. Just maybe a bit worse that the discovery has been that actually it’s maybe not where I work but that I’m just not really enjoying the job anymore.

Like I say, stuck!

I feel better for getting that all out though!