Mummascribbles – Mummascribbles meets…A moment with Franca – Mummascribbles

This week we meet the lovely Franca from A Moment with Franca. THanks so much for taking part Franca

Tell me a little bit about yourself and your family
Hi, I’m Franca. I’m 38 years old and I was born in Peru. My family background is Italian on both my father’s and mother’s sides. I have 2 sisters and 1 brother. They are all older than me. I’m actually the baby of the family as I came 5 years after my brother was born. My mum used to say that I was not expected but a beautiful surprise. My parents were looking forward to having another boy to make 2 girls and 2 boys but of course things didn’t happen in that way as I was NOT a boy but a girl LOL. They were happy anyway!! I won’t tell you my siblings ages because they will kill me so enough that you know that they are older than me 😉

I’m a lawyer and after finishing my degree and working for a little bit I decided to leave my country to study a Masters in Business Law in Madrid, Spain 11 years ago. After that I moved to the UK and met my husband Nick at work. He is a CRM Consultant. We became best friends straight away. He was easy to talk and so funny – he makes me laugh a lot which I find incredibly attractive in a man. After a year of being together we got engaged and a year after that we got married. We have 2 beautiful girls, Bella who is 5 years old and Sienna who just turned 1. That is pretty much my story 😉

What do you like doing to be you, when you are not parenting, working (if you do), or blogging?
Since I got pregnant with my second child I decided with the support of my husband to become a SAHM. This has been different as I had more time for myself. However I decided to start blogging a few months ago and that has taken all my spare time completely. I am at that stage where I’m burning the midnight oil with no spare time at all. Between my 1 year old which I take care full time and my 5 years old I don’t have time to do the things that I like pre kids which were going to the movies, Theatre, going for dinner or just staying at home watching TV or a film with a big bowl of popcorn and a diet coke!!

What is your biggest achievement to date?
Study and career wise I would say that my biggest achievement has been finishing 6 years of my law degree, 1 year of a master and 2 years of conversion of my career in the UK in a different language and a different law system. I felt incredibly proud when I achieved that. Sadly there were more steps to follow in order to be a solicitor in the UK therefore I decided not to pursue it anymore because it will take me 4 more years and at this stage of my life I feel that I have been studying my whole live! At the moment all my main goals have changed, plus I’m not getting any younger, am I?

Regarding my personal life, my big achievement has been building a beautiful family with my husband and my 2 girls. I guess every mum will say the same thing but it is true, being a mother is such a big achievement.

From your own experiences, what do you find the hardest part of parenting and what is the easiest/most rewarding part?
The hardest part of parenting is the lack of sleep. God I don’t know when was the last time I had a good nights sleep and probably I will never have one again. We mummies worry too much, it doesn’t matter what stage of parenting we are at (newborn, toddlers, childhood, teenagers, youngsters, adult, etc) we will always be worrying and thinking of our children and of course this is too exhausting! Also I find it incredibly hard when my girls have any kind of accident. I suffer the same or more than them!! It is so difficult to watch!

OMG, the rewarding part is just the most simple and ordinary parts of life just a beautiful smile from your child, a crazy laugh, all their achievements, all their firsts etc. There is nothing more beautiful than that which will take away every single bad moment that you may have had.

Parenting in itself is no mean feat; how do you juggle everything you need to in order to get everything done on a daily basis?
Seriously, I need that question answered for me please ASAP!! LOL I’m still trying to figure it out!!

Before Sienna came along everything was finally getting into place and when I was pregnant I managed to get that balance as Bella was at nursery all day so I was able to deal with my daily routine BUT now that I have 2, I’m still finding it incredibly hard to get things done. I really feel that I need more hours in a day in order to get everything done.

Why did you decide to start blogging?
This is something that I had in my mind for a long time. A year ago I started reading more blogs about mummies documenting their daily lives and I thought that was amazing. I always had this thing inside my head telling me that I should try this too. Because I was pregnant I didn’t feel that the time was right so I waited until after Sienna was born and I was more settled in the house. One day I just started my YouTube channel and then my blog came along after. I was so desperate to write/record about my new experiences as a mother, our adventures as a family, the bad days the good days, etc. I have this need to let it all out.

Tell me a bit about your blog?
My blog is like my 4th baby after my 2 girls and my cat! I love it so much! It is an extension of my family and me. I write about parenting and lifestyle. It goes alongside my YouTube channel. It shows the need that I have to express myself. It is a way of letting my steam off sometimes. It is so therapeutic and cathartic so I tend to write about things that are happening or have happened to me.

I have certain features that I do every week like my Childhood Memories where I publish a vintage photo of me when I was little. It is a way to keep my memories alive and feel more close to my family.

I also have Sienna’s #ootd that I publish every week. It is a collage of the outfits that she has worn every day. It is an interesting project as it would be nice to see all her outfits for the entire year! Although I’m enjoying doing this, it is getting very hard to have a descent photo of her lately!

What do you want your blog to achieve and where do you hope to see it go as it grows?
I have so many ideas for my blog. I really want to do well and that people like it and want to know more about my family and me. I’ve only been blogging for 2 months but I’m working very hard to make it profitable some time soon hopefully. It would be really nice if we can get some income from it. I really want to improve my DA so hopefully good opportunities will come along.

There is so much to do though but at the moment we are trying to get more followers so the social media interaction is crucial right now. I would like to host more giveaways and competitions, do more reviews, do sponsored posts, have brands advertising through us, host a linky, write for Tots100, Huffington Post, etc. Lots of goals to fulfil, LOL

What advice would you give someone who is thinking about starting a blog?
Well my main advice will be just go for it! Stop waiting for the correct time to start, as you will never find one. Just try and you will gradually find your way. Get advice and tips from other bloggers, as they will guide you through the correct way to go. Don’t be afraid, we have all started in the same way. If you know what you want since the beginning for example having a blog as a hobby or as something that will become your job getting the decision of having your blog hosted or self hosted will save you so much hassle later.

If you could have dinner with three people (dead or alive), who would it be and why?

1. Jennifer Anniston, because I love friends and Rachel was my favourite character and her hair styles have always being the best so I would love to know all about those years when she was filming and the secrets of how to have that amazing hair, lol.

2. The Saccone Jolys, because I’m a massive fan of their Youtube Channel and it would be so much fun to hang out with them a little bit so maybe I can get some tips to apply to my family videos 😉

3. E L James, because I would love to know all about the whole process of writing 50 shades of Grey and have all the gossip about filming the movies.

Tell me three random facts about you

1. I’m scared of heights

2. I’m claustrophobic

3. I love Nutella

You can find Franca over at www.amomentwithfranca.com and also on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, Google+ and Bloglovin.