Mummascribbles – Mummascribbles meets…Mum on a Mission – Mummascribbles

This week we meet the lovely Keleigh from Mum on a Mission. Thanks so much for taking part Keleigh 🙂

Tell me a little bit about yourself and your family
My name is Keleigh and I’m 24 years old. I’m a barber 4 days a week in a barber shop, I’m a mummy to one son Connor who is 4 and step mum to one daughter Millie who is 6. I’m a lash technician in the evenings and write my blog Mum on a Mission as often as I can. I’ve been with my other half for a little over 6 years. He’s an aircraft engineer, soon to be personal trainer. We met through our best friends who are also together and when I met Luke he was expecting Millie with an ex girlfriend so I’ve been a part of my step daughters life since she was born. We have a really close relationship with my mum, my dad and my step mum and Connor loves his grandparents!

What do you like doing to be you, when you are not parenting, working (if you do), or blogging?
It’s very rare that I’m not doing anything, eg working, blogging or parenting! But when the kids are in bed, I’ve finished a blog post and I’m not at work, I like to sit down (usually with wine) and catch up on all my reality shows that Luke refuses to watch with me! It means I get an hour to myself and I usually do a bit of pampering whilst I’m watching the telly, just a face mask or a hair mask or something like that.

What is your biggest achievement to date?
My biggest achievement to date is probably becoming a mum/adult. I was 20 when I had Connor so was still young and Luke and I decided to move out and stand on our own 2 feet before he was born and we’ve been that way ever since. I’m very proud at how we stay afloat each month, we pay our bills and rent and still manage to treat the kids with new clothes, dinners out or days out every now and again. I juggle an awful lot through the week as I’ve mentioned above with working, lashing in the evenings, looking after the kids and writing my blog too so I’m super proud of all of that! I’m also a hairdresser and love my job, I’ve worked at my barber shop for 5 years now and have a great relationship with my boss and consider that a huge achievement as well.

From your own experiences, what do you find the hardest part of parenting and what is the easiest/most rewarding part?
The hardest part I find about parenting is going to work and having to leave Connor at preschool or with a family member. He starts primary school this week and I know he’s going to do well because preschool has set him up for it but I always wished I could stay at home with him all the time. I have been very lucky with Connor in the fact that he’s so sociable and very confident so he was never attached to my trouser leg! I think another hard part is being a first time parent, you’re learning everything from scratch and just winging it, so the terrible 2s were rather hard for me and trying to figure out the tantrums etc.

The best part about parenting is the love I get from not only my Connor but Millie also. When the kids are in bed asleep and I finally sit down at the end of the day it’s so satisfying knowing we got through the day and the kids are happy. Getting a hug and hearing ‘love you mummy’ makes everything worth while!

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?
I honestly don’t know how I juggle everything if I’m honest?! I just kind of just roll with it – lists are my lifesaver though. Without lists I would never remember anything! My iPhone diary is full, I have a spot on almost every single day reminding me of something or telling me to do something.

Why did you decide to start blogging?
I started blogging back in October 2015, and to start with it was kind of like therapy for me. It’s not always been an easy ride for me with finding where I fitted in with Millie and her life, how involved I could be or needed to be and how it was with both kids together every week so I just started writing it down. I never initially intended to make my blog public but I really enjoyed writing everything down at the end of the week so my mum encouraged me to pursue it further. I’m still learning loads and haven’t a clue about things I should or shouldn’t be doing but I cant wait to figure it all out!

Tell me a bit about your blog?
My blog is about the kids mostly, I write about our days out and what we thought of some places that we go. I write about my favourite buys of that month and big milestones with the kids such as the run up to school. There’s a little bit of fitness in there and a couple of reviews as well.

What do you want your blog to achieve and where do you hope to see it go as it grows?
Ideally I’d love to be working with other bloggers, products and companies that I can relate to or are to do with the kids. I want to be able to reach out to any parent that may be in the same boat as me or going through the same struggles as we may be going through and help or just give a few words of encouragement. If I’d have known about blogging when my son was born 4 years ago or when Millie was born 6 years ago I can guarantee I would of found some words of wisdom in someone’s blog that would have helped me with what I was going through at that time.

What advice would you give someone who is thinking about starting a blog?
I’m not sure I’m established enough to be giving any advice on starting a blog but what I would say is depending on what your passion is or what you’re wanting to write about, find your purpose, have a goal and have an understanding on what it is exactly you want to do. I’m still figuring mine out and it gets really hard but if you have the patience and a good reason or story then you’re set! My motto is I’ll give anything a go – I’ll never want to sit and look back and say I regretted not doing that or at least trying! We can do anything we put our minds to!

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

1. Kim Kardashian! I love this family and I watch all their reality shows, they fascinate me and have done so well for themselves – Kim being the most successful and I’d love to pick her brains!

2. Britney- a childhood thing, she was the biggest and best growing up so I’d have to have dinner with her right?!

3. Whitney Houston- her songs remind me of me and my mum dancing and singing around the house when I was a bit younger. I’d love to ask her what the hell happened!

Tell me three random facts about you

1. I have a qualification in mental health awareness, something I’m very proud of but haven’t ever really used! I did a course when Connor was very little whilst I was only working a day or so a week.

2. My name is Keleigh, pronounced Kelly- the spelling came from my dads middle name ‘Leigh’ which is also now Connor’s middle name after my dad and me!

3. I was a bit late on deciding what I wanted to be when I left school so when I decided to go into hairdressing and specialising in barbering, I managed to blag my way into a salon at 17 and learn it all from scratch even though my tutor/boss at the time thought I knew alot more than I did! 24 years old now and well established in barbering and have been for 6 years!

Along with her blog www.mumonamissionsite.com, you can also find Keleigh over on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.