Mummascribbles – Mummascribbles meets…Mum's the word in Cardiff – Mummascribbles

Today we meet the lovely Claire from Mum’s the word in Cardiff. Thanks so much for taking part Claire 🙂

Tell me a little bit about yourself and your family.
My name is Claire Jones I’m a stay at home mum to my 18 month old son, ‘G’. I live with my husband Lewis who’s a fantastic father and a very supportive husband. We met in 2007, at a friend’s party, and after chatting on good old msn messenger, we decided to go on a date. We married in 2012, had our son in 2014 and the rest, as they say, is history!

What do you like doing to be you, when you are not parenting, working (if you do), or blogging?
In between housework and parenting I enjoy running, blogging, cooking, and shopping. I also enjoy making things and cardmaking but don’t get a lot of time to do that any more. I’m hoping to set up my own wedding stationary business when ‘G’ starts nursery.

What is your biggest achievement to date?
My biggest achievement is bringing my beautiful son into the world and raising him to be kind, helpful and smart. I love it when he understands something that I’ve been teaching him, for example animals in a book, and I love the sense of achievement and proudness when he goes and gets the book, sits down and opens it on a page and says a new word or has learned a new animal from the book. The other day his pop up zoo book was broken on the monkey page, and every time we went to that page he said ‘broke’ and looked quite upset! Bless him!

From your own experiences, what do you find the hardest part of parenting and what is the easiest/most rewarding part?
I find the hardest part to be the tantrums. My son can get really red in the face and stomp his feet, kicking and screaming when he can’t have his own way. I hate seeing him working himself up like that. But you have to stick to your guns, and let them know that they can’t have something no matter how much they scream or shout. (Usually the tantrums are because I won’t let ‘G’ have my car keys!)

The most rewarding is watching them grow and learn new things. I love seeing the developmental leaps they go through and I love how quickly they learn. I love seeing ‘G’ happily dancing or babbling away.

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?
Generally I get up at 5.30am, wash last night’s dishes, and prepare and eat breakfast. Then I get ‘G’ dressed, have a shower (he stays in the bathroom whilst I shower) dry my hair, (which he loves) and get myself dressed. Then its usually snack time for ‘G’, I load the washing machine before heading off out to a Playgroup/soft play. When we come back its time for ‘G’s nap, I peg the washing out/load the tumble dryer, sweep floors, clean up the breakfast dishes. I grab 10 mins for a drink and maybe something to eat, do some blogging then prepare lunch.

‘G’ then wakes up, has his lunch, and we play all afternoon or if its nice we may go to the park. After that it’s dinner preparation and time to sort the dry clothes. Then bath time for ‘G’ an hours play, tidy up time and bottle and bed. After that it’s time to relax, watch a bit of tv, have dinner with hubby and (finally) bedtime for me! Some days I ditch the relaxing for a run or exercise class, dinner, shower then bed. It’s a busy schedule but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Why did you decide to start blogging?
I wanted a way to write about the experiences of parenthood, I also wanted a relaxing hobby.

Tell me a bit about your blog?
I wanted to write about my experiences and challenges as a parent, letting other parents know that they aren’t the only ones facing these challenges. I also write about the rewards our children give us too. I include reviews and competitions on my blog, and recently was one of the 10 finalists for the Hillary’s blinds craft competition. Unfortunately I didn’t win but keep a look out for my entry in the next competition!

What do you want your blog to achieve and where do you hope to see it go as it grows?
I blog mainly as a hobby, however I do get a sense of achievement and excitement when I see that lots of people have read my posts. I’d like to be in the tots100 poll and see my blog grow in the future.

What advice would you give someone who is thinking about starting a blog?
Write frequently, write interestingly, join in with linkys and join bloggers groups on social media. It’s fun to meet and chat to like minded people and you can gain helpful blogging tips in these groups.

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

1. My great grandmother. She was a lovely lady and fantastic grandmother. She would have loved to have met my husband and my son.

2. Princess Diana. She was such a great british figure who carried out work for many charities. She truly was a remarkable role model. I’d love to see what dinner options she would choose.

3. Ellis Evans (Hedd Wyn) the welsh poet. He was awarded the bard’s chair at the eistedfordd in 1917 and was an extremely talented poet in the welsh community.

Tell me three random facts about you

1. I love the colour pink.

2. I hate to admit it but I’m a nail biter.

3. My signature dish to cook is homemade lasagne.

You can find Claire over at http://www.mumsthewordincardiff.wordpress.com and also on Twitter and Pinterest.