Mummascribbles – Mummascribbles Meets…Pondering Parenthood – Mummascribbles

This week we meet the lovely Jules from Pondering Parenthood. Thanks so much for taking part Jules 🙂

Tell me a little bit about yourself and your family
I’m Jules, and I live in Norwich with my lovely hubby and my four month old daughter, Little M.

What do you like doing to be you, when you are not parenting, working (if you do), or blogging?
I’m still very much in the first stages of being a parent so I don’t feel I have much of a life outside of parenting and blogging at the moment! Before Little M came along I loved to travel. Hubby and I used to take regular city breaks which is something we’re already missing as we spent my pregnancy saving for baby after blowing a lot of money on our honeymoon to Mauritius! It was totally worth it but means that we haven’t left the country for over a year – I think that’s the longest we’ve ever gone without a trip abroad since we met!

What is your biggest achievement to date?
Definitely becoming a parent to Little M. Before she was born I probably would have said writing my Masters dissertation, but being a mummy totally tops that!

From your own experiences, what do you find the hardest part of parenting and what is the easiest/most rewarding part?
The hardest thing I find is getting out of bed when Little M wakes me, regardless of how much sleep I’ve had! Once, I’m up, I’m fine though – in the early days I would splash my face with water a LOT! It really helped with the waking up!

The most rewarding part is when I do something to make Little M laugh. Earlier today I discovered that she loves being lifted above my head and then lowered back down for a kiss. She was giggling away and I was gutted I didn’t have enough hands/a tripod/my husband to be able to film it!

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 have added an extra layer to this as I exclusively express my breast milk to feed Little M – it really does add an extra time challenge to the day! My boobs generally wake me in the morning before she does, though, so I tend to do blog related things on my phone while I’m expressing early in the morning or late at night, while Little M is asleep. She’s asleep on me now as I type this, with my laptop on my lap! It does help that I have a fairly laissez-faire attitude to things like housework!

Why did you decide to start blogging?
I decided to start blogging last September when we were trying to conceive. I wanted to get off my chest all of the thoughts whizzing around in my head on the subject, to try to stop myself driving my husband mad – when I get something in my head I tend to go on and on (and on) about it and I find that blogging helps me to offload and move on. Ironically when I started the blog I didn’t realise that I was actually about to fall pregnant – I discovered I was expecting Little M at the end of that month!

Tell me a bit about your blog?
My blog is called Pondering Parenthood. I generally tend to write about whatever is on my mind at the time; when I was pregnant with Little M I wrote all about her being breech and having to have an elective c-section; I’ve written about my struggle to breastfeed and my journey expressing. At the moment I’m taking part in a Blogtober challenge where I’m writing about a different topic each day. I also write reviews of baby and lifestyle-related products, with the odd gluten free recipe or day out thrown in for good measure!

What do you want your blog to achieve and where do you hope to see it go as it grows?
I’m a teacher by profession, most recently a supply teacher in an attempt to achieve a positive work-life balance, but I don’t really see how teaching can provide me with the time I want to be able to give to being a parent to Little M. It would be amazing if my blog could provide me with enough of an income to allow me to work from home and have the time with my daughter that we both need.

What advice would you give someone who is thinking about starting a blog?
Go for it! But don’t expect everything (i.e. ‘free stuff’) on a platter. I mostly write for myself and the small opportunities that have come my way so far have required me to put myself out there – I still have a long way to go before I even feel like I can call myself a ‘blogger’ by trade!

If you could have dinner with three people (dead or alive), who would it be and why?
Ooooooh gosh I don’t know! Hmmmm probably:

1) Henry VIII because I love teaching the Tudors and I’m fascinated by all of his wives etc. I’d love to be able to talk to him and find out what sort of person he actually was for myself. I’m not sure I’d like him but I’d definitely find it interesting!

2) Barack Obama because I think he’s hilarious and would totally put Henry in his place…

3) I feel like I need to include a woman in the interests of equality. There are so many women I could choose (Anne Boleyn, Kylie Minogue, Queen Victoria, Kirstie Allsopp) but I think it would have to be Princess Diana. There’s just so much mystery around her and I’d love to have a really frank conversation with her about her life; I think she’d be so interesting to talk to! I’d want to have dinner with her separately to the other two though as I wouldn’t want them diluting the conversation!

Tell me three random facts about you

1) I’ve never been stung by a bee or wasp.

2) I love singing dancing around my kitchen, alone or with others!

3) I hate having my photo taken but am trying to force myself to be in more!

Along with her blog www.ponderingparenthood.com, you can also find Jules over on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube.