Mummascribbles – Mummascribbles meets…The Perfect Juggler – Mummascribbles

Today we meet the lovely Katie from The Perfect Juggler blog. Thanks so much for taking part Katie

Tell me a little bit about yourself and your family
I live in Warwick in a second floor flat with my three and a half year old daughter, Charlotte and my seven year old whippet, Sophie. What made me get a dog in a flat I will never know but we make it work as best we can! My ex now lives in the Black Country with his parents and sees Charlotte every other weekend for approximately 26 hours. We tolerate each other for the sake of Charlotte but he makes me want to use the C word every time he messages me! We are currently in the process of divorcing and although I started the process 9 months ago it is still ongoing. My parents live in Warwick as well, although are soon migrating down to the South West leaving me to fend for myself, eek! I have two brothers; one who is a couple of years younger than me but likes to play the big brother role and one who is eight and a half years younger than me so is definitely the baby of the family. I get on well with both of them now – different story when we were younger!

What do you like doing to be you, when you are not parenting, working (if you do), or blogging?
In the very little time I have to myself I like catching up with friends, going on a date or two and I have just restarted yoga. Getting back to feeling healthy again rather than just slobbing out when Charlotte has finally gone to sleep.

What is your biggest achievement to date?
I’m guessing most people will say their child, mine is probably more like ‘not killing my child when she is still not asleep at 10.30pm’. That definitely feels like I deserve a pat on the back! I would say another ‘achievement’ is deciding that I deserved to be happy and taking the difficult step to leave my husband 18 months ago. Other achievements are running two ‘Big Latch On’ Events with a group of wonderful mummies and setting up and running a local buying/selling group on Facebook called Buy Buy Baby Bits.

From your own experiences, what do you find the hardest part of parenting and what is the easiest/most rewarding part?
I find that the hardest part of parenting is to be able to just trust your instincts. We usually get so much conflicting advice as a parent and it’s difficult to work out who’s right, who’s wrong, what you agree with and what you don’t. I am slowly learning that if you just pay attention to your child and listen to your gut then you probably already know the answer. Also the lack of sleep is a killer. My daughter has never been a good sleeper and I honestly don’t think my brain has worked correctly for three and a half years. I have also looked a mess for that long!

The easiest/most rewarding part of being a parent is getting stuck into activities with Charlotte as we have a similar taste in what we enjoy doing and watching her develop into a really bright, strong individual who just seems to absorb information like a sponge.

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 definitely haven’t got this one down yet. My house is a bombsite. I hate it and it frustrates me on a daily basis but with all the other things on the list, housework and chores always seems to get pushed down the list. I have just gone back to doing five days a week at work from four for financial reasons but I think I’m going to have to spend the extra money on a cleaner (and dog walker)!

Charlotte now goes to nursery five days a week which is something I never thought I would do (it still hurts my heart) but it does mean we are in a consistent routine and has helped with bed time routines etc. Getting out of the house is a struggle in the morning as the dog needs to go out too but we manage it most days and thank goodness for flexi time so I can rock up to work 10 minutes late and just make it up later in the day/week.

Why did you decide to start blogging?
I read a few blogs to keep me company when I was feeding Charlotte in the early days/weeks/months and, being inspired and thinking that I could do something like that , I set up my blog site when Charlotte was 6 months old, but never really got very far. At the time I didn’t realise I was struggling with PND and anxiety so no surprise really. I loved the name of my blog so after my 30th birthday I decided to have another go, even if I just used it as a venting tool! I ended up with a few readers through WordPress so shared it with a few of my closer friends and everyone seemed to like it, they have passed it onto other friends andusing tags and categories on the site helps me gain more readers. Still a work in progress though.

Tell me a bit about your blog?
I feel like I’m still fairly new to the blogosphere and haven’t yet worked out linkys or worked with any featured guests but I’ll get there when I have time I’m sure! My blog is about my life as a single mum, theperfectjuggler is the most tongue in cheek name ever as it is exactly the opposite of what I am. I write about my daughter, my dating, my friends, my work and other experiences I have come upon. I have a dry, slightly sarcastic sense of humour so that’s usually the tone of the blog. I do not lie in my blog, I am open and honest and tell it like it is. I post about happy times and not so happy times and my readers seem to warm to this. I usually post twice a week but add to my twitter and Facebook page daily.

What do you want your blog to achieve and where do you hope to see it go as it grows?
In an ideal world I would love for my blog to take off and somehow bring me in enough money so that I could get away with quitting my job but I am aware it’s a very slim number of blogs that actually do that and usually because a lot of hard work and effort has gone into it. In the meantime however, I would love to interact more with other bloggers, develop more of a connection with my readers by comments and messages and keep true to why I started it. I would also like to link up with companies and charities that I have an affinity with to promote their work or products.

What advice would you give someone who is thinking about starting a blog?
Just do it! What’s the worst that can happen? There are so many sites that help you set up a blog it’s so easy to get started – then you can progress further as and when you feel ready. I would say write about what you are passionate about and others will be drawn in. I would also say either get a good proof reader or get very good at doing it yourself. I hate reading blogs with spelling errors and grammar issues. I can’t be the only one surely??

If you could have dinner with three people (dead or alive), who would it be and why?
The single woman in me would choose Ryan Reynolds, Channing Tatum and Heath Ledger but if you’re looking for a deep and meaningful answer I would pick:

1. My grandma – who is still alive but is the wisest woman I know and the person I aspire to be as she’s so damn organised and creative.

2. Florence Nightingale as I admire the strength and courage she had to question medical opinions and nursing and devote her life to caring for others in the best way she could.

3. Eva Cassidy because her voice is just beautiful and it would be amazing to ask her to sing for us.

Tell me three random facts about you

1. I have one attached earlobe and one unattached. Apparently, because of genetics, this doesn’t happen.

2. I am scared of falling down things. I’m not scared of the height just the idea of falling off it.

3. I can still do the splits.

You can find Katie at www.theperfectjuggler.wordpress.com and also on Twitter and Facebook