Today I have champion pizza eater Muddling Through Motherhood over here on my blog for a cuppa and a natter…
Tell me about yourself…
My husband Tom and I are first-time parents to our lovely daughter Imogen, who is 11 months old. We live in a little village in Kent, near to where we both grew up. I decided not to return to my full-time magazine journalism job in London after maternity leave and have recently launched my career as a freelance sub editor and copywriter. I’m a dog person and I love cups of tea in the day/Prosecco in the evenings, getting stuck into a good novel (if I ever I get the time…) and generally enjoying life with family and friends.
Name one random fact about yourself.
When I was 13, I won a pizza-eating competition at school; I was the fastest person to eat a pizza with my hands tied behind my back and I won a box of chocolates. Looking back, it was a very random event for a secondary school to organise.
Who is your biggest inspiration?
My daughter; she makes me laugh every day and is the reason I get up in the mornings (literally and metaphorically).
Tell me about your blog. What is the main theme? What inspired you to start it?
Muddling Through Motherhood is an account of my experiences and observations on being a parent. It is written from the heart and is very conversational and humorous. I was inspired to start it as I had all these thoughts and ideas about motherhood in my head and wanted to share them with my friends and family. They seemed to really enjoy my musings, so I decided to start promoting it to a wider audience.
Do you blog full time or do you work as well? How do you juggle your time? Any tips?
At the moment, I only blog once a week, but I try to post on social media more regularly. I struggle to find the time to write and be active on all the different social media channels, while also looking after a baby. My mother-in-law babysits Imogen one afternoon a week, so that I can look for work and spend some quality time writing. I often write in the evenings, but then find my brain is too active and I can’t get to sleep – even though I am shattered.
What is the best piece of advice you can give to fellow bloggers?
Make sure your content is up to scratch (spelling and grammar especially), and write about what interests you, not what you think people want to read.
How do you relax/ spend your ‘free time’?
What is free time again? I like to read fiction (a mix of crime novels and chick lit) and watch TV shows/films. I tend to blob in front of the TV most evenings to just zone out and relax. Before we had a baby, our favourite pastime was going out for dinner, so every now and again my husband and I have a date night and go for a meal. I also go to two exercise classes a week, which I suppose I consider being free time.
What are your favourite family activities?
As Imogen is still quite young, we mostly go for walks in the country. There are some lovely parks and woodland in Kent and we are very lucky to have some beautiful National Trust properties on our doorstep.
Where is your favourite outdoor place to visit?
Knole Park in Sevenoaks is simply stunning. You can walk for miles, see lots of deer and look around the beautiful house. There is also a lovely little café.
Best family day out?
We had a great time at Paradise Park in Cornwall last summer. We watched an amazing bird-of-prey display and there were some brilliant interactive exhibits where the children got to feed fish to penguins and nectar to parakeets. Great for getting kids interested in nature and animals. Imogen was only five months old when we visited, but the park was extremely child/baby friendly. We would definitely return when she is a bit older.
Thanks for joining me!
Find out more here…
Blog: Muddling Through Motherhood
Twitter: @9eor9ie @muddlingmum
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