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Guest post: Sleep is for the Weak
Friday, March 12th, 2010
Blogger Littlemummy is hosting a guest post day as one lesson in her 10-part weekly Mum E Blogger Course. It’s free to join (though if you would like to receive the course all at once, it’s available for £8.99) and is extremely useful, whether you’re a seasoned blogger, or a newbie just learning the ropes.
The idea of the guest post day (which was officially held on Friday 5th March, and I’m sorry that Sleep is for the Weak and I are a little bit late with our swap) is to forge links between bloggers, and help teach about the virtues of reciprocal links. Josie, who writes Sleep is for the Weak, doesn’t need an introduction to many in the parent blogging world. Currently ranking at number five in the Top 100 Parent Blogger’s index, she’s an inspiration to many with her weekly creative writing prompts. She’s also the founder of Judith’s Room, an online writing forum for women. We’re thrilled to have her posting at angels & urchins, and know her post will have resonance for many of those reading.
Why I am proud to be a Mummy Blogger
I pause at the door, listening to the soft sounds of my son’s breathing as he settles to sleep, my own deep sigh of relief mingling with his. It has been a long day. It’s always been a long day.
I shut the door and tiptoe down the stairs. My (well-trained) husband has already made me a cup of tea and it waits by my laptop along with quiet space, interrupted time and a whole other world, a whole other life. One in which I’m not the tired, washed out housewife I see when I look in a mirror, struggling with confidence and doubt and worry.
No. Here I am something else. Writer, Blogger, confident deliverer of witty banter and someone, it seems, that people actually quite like to know.
To say that blogging saved my sanity is an understatement.
What began, 10 months ago, as a bit of fun, a way to de-stress after a hard day and try to get my ‘porridge brain’ back into some kind of working order, quickly evolved into something else entirely. I got to write out whatever was in my head, some of it was funny but a lot of it was raw and sometimes painfully honest. I didn’t always like being a mum and writing seemed to make me want to be honest about that. Motherhood for me seemed mostly about feeling tired and overwhelmed, struggling with a ‘challenging’ toddler whom I adored but who left me feeling completely out of my depth most of the time. Extreme sleep deprivation, tantrums, developmental worries. I wasn’t entirely sure how I was supposed to feel about it all.
But by writing it out, somehow it lost its hold. Because, you know what? Turns out a lot of people felt the EXACT same way.
That was the surprise. Because the off-loading? The random writing about whatever I happened to be mulling over that day? Turns out people read this stuff! And commented! And, oh my goodness wait a minute… THEY wrote blogs too! Wonderful blogs, full of humour and variety and written by a multitude of inspirational and intelligent mums and dads.
I was hooked. COMPLETELY.
Blogging began to be the thing that got me through a stressful day. The golden chalice of nap times and long evenings where I could escape my humdrum mummydom for a moment and flex my creative muscles. It began a love-affair with words and writing that had simmered, forgotten, since I was teenager, and that encouraged me to change my study plans, my life plans actually, and take up Creative Writing as a degree. That in turn led to me starting a weekly writing workshop on the blog as a way for me to connect with other would-be writers and which, surprisingly, people loved, somehow managing to tap in to a shared need of many bloggers wanting to develop their writing but struggling to find inspiration. And THAT in turn lead to the creation of Judith’s Room, a space for women writers specifically, who, more than their male counterparts, often seem so riddled with low confidence and a difficulty in claiming and being proud of their achievements. It’s led to new projects, new opportunities. Genuinely a whole new world for me.
It’s been quite a ride. And one that has been increasingly shared with many new friends along the way. REAL friends, many of whom I now can’t imagine my life without.
It’s not all cake and ice cream though, it has to be said. Like all ‘communities’, blogging has its ups and downs. Finding your way in such a rapidly growing field of interest can be a bit mind-boggling at times. Things like stats, the promise of PR pitches (even if they are for silly things like liquorice), and an inevitable desire to achieve recognition and make your voice heard, can sometimes leave you prone to what I usually refer to as the ‘bloggers wobble’. It’s easy to feel like a little fish in a very big pond, easy to feel like the new kid on the edge of the playground, longingly watching the cool kids play.
But the freedom (and the fun) comes when you realise we’re ALL cool kids in this playground. Because we’re all in it together, muddling our way through parenting our children and figuring out what on earth we’re supposed to be doing. Read enough blogs, connect with enough people and you’re ALWAYS going to find someone you can relate to, who makes you feel less alone, less incompetent. Who makes you laugh or makes you think. Who just makes you feel BETTER. You are going to come away feeling good about yourself, as a person and as a parent.
And that’s what I love.
OK, so blogging isn’t going to make me rich. In monetary terms anyway, but it is enriching my life, my friendships, my self esteem, inspiring my creativity and my ambition, in ways I never could have imagined.
It’s making me a better person, and a better parent.
So, that’s why, quite frankly, I think it’s ace and why I’m going to keep on doing what I’m doing.
Viva la Mummy Blogolution. Long may it continue.
Tags: Guest blogger, Mums we love
17 Responses to “Guest post: Sleep is for the Weak”
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What she said.
Great post, I feel the same way. I love blogging and can’t believe not only what I have achieved but the friends I have made and the realistaion that I can write and have found something that I am passionate about and it for the most part just for me. I finally get to be my self and show whats inside me, even if sometimes its really boring x
That was a truly inspirational read. I myself, do not write a blog…..yet, but I find myself increasingly being drawn into your world. I am that child on the edge of the school playground watching all the cool kids play. I feel a bit left out and I want to join in.
When my best friend Bec (whom you will all recognize as ilovemonty) told me she was writing a blog, I honestly thought ‘about what?’. I mean, we’re both mums who work part time, what’s interesting about that? Until I read it, and it is laugh out loud funny.
I also have Bec to thank for introducing me to Twitter. Again, I thought ‘my life is very ordinary, I don’t have anything interesting to say’- but I do & it’s hilarious, the banter that goes on sometimes. It is through Twitter that I follow links to all these brilliant blogs and I now have itchy fingers. As the brilliant post above demonstrates, as parents we all share some common ground so someone is bound to empathise with the things I say and who knows- maybe even find them funny. I’m also very attracted to the idea of having an outlet, something that’s mine and doesn’t feel like a thankless task like cleaning my house does.
So, thank you Josie (incidentally, if your brain is made of porridge WTF is mine made of?!) for more inspiration and possibly the kick up the butt I need to do something creative for a change. I am now off to the Little Mummy site to check out the eblogger course thingy. Watch this space, there may be a new blogger on the block. The thing that worries me is, who exactly IS going to clean my house now?…………………….
I have to say I agree, blogging saved my sanity too
New Mummy – Good to hear from you, and thanks for your comment (I knew Josie’s post would have resonance with lots of bloggers!). For the record though, your posts are never boring.
Samantha (Nudieprincess) – You should definitely start blogging. Your first post is right there, and what’s a bit of dust and the odd leaning tower of ironing between Twitter and blogging buddies?
The Mad House – I’m all for blogging saving our sanity. Especially because it’s open 24/7.
Well said!
I’m hooked too
.
Despite there never being enough hours in the day for me, and blogging always comes last on my list of things to do, I think of it as an old friend who is always there for me when I have the time, or can find some illicit time
.
I really relate to this. I don’t blog, but my computer is a way out of the daily humdrum (as the guest post puts it), and a sanity release whenever life gets too busy. Keep on blogging, and maybe one day I’ll join you in the blogolution!
A Modern Mother – Didn’t she just!
Ella – Nice thought, blogging being an old friend, especially with the implicit undertanding that it will never let you down.
Spring Mama – What did mothers (parents, anyone, in fact) do before computers?
Hear hear – I think blogging has saved a lot of us from going completely loopy. There are moments when I wonder what on earth am I doing, but overall, Ilove it, totally love it. Am hooked – and happy to be so! Great post. xx
I know this post is specifically about parent blogs, but blogging has helped so many others too. We’re a small business and blogging has given us a voice to talk to our customers, and hopefully take on some of the big boys with huge marketing and advertising budgets. So long live the blog revolution from our point of view, too. And it’s a lot more fun than doing things like VAT costings!
Brit in Bosnia – What would we be doing without blogging? Watching endless re-runs of Sex and the City? Manically cleaning the house? Crying in a corner? Actually, let’s just celebrate the fact that we have blogging…!
Handpicked – Yes, it’s all about communication and isn’t it amazing how quickly blogging has caught on? VAT costings, though, yikes.
It’s so true. Blogging really is wonderful. What I love most about it is the awareness there are so many others like you experiencing the very same emotions and all learning from each other.
Maria – That’s absolutely it, isn’t it? Both time out for yourself, and the chance to learn and have fun with others.
I think every mother needs a break from the hard work that is parenting, and you are lucky to have found blogging. I personally don’t know what I’d do without the gym, and regular walks, and the latter can be done with the pram. I think we’d all be basket cases without some kind of outlet!
Maggie F – Thanks for coming by, and totally agree about needing a break. A change is as good as a rest, etc.
Great blog post, very informative. I think a lot of people will find this very useful. BTW, Could you write guest blog post for my blog?