Me, The Man & The Baby: June 2010

Tuesday, 29 June 2010

Kosmea Australia Rescue Body Cream

I was sent a rescue body cream from Kosmea Australia to review for Green Kiddie which provides information about green and natural care for the family.

Established in 1993, Kosmea took Australia by storm with the first commercially available certified organic rosehip oil. Since then Kosmea have gone from strength to strength with a complete range of skin care based around organic rosehip oil.

The Kosmea Skin Clinic Rescue Body Cream is a rich , smoothing and nourishing all - over body cream to help :

Itchy , flaky and very dry skin caused by overexposure to the elements.
Skin dryness and dehydration caused by exposure to the sun.
Loss of skin elastically due to weight loss and/or pregnancy.
Loss of skin moisture due to hormonal changes and/or medical treatment.
Protect the skin's natural moisture barrier.
Prevent chapped and dry skin caused by infant rashes.

What did we think about the Rescue Body Cream?

My first reaction was to the smell , I was greeted with a refreshing natural smell. I'm guessing that has something to deal with the rose hip oil which is one of the natural organic ingredients.

I applied it like it recommended to straight after my shower all over my body - now I would be lying if I didn't say the first place I rubbed the rescue body cream into was my stretch marks. I felt a instant tingling feeling, to me that screams that it's doing the right job. It left my skin feeling smooth and hydrated. After the last couple of weeks I can feel the skin that was cut and left loose from my gall bladder removal feeling tighter and looked like that elastic has returned just like the cream said it would.

Even the other half got in on it and used it , unlike me trying to cure my stretch marks he used his for his dry skin. He explained that he felt more moisturised after using it and fresh.

Though we couldn't see that it was recommended for sunburn it had been a godsend this week with the sun that we had caught despite being covered in suncream. It cooled the skin and this was also the case for Oli's nappy rash which this heat has caused.

We as a family found it to be great for all our body issues. You can buy Kosmea Australia Rescue Body Cream in the UK from MyPure.

Monday, 28 June 2010

I'm No Charlie Dimmock

I'm no Charlie Dimmock as my poor garden is more neglected then my sock pile , It could be compared to a tip what with the broken shed and unused air hockey table somewhere at the back of it.

Of course unlike Charlie I like to wear a bra to keep my assets under control.

This post is especially for the keen gardeners, I want to call on your advice/knowledge. Where would be the best place to start with my garden?
I've been here a couple of years now and we have full permission from the agency to do what we like with the garden. Would you look at me in disgust if I was to say since we moved into this house I've not once attempted to weed or plant flowers of any kind. Of course we keep the grass in great form , we need to otherwise we would loose Oli amongst it!

The weeds which I need to tackle, I was going to take all this out and strip it but then some pretty colourful flowers started to come through and thought it to be evil to get rid of them.
Am I right in thinking that I have a mixture of weeds and flowers going on?

I'm guessing there was no hope with this ever coming back to life so I pulled it down but then realized that I need to take this bit out too.. Do I pull it out at the roots or just take a saw to it?
It was so pretty when it was alive , was nice having something to look at whilst washing up so I may attempt to find a plant that will trail around the window like this one did.

Anyone had any experience with repaving at all? This pavement is horrendous, a eye sore as well as a little dangerous. You're allowed to giggle at this big blue patch, I dropped some paint on it by accident a couple of weeks ago. Note to self : Buy some turps!

I feel a garden improvement weekend coming on , on top of the planting/repaving we have a shed that needs repainting and a front door which could do with a lick of paint.
I would happily invite a bra-less Charlie Dimmock to come and sort my garden out right now!

Friday, 25 June 2010

Playground Bullying

I was bullied at school , I'm not ashamed to admit it now several years on. I was beaten and I was broken. I was bullied for the way I looked, my religion , because of my family and lots of every other reasons that the bullies could think of to bully me.

In a way the bullying started at the age of 5 , the kids thought my surname was funny. I was called several names related to it. I used to laugh it off but over the years it grew old and I got bored of hearing it but it still hurt in a way. My surname was a subject of laughs and names right up to the age of 16 but then it still got a few giggles at college.

When I started secondary school I found out what real bullying was , it started with my school skirt. My Mother bought the cheapish school uniform she could find. I had a blazer that was way too big for me , school shirts that itched and didn't fit me at the neck and a school skirt that was down to my ankles. It wasn't because my mother thought it wrong to wear any other kind of skirt she just found the cheapish. I'm sure if she of found a skirt that was up by my boobs and it was cheap she would of bought it and made me wear it.
The way I wore my hair , socks , glasses , brace.. It was all a subject of ridicule. I wasn't perfect and oh boy didn't I know it.

At point I turned to self harming. I was told I has fat thighs so I stabbed one of them. I was told I was flat chested so I scratched and made my boobs red raw and bleed. Thankfully I snapped out of this. I have the scars to remind me of that crazy moment I had where I thought it a good idea to harm my beautiful body.

I went to homework club after school and was teased about it so I stopped going and turned into abit of a rebel and then I still got teased. I couldn't do right or wrong without being bullied. I had things stolen from me , I remember using my paper round money to buy a new pack of shiny smelly gel pens. These were taken off me by other girls/boys I often had things taken off me including bags and pencil cases. When I told my mother I got told off and was thought to lying as she thought I was making up stories as I has lost these items.

The bullying got worse over the 5 years I was there , I was often beaten just because some of the girls had nothing better to do and those times I did fight back I was the one that got suspended and thought of as the bad guy. But I had to fight back, one time I was knocked out as I was walking home from school - a girl a few years older then me thought I said something about her (I didn't even know her) so she attacked me and I had my head smashed into a garage door.

Teachers didn't do anything , they were pretty much bullies themselves. They didn't know who to believe and who not to so everyone was seen at the bad guys. My dance teacher caught some bullying towards me in the act and kicked the culprits out of that subject. The dance room became my safe place along with the ICT room. Computers back then were pretty much my only friend as the friends I did have didn't really want anything to do with me in fear of getting bullied themselves. Many of my break times were spent hiding in the computer room or the library. I forged a note when it come to the later years where we allowed out of school at lunchtimes to go home for food , My mother wouldn't let me so I pretended that she had wrote a note and I got a pass. I used this pass to hide down the park and eat my sandwiches in peace and quite without the fear of someone spitting or throwing a punch at me.

It wasn't just in school , the bullying was taken out of school and into the areas I lived and even into the town where I shopped. A girl in my year befriended me and we met in town one day , she lured me into a local graveyard where I was confronted by two older girls who didn't even go to my school. The just I got in between the beatings was that they thought I bullied their little sister who went to my primary school (later turned out she didn't and I didn't even know the sister!) . I managed to escape and collapsed in the middle of town where I was found and taken to hospital, the police got involved but nothing came out of it.

That got me more bullied at school , others found it funny and took great comfort in tormenting me about the pain and embarrassment it had caused me. This was one of many reasons why I attempted suicide.

It wasn't like I could tell my parents , how could I when they also bullied me? My home life wasn't exactly as fun as what school was turning out to be. Even in my last couple of years school where I pretty much skived and spent the days refusing to get out of bed , my parents never looked more into it. It was like they were shrugging there shoulders, they never did take much interest in me . Why should they I must of been flawed what with all this bullying for no reason at all other then just being a girl who was trying to live her life.

No one will ever understand how much finishing school , leaving a family , moving towns and making my own family has changed me for the good. I am the happiest I have ever been in my short life which has felt like a lifetime. No one can ever take this away from me. I am a grown woman who has taking a stand by running away from it all.

I look back now and know that I never ever did anything wrong. This bullying was not my fault in anyway. These bully's were nothing but nasty people who had nothing better to do with their time. They may of had issues of their own and used bullying as a form of getting away from that, who knows? They wanted their own unhappiness to cause other unhappiness well it did. I urge anyone who is bully someone who who is receiving bullying of any nature to come forward. Seek the help of the police, childline or anyone who you can trust/talk to.

There's a website dedicated especially to bullying that you can find here.

I will not torment bullying of any kind , it has left me mental and physical scars. It would be nice to think that when Oli gets to school age bullying will a thing of extinction but I doubt it. I do know for sure that if he comes to me and tells me he is being bullied I would do whatever I can to help stamp it out.

Tuesday, 22 June 2010

BBC Summer Good Food Show

Last Sunny Sunday we went to the Summer Good Food Show at the NEC . It was a fantastic day, and I'm not saying that because of the endless chocolate/toffee flavoured vodka, sambucca , wine & champagne testers that were on offer.
We were introducued to everything we need to create the perfect dishes , we came home with lots of different spices and ingredients that will give us some nice dishes over the next couple of weeks.

We saw the rather delicious James Martin doing cookery demonstrations as well as Andy Peters doing some TV thing.. Note to self , dont adjust bra when you have a camera pointing at you!

The BBC Gardeners' World Live show was also on at the same time so we got to see lots of pretty flowers and show gardens. If it wasnt for the bags of food stuff/feebies , I'm sure we would of came home with some hanging baskets.

I'm already looking forward to the Winter Good Food Show , may arrange a babysitter and get the train so that we can take more advantage of the alcoholic tasters ;)

Monday, 21 June 2010

CyberMummy Meet & Greet

Carly over at Mummy's Shoes has come up with a great idea for us CyberMummy attendees to get to know each other a little before the big event next month.

Here's my info , don't forget to add yours to the linky if you're going :)

Name: Emma
Blog: Me , The Man & The Baby
Twitter ID:
Height: 5 ft 7
Hair: Mid length brown , did consider changing it to red but will wait until after cybermummy in case it goes horribly wrong.
Eyes: Blue
Likes: Blogging (of course!) , Shoes , Monsoon , Shopping , Good Wine , Dancing like a loon, Cross Stitching , Mexican Food , Tia Maria & OJ , Heels , CSI and of course spending time with my boys.

Sian over at MummyTips wants to know what we're wearing, and by the looks of twitter Sian isn't the only one. I'm freaking myself , am I to go casual? Smart?
The thought of wearing heels appeal to me especially as I wont be permanently attached to a pram or running around after a toddler. But could I really cope with wearing them all day , maybe I should save them for the evening. But then there's the whole 'what will I wear in the evening?' issue. Its a weekend without any chance of a toddler wiping his chocolate covered hands into what I'm wearing , the only thing I want spilling on the clothes I'm wearing is one of those cocktails we'll be sinking at the after do.

So what are you wearing to Cybermummy?

Friday, 18 June 2010

Are You Bored?

Apparently two thirds of women in Britain are completely bored of their lives. Now for me this is not true , I can never be bored of my life. But am I saying that because I'm on sweet 21? Because I've been on this earth for 21 years have I not been around long enough to be bored of it?

I do use the word 'bored' occasionally when say Oli's napping or busy laying with toys , the house work is all done and there's no studying to do I may say or feel that I am bored because I don't have anything to do at the moment in time. But as a Mother should I ever be bored , do I have a right to be bored when I have my Son around that always needs my attention? Bored isn't a word I want Oli to learn as he grows up , I want him to always be entertained/occupied and when I cant do that - I want him to do it for himself.

But I can see how women can become 'bored' of their lives if it is the same thing each day , over & over again. My life currently means looking after Oli/the house each day and when I return to work that will be a pattern that repeats itself. Are those two thirds 'bored' because they're not receiving enough variety in their lives , if my life was on constant repeat I know I would be bored.

I read that 'being bored with never changing the way we look' and 'being short of money' were reasons why us Women are bored. I agree with those reasons but then instead of being bored I try to do something about it. I change the way I look by getting a new wardrobe quite often , painlessly and rather cheaply by using BigWardrobe. Hair could easily be changed by simply the way you style it/colour it.
Lack of money can be a cause of boredom , I do find that we do more activities/go on days out when we have the money to do so but then days where money is a problem I find something low budget/free to do with the help of the Internet and the local library.

Come 10 years time will I have a change of tune? Will I be included in the two thirds of women who are bored?

Friday, 11 June 2010

Marathon Mummy

The final Guest Post for this week comes from Rachael over at Marathon Mummy .

I started a blog in April 2009 when I decided to run the London Marathon in memory of my dad.

I thought an online journal would inspire me when I couldn't face getting out of the door, and it would be something concrete to look back on when I finished. Despite being completely unfit and far fonder of eating chocolate and drinking tea than running, I was utterly convinced that I'd complete the marathon, no matter how long it took me. And I did!

Heart Research UK gave me one of their coveted Gold Bond places, and I started running. Every morning I'd go out at 5am, and run a minute, walk two. I'd come home, ice my aching shins, and blog about it. The miracle of blogging is that somewhere, out of nowhere, the readers appeared. Initially there were only a handful of regulars, mainly seasoned runners, who were incredibly sweet and encouraging.

Then one day I logged back into my neglected , and mentioned my blog on there. Suddenly there were more than five people reading my posts. One day I even had fifty visitors! Ooh, the excitement. I had an audience, and they wanted more. I wrote about my dad, and why I was running. I wrote about my memories of him and made people cry. I wrote about my feeble attempts at running and made people laugh. Sometimes knowing that so many people were reading made it hard for me, especially as by that point my blog was being read by family and friends.

I mentioned my Justgiving page on the blog and found that people from all over the world were willing to sponsor me. Then I had the idea of running each one of the 26 miles in memory of somebody, and my readers stepped forward yet again with generous sponsorship and incredibly touching stories of their lost loved ones. I exceeded my target of £1500 and at present I'm almost at £2000 (all donations still gratefully accepted!).

I have regular readers from all over the world - from Brazil to Estonia, California to Russia. Many of them never comment, but it's lovely to know that they are there, cheering me on, silently.

When I woke up on Marathon Day and realised I was ill, I knew that no matter how slowly I took it, I had to complete the 26.2 miles. There were so many blog readers waiting to hear how I'd done, who'd cheered me along for twelve long, painful months. So at 13 miles I sent my sister on and walked the second half, gritting my teeth and thinking of everyone out there who'd supported me. I truly believe that if it hadn't been for marathonmummy.com and my amazing readers I would have given up.

Since completing the marathon (and swearing never again) I've applied for a place to do it all over again next year, and I know that all my readers will be there, cheering me on. The sense of community and friendship in the blogging world has surprised my non-blogging friends and family, but they've grown to appreciate how lovely the blog world really is.

Thursday, 10 June 2010

Why Blog?

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Today's Guest Post is from Michelle from Mummy From the Heart.....

Why Blog?

Have you ever really pondered why you blog? Had a crisis where you wonder if you will ever get any more comments, more visitors and the like? Have you had that moment where you wonder if anyone likes you? Been tempted to throw in the towel?

I have, here is my blogistory....

I sort of fell into blogging by accident, I have always been one of those people who hear of someone doing something new and interesting and think ‘yes I can do that too’ and that is exactly what happened here (follower, me? well yes, if I am honest!). Back in February 2008 I started to read a friends blog and thought it was excellent and this spurred me to start a blog; 4 posts and 5 days later I appear to have given up on blogging. I suppose the 7 month old twins and 4 year old were keeping me busy. It is not like me to give up on something so quickly, roll forward a year to March 2009 and I decide to come back to blogging. At this point my blog was a private one and not viewable by anyone except those I granted permission to, so my posts from then are very personal, self-centred and food led.

I found my stride in 2009 and really started to enjoy blogging, moving from just blogging about my weight/ eating issues to my journey through parenting and life in general. In January 2010 I had enough interest in blogging that I started to regularly read other peoples blogs and to start commenting, not realising that would allow them to link over to my blog. So I got my first comment from Jen at the Mad House and I was really grateful, then along came Fraught Mummy and Pippa and gave me lovely comments as well, both saying about my honesty and how you can see the person behind my blog, see what I am thinking.

I do not think I had any idea what I was letting myself in for by making my blog public and starting to new attract visitors by joining BMB and commenting on other blogs. Looking back now I can see I was not prepared for all the emotions that blogging can stir up in a person. Was I good enough? Too self-centred? Was my grammar correct? Could I make people laugh? And round and round the questions went in my head, to the point that I got completely stressed and something that had started out as fun for me and perhaps my real life friends/ family had turned into a monster in my head and was taking over every waking thought and making me question my worth in life. Sounds pathetic now writing it, but I was there and it felt real! My hurt and disappointment could not have been any more if my best friend had rejected me.

So I made a decision, which was difficult at the time but helped me so much, I gave up blogging for Lent and I loved it – no pressure at all. That 6 weeks allowed me to see what was really important and to review my own wants and needs from blogging. I came back to blogging in April a much more sane person and vowed to never be a comments whore again. I do not need affirmation for every little thing I write! I would blog for me and write what I wanted to write and not try to pander to the readers I thought might be there. In short my confidence in myself grew and I was happy to be in Michelle’s skin. Erica’s E-blogging course asked me to think about what my blogs USP was? What is it that makes my blog special and will attract readers and I think it is the honesty factor. I am a bit like marmite, you either love me or hate me and either way is OK as I do not have to be liked by everyone. Lesson learnt!

So my message here is that it is OK to be you, more than that, it is perfect to be you! You have to use your own original voice and find a style of communicating on your blog that suits you. Do not try to imitate any other blogger as you will always fall short, as you are not them. It has taken me months to learn this lesson but I think I am finally there with a nice balance between ‘ohh, I have new followers’ excitement and ‘I did not make this carnival’ disappointment.

What about you, where are you right now? Satisfied with your bloggy life or seeking more and finding disappointment? I read an excellent post the other day by a really established Aussie blogger and she explains a little about the life cycle of blogging from her view point - go take a look – it is so worth a read!

Wednesday, 9 June 2010

Everyday is like finding a toy I didn’t know I had!

New blogger: Everyday is like finding a toy I didn’t know I had!

By: Little M at

Hi there, its Little M here from Mummy’s Busy World.

I’m a half Chilean half American bilingual tot living in the UK. There’s not too many of us little ones blogging for our mummies and I started my blog to help my mami out (that’s what I call her). She was always saying she wanted to start one but didn’t have the time. So I thought, why not give her a hand? Cleary I didn’t know any different because this blogging business has turned out to be a full time job! Between my action-packed days at nursery, the sandbox and the paddling pool I somehow manage to sneak onto mami’s computer and blog about what’s going on in our lives.

I am a newbie blogger. Yep! Brand new. Just started in April, but despite not having enough hours in my day I find it to be so much fun! I get to tell you what my mami is up to and I have managed to find her some very nice mummy friends. However, everyday I discover something new about the world of blogging.

Let’s start from the very beginning. After deciding I wanted to start the blog I had to choose, Wordpress , Tumblr or Blogger? After testing out Tumblr and not feeling at ease with it after two weeks, I moved over to Blogger because I felt it was the best option for my skill set. It seemed easy enough - just write, link and drop a picture in the box and presto, the post is up!

After the first two posts, I thought, how do the other mummies get people to read their blogs and how will I know who’s reading it? I overheard mami and her friend from work talking one day and she mentioned using Google Analytics to track site visits. I made a mental note and made sure to register the next day.

After that breakthrough I came across Bit URL in order to shorten links for twitter and began adding blogs to my blogroll. But the part that took the longest to figure out was the formatting and background! I went through several templates and backgrounds until the lovely Liz at Violet Posy made one especially for me.

Fast forward two months and I am still uncovering the tricks of the trade. Each day that I blog is like finding something new in my toy box that I didn’t know I had!

I read a lot of other blogs, look at other layouts, and most importantly I leave nice comments when I really like what someone has written and most times they come visit my site too! Mami calls it networking. Whatever it is, it works! Also, mami goes on twitter to tell everyone what I have written. I leave that part to her as she is best at doing my PR.

And just to prove that I do learn something new everyday – today I discovered Linky Tools thanks to Erica at Little Mummy. I have gone and added it to my monthly Bilingual Corner posts to share with everyone who comes by.

Us kids and technology, we’re fast learners - because mami sure isn’t!

¡Adiós! Little M

Tuesday, 8 June 2010

Pimping Your Prose

This guest post is from over at Typecast, she shares some great tips on how to get your blog/posts out there and noticed.

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When you make the decision to start a blog, it is usually for self-centred reasons. Seven years ago, I had a very personal reason but managed a total of three posts. I thought about blogging again on a number of occasions but I was unsure how obtain and retain a readership.

During the advent of social networking, my online confidence grew and I found that networking sites such as , and StumbleUpon had enormous potential for marketing what I had to write. I had also accomplished a stack of experience across the World Wide Web through the use of forums (or newsgroups) for a variety of reasons and with many subject matters.

Writing or blogging has to be real. You have to write about a subject that you believe in or that is close to your heart; especially from a personal point of view. Research is important and let Google become your friend. Just type a few keywords into the search engine and see what is listed. I knew that I wanted to write about my experience as a parent, what my family had encountered over the last few years, what I was embarking on for the next chapter of my life and the next generation of our family. Keywords I used were “FAMILY BLOGS”, “PARENTING”, “YOUNG GRANDPARENTS”, “WRITING FAMILY HELP RESEARCH” to name a few but you will obviously tailor your search to your requirements and subject matter.

I found a number of website and forums than offered hints and tips. I also discovered a few writers’ links from a couple of forum members that I already knew. I read, and read, and read and scribbled notes, and read. I found forums full of valuable information such as British Mummy Bloggers and Judith’s Room, which also lead me to Erica’s highly recommended Bloggers e-Course. During this time, I also tried to connect with people in similar situations through Twitter and Facebook, slowly extending my network.

It helps enormously to become user-friendly with platforms such as Twitter , Facebook, StumbleUpon, Delicious and other similar operations as this is how you will reach further audiences. Don’t be afraid to click on links or ask questions in “help” sections – everyone was new to blogging at some point. Use applications such as Tweetdeck or Seesmic and look at connecting them to other social networking sites. Once you become used to using aspects of social networking, prepare to pimp yourself into oblivion.

Each time you write a blog post, tweet out the link to your followers asking your friends to “retweet” the link for you (therefore extending your network yet again). Use an application on Facebook such as “” which auto-posts your blog to your friends. If you don’t want your blog connected to your personal life, set up a second account dedicated to your blog alone – or look into a “fan page”. Make sure you add little gadgets or widgets to your blog that allows your readers to share your post with their friends. My current favourites are “Add Me” and “TweetMeme” – again, a quick Google search will lead you to the appropriate website where the instructions to add the widget to your blog are clearly displayed.

Slightly controversial at the moment are “auto-tweets”. They are like Marmite; people either love them or hate them. By using auto-tweets you can programme a tweet to appear in your timeline at a pre-arranged time. They seem impersonal but if you have a blog post that you would like to promote and you can’t be at your computer during the day, then this appears to be the ideal solution.

Finally I think that interaction with readers and the comments they may leave on your blog post is important. I like to reply to my readers/comments and keep the conversation flowing.

I am constantly learning about new ways to market my blog, for refreshing ways to reach a wider audience and always looking for new subjects to write about so that my blog is always current and doesn’t become stale. Keep learning, keep posting, keep advertising. It appears to be working. I have constantly been in the top 60 in the Top Tots Parent Blogs since March 2010 and I am really enjoying the boom in blogs written by parents.

Monday, 7 June 2010

How do you maintain a healthy Blog/Life balance?

Bloggng, it's an addictive sport - How do you maintain a healthy Blog/Life balance?

Blogging, it’s an addictive sport.

Once you’ve taken those first few wobbly baby steps and found your feet, you soon learn how to run and posting becomes like second nature.

I suppose you could say I fell into blogging by accident. Little E was a few weeks old and I was going through a ’stir crazy’ period, stuck at home with both kids and very little contact with the outside world. I’d always used parenting forums but wanted to be able to create something a bit more personal, so on a whim, and for no other reason than I felt like it that particular day, I created myself a blog using the same name as my Twitter account.

I had no idea what I was doing and had never heard of ‘Mummy Blogging’.

Soon through the power of Google I discovered a huge ‘Mommy Blogging’ community in America, which led me to Google ‘British Mummy Bloggers‘ and I’m sure you know where that led me.

Suddenly and unintentionally, I realised I was a part of the phenomenon that are collectively know as ‘Mummy Bloggers’. The networking power of allowed me to stumble upon people who I had much in common with practically on my door step and by following other bloggers I found myself nestled neatly in a cosy corner, happily waffling in the Internet to anyone who wanted to read my ramblings.

I learned fast, rode the tide, and got carried away on the crest of a wave.

I found the need to blog intoxicating. With every post I was building a readership and increasing my ranking in the Tots100 Index. Technorati loved me and I’ll admit it was great to feel ‘popular’ even for a short length of time.

Then the inevitable happened. I started to suffer from blog fatigue. I’d meticulously pour over my statistics every night at the stroke of one minute past midnight and wonder where I could improve them. I’d check my Sitemeter more times than I care to admit and set myself daily visitor targets in my head. Blogging became a chore.

But I’d had a taste of success and didn’t want to lose it.

When my maternity leave ended and the time came for me to return to work, I no longer had the hours in the day to blog like I did before. I knew my stats, links and ranking would suffer and had to make a conscious decision to stop looking at my Google Analytics and Sitemeter so often and allow my manic posting schedule to slide.

Being a slave to the numbers was ruining my enjoyment blogging. I’d lost my focus.

Two months down the line and have my blog statistics suffered? Maybe a little. My Tots100 ranking has dwindled somewhat, Technorati hates me, and I don’t get as many in links as I used to. I only check my stats once a week (sometimes less) and’ Im less of a slave to a posting schedule.

These days I blog more for myself. I’m not ashamed to write sponsored posts to earn a bit of extra cash and I’ll happily review products relevant to me and my family.If I feel like getting emotional, or sharing a deep dark secret I will or if I just want to gush about my beautiful children then that’s fine too.

Make no mistake, my blog and blogging is important to me, and I’ll gladly admit I still enjoy seeing small sucessess. I’m proud to be involved with projects like The MADs, and Hadrian’s Walk, but whereas before I would’ve worried if a postless day went by, these days I know the real world that I can touch, hear, and feel is far more important than my online prescence.

How do you manage your Blog/Life balance?

Have you ever felt pressure to improve your blog statistics, either self imposed or from elsewhere?

What do you think is a healthy Blog/Life balance?

Are you a slave to your blog/online persona?

What motivates you to blog?

From Insomniac Mummy

Friday, 4 June 2010

Dear So & So

Dear Oli,

Thank you for the lovely treat you let me wake up to. Walking into your room to find poop on your head is not funny, yes the giggle you gave me was cute but the sight I could see was beyond cute.
You pooped so much that your nappy just exploded , I know it was most likely my fault for giving in to you and letting you have half of my madras.
Now Mummy has to pay for that by scrubbing down your cot and washing every sheet/toy/item that got in your way.

Dear Websites That Use Pop Up Ads ,

I HATE YOU , Why? Do you know how annoying it is to try and read something with something flashing away at you or suddenly covers up what your reading and you have to look for the tiniest little cross to get rid of it.
When this happens all I want to do is cross the page off and that's what I'm going to continue to do from now on.

Dear Summer ,

Thank You for finally making a appearance , it allows us to do things like this :

Yours,

Emma.

Wednesday, 2 June 2010

The Huggies Messy Play Challenge

Huggies have set a challenge in the form of messy play , They want to see your messiest photos of your little ones and yes there's prizes for the messiest entries!

Before a few weeks ok I would of freaked and ran away from the word messy child. I hate mess and the thought of Oli ever getting messy was a nightmare that I didn't want to experience.

But you know what? It wasn't a nightmare at all , when asked at our local baby group if Oli wanted to join in with some painting I hesitated at first but agreed. I stripped him down to his nappy and let him loose with a paintbrush.
He was in his element and it bought smiles to my face seeing him have such a fantastic time getting messy. He even created his first painting which is now proudly pinned to the fridge.

We tried to recreate some mess yesterday for the Huggies challenge at lunch time when we had curry , it resulted in not that much mess but in Oli bending his spoon which I did get on video.

Here are the rules :

The messier your baby is in the photo the better. (The challenge is cleaning up!)
Post the photo to your blog with The Messy Play by Huggies Wipes challenge. (It can be an old photo or a previous post).
Send a link of your blog post featuring your Messy Play photo to @Huggies_UK on Twitter or to participate.
Check out to see all the blogger submissions and links to their blogs. Submissions will also be shouted out by @Huggies_UK on Twitter.
The top 3 messiest entries will receive Huggies® gift packs of Huggies merchandise.

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