A Complete Mummery

Have you ever been so pumped up to do something that you totally think you can do, been filled with motivation and spurred on by adrenaline to finally make your dream project come to fruition and then....pfffffffffffffft. Nothing. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Doing this blog is an example. I've started them before but ran out of ideas after a post or two.  I was complaining to my friend that I was dying to do something after so many years as a stay at home mum but wanted to do something on my own terms. She suggested starting a blog to document how I was doing. So...over a year after that conversation, here I am! I had an epiphany one day that I could write things for other people for money. This turned out to be "copywriting". If I wasn't going to be a world famous novelist by the time I was 40 (revised from 30), this could be the next best thing. OK, so what do I need to do? Maybe a course, read some books, set up a website, get some sosh meeds going and...

Heading into a so-called "milestone" birthday next year (*cough cough* 40 *cough cough*), it's tough not to occasionally take stock and think where my life is and also where I wanted it to be by this point. If you ask my 18 year-old self, I wouldn't be able to even imagine being 40. 30 was more than old enough. I would either be dead or a successful published author, maybe married but not that bothered, definitely no kids, no way! Gross! So, that hasn't happened. I went to an all-girls school from the ages of 11-18 and looking at my contemporaries now, I see doctors, vets, pilots, project managers, environmental scientists, financial managers, teachers and business owners. Most of them are mothers too. And then I look at myself. I have been a full-time parent for nearly 8 years and...erm...that's it. Yes, I know, being a parent is HARD, especially in the beginning. But my youngest is starting full-day kindergarten this August (COVID-19 permitting) and I gues...

One of the good things about being forced to stay at home during this COVID-19 pandemic is that I get to spend all day with my two children, ages 5 and 7. One of the worst things about being forced to stay at home during this COVID-19 pandemic is that I get to spend ALL DAY WITH MY TWO CHILDREN, AGES 5 AND 7. So far, we have been getting on OK. My daughter is the 7 year old and spends a lot of the day doing school work so that takes up a big chunk of time. My son is 5 and, while he's happy to watch YouTube all day, I feel obliged to try and engage with him in some way so he doesn't actually biologically merge with our sofa. Unfortunately, yesterday was a bit of a disaster. I was crabby and got increasingly crabbier as the day progressed. I entered into a phase where I was just saying "SHHHH!" or "be quiet!" to everything the kids said, even if it wasn't that obviously annoying. The reason? My son decided to tell some jokes. Now, I am not a comedian, humo...

Good time to start a blog? In theory, yes. COVID-19 is keeping everyone indoors, I need to start writing something as I paid for this domain name several months ago and if I ever want to earn money as a freelance writer, I need to strut my stuff. In practice, it's a bit more difficult. My 7 year old daughter is using my laptop for distance learning, I am looking after her and my 5 year old son all day so by the evening I am pretty much worn out physically and creatively. Also, if there was a world championship for procrastinators, I would probably come in the top 10. Or maybe not, as I wouldn't be arsed to turn up. Here's my quick quarantine round-up. I'm lucky enough to be in a great position here. Number one, yes, we have toilet paper - thank you Office Depot and Sam's Club. I am currently a stay-at-home parent anyway so no big change to my life and also no loss of possible paycheck from any imaginary job I may have had. My husband is able to work from home and...