A Year in Blogging: Freebies to Therapy via Unfollows

It my blogaversiary. Which is a terrible title but it came into my head, so I couldn’t not share it.  A year since I shared my first list- unbelievable! I had no idea what or why I was doing it. But here I am, and you know what? The whole experience has been way more rewarding and emotional than I ever expected.

This is what a year of Mother of All Lists has taught me:

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• I will never ever be able to say I am a ‘Mummy Blogger’ without cringing.

• The internet is even more weird and wonderful than I realised. Thanks to blogging I now know that there’s another Clemmie (not @midwifeyhooper) who lives in SE London and has kids called Bertie and Woody. I shit you not. How mental/freaky is that?

• I am not alone in battling anxiety. It was a tough topic to write about. But flipping heck it felt good. The fact that it gave a friend the strength to go to the doctors for help? Wow.

• Everyone has a story. The Guest List’s I been fortune enough to share have been so varied – funny, bizarre, sad. Love hearing about people and their lives, you could call it being nosey, but I prefer ‘curious’.

• Men read mothering blogs too. Hi guys! [wave emoji].

• According to a journalist who got in touch last week, my style of blogging is known as ‘over-sharing’. The adult equivilant of being told to ‘stop showing off.’

• That trolling is tough.  Irrelevant, but unpleasant.

• I will always worry about the impact of the blog on my boys. With the benefit of a year to reflect that it genuinely serves as a way of documenting precious memories that would otherwise be lost in a haze of sleep deprivation.

• That Woody’s appetite knows no bounds. #WhatWoodyAte goes from strength to strength.

• Whilst his hair somehow grows wider rather than longer.

• Bertie’s photo smile is a million dollars. But his tantrums are something else.

• A super short bob doesn’t suit me. But a fringe does, which is TOTALLY unexpected.

• My Mum will always be my biggest fan. Thanks for liking, sharing and retweeting every post.

• Being dyslexic shouldn’t stop you writing. Not the sort of ‘dyslexia’ that everyone claims to have, but the shitty real sort that means the words jump around  when you read and you have to hang around longer in exams like a wally). I’m sorry there’s always a million mistakes in my posts,  hopefully you can still hear what I’ve got to say.

•  I hate ranty blogs. Parenting is tough. But its a priviallge. Its’ ok acknowedge the struggle but shouting and swearing about it, to me, seems unnecessary.

• People will copy. I like to these lists have inspired a few list makers. Bur out and out copying does grate. Then again it drove me mad when my sister copied my choice of icecream and I love her unconditionally.

• Everyone hates the collection of lone socks lurking at the bottom of the wash basket.

• While many men leave their socks lying around the house and don’t take the stair pile up. Phew, not just mine then.

• Mum’s on social media talk about gin a lot. It’s our life blood.

• The Spice Girls Fan club is still live and kicking.

•  #onefromhecuttingroomfloor , #widn and other tags on Instagram appear fun,  in reality they are added pointless pressure that I could do without.

• Blogging is therapy. I have been seeing a psychotherapist weekly since September. It’s one of BEST things I ever done. It’s saved my mind and my marriage.  Blogging has helped me stay sane too. Try it, even if no one reads it, it can help organise your thoughts and express feelings you didn’t know you had.

• Wow this has turned into a mega overshare again.

• You can make genuinely good mates through social media. One’s you want to spend your precious nights out with eating pizza and drinking cocktails.

•  But a virtual stranger has the capacity to brighten your day too.  Whether its dried on Weetabix/a public tantrums/another 5 am start, I can’t tell you how many times a share, like  or comment has help remind me to see the comedy in a terrible situation. Replacing tears with laughter? There’s nothing better.

• Is there another years worth of lists in me? Who blooming knows. Only one way to find out I guess…

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One small favour? If you have moment to please nominate me for the Mad (Mum and Dad) Blogging Awards, I’d really appreciate it. Click this link and fill in the relevant bits. Thanks everso x