Wednesday 1 December 2021

Hello

Hello, It has been such a long time since I sat down and blogged so I thought I would just come on and say Hi. Honestly I don't expect anyone to read it as I have been missing pretty much since the pandemic began almost two years ago! But lately I have been missing this little blog of mine and it seems a shame to just forget about it after all the hard work I put in to it over the years. At one point this was my full-time job, seven years ago when I started this blog I had no idea what I was doing I was pregnant with my third child, recovering from gallbladder surgery and had a baby at home and wanted something to keep me sane. But over the years this blog became my full-time job, it paid for holiday's and a big chunk of my wedding, I worked with some amazing brands and got to experience some lovely things over the years. I am truly grateful for all that it offered us and that I got to stay home with my youngest two children until they started school. 




Then the pandemic hit and we couldn't go anywhere, it didn't feel right to blog about day's out, holidays and the latest toy review when the world was such a uncertain place and we were in lockdown. Blog work dried up and I decided to go back to work  to pay the bills. I actually ended up with two jobs one as a learning disability support worker, which is what I did before I had my youngest and I also started working for Test and Trace. Working two jobs has been hard, especially working two very challenging jobs which I have to work around my husbands shifts, so I never see him and we never have any family time. I have been working 14 hour shifts as a support worker on weekends, I have to leave the house at 6.30am and don't get home until 11pm, so I don't see my children at all on the days I work. Then I work for test and trace during the week which started off part-time but soon became full-time. I was also studying for a degree with the Open University and the children do activities 6 days a week,  I literally had no time to do anything. Oh and we got a new puppy Leo during all this too, so I now have two dogs to look after. 


Life has been manic and honestly I have been at breaking point, especially a few weeks ago when I worked 10 days in a row. I am not saying this for sympathy or anything as plenty of other people are in exactly the same situation as me, some work a lot worse shifts then I do. But I have been so unhappy and stressed out, my work life balance was none existent as I haven't had any time off for over 6 months. I have been missing out on family time and I wasn't even that better off financially as I have been getting taxed 20% on both jobs. 


Recently I turned 38 and I decided life was too short to be constantly stressed out, my own mam died at 44 - that's just six years older than I am now. So I have dropped down to just one job and I have paused my open university course until life is less busy and I have decided to start blogging again. I haven't blogged properly for such a long time but I miss it, I don't expect to make it my full-time job again and I know it will take a long time to build it back up again but it is something I have been thinking about for a long time now. 


So in the new year I will be back blogging properly again, I am going to be making some changes I won't be posting pointless sponsored post just for the money anymore, I don't need to now its not my only source of income. Don't get me wrong if I get offered a ad that will work then of course I would say yes, but no more rubbish copy and paste blog posts. I will also be steam lining what I blog about as in the past I have blogged all kinds of things from weddings, to holidays to weight loss posts (spoiler I'm still fat) and reviews. So going forward I will be blogging more about Family Life in Newcastle - it is what the blog is called after all. So expect more local days out, places to eat, things to do etc with primary school aged children. I will also be sharing the odd recipe, review and dog friendly day out  as I set up doggy social media accounts  all the way back in May 2020 when we got our first dog Teddy (yes I am that sad). I will be sharing less about my family as I have never felt comfortable with that and have always been cautious about what I share about my children, I have a 19 year old and know all to well how cruel kids can be, plus their stories are not mine to tell. 


I will also be back on social media and will try and make more of an effort to post more on there, I have a very/love hate relationship with social media. I can't be dealing with clickbait or jumping on bandwagons, stealing others ideas, drama or fakery (I am looking at you comment pods on Instagram). I am just a normal working class mam of three with 19 years worth of parenting experience blogging about family life here in Newcastle. I am not a entitled Instagram influencer who will be messaging places asking for freebies (have never done it and never will), anywhere I review will be because I have paid myself or have been invited. Not knocking what others do but it's just not my cup of tea. I just want to share days out we have been on even if no-one reads about them. 


Anyway enough of me rambling on I have a house to clean and dogs to take for a walk in the rain. I will be back soon and keep a eye on my social media accounts as I will be making a effort to post more. Pinky promise this time. 







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1 comment

  1. Hello stranger!
    It sounds like you have been busy and have been working hard. You do right dropping one of the jobs when it was causing that much stress. Sending love and hugs. x

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