Top Sante Shoot.
Chichester Family Grapevine Magazine.
Mumra featured as Blogger of the Week
- British Mummy Bloggers Blog.
Blogger of the Week + 10 Must-Reads
'' This week's Blogger of the Week is "holding on to COOL with both hands and refusing to give up ME without a fight." This is a mantra I wish I could use!You know her on Twitter as mumrablogand have been entertained by her ever changing avatars and her refreshingly honest take on parenting.
This week's Blogger of the Week is Sarah Hayward, better known as Mumra! If you haven't heard of Mumra/Sarah you may also have seen her if you're a reader of Top Sante as she was featured in a brilliant article in January of this year. Sarah is taking the world by storm.
Sarah's commitment to fitness has been especially impressive in the last 6 months. She's been working out HARD at Nuffield Gym in preparation for some charity runs this summer. In her ongoing fitness quest, Sarah began a new weekly feature on Mumra which has got people trawling through their music libraries to contribute to Mumra Playlists. She's got my toes tapping. Now if I could just figure out how to use iTunes to get them!This week, however, I was extra impressed with Sarah in her Gallery post. On Wednesday we were regaled with the story of a young Sarah and her entrepreneurial spirit that is second-to-none! I now see where Sarah's get-up-and-go comes from.
So sit back and have a read of Mumra. You will not be disappointed! ''
Holding on to cool - Written by Mumra
Holding onto cool with both hands
by '' I should probably start by stating now, I am an excellent mother to my child.
If as you read this article you begin the think otherwise just refer to that first line and then continue.
I was in the doctors' waiting room recently, entertaining my child and desperately trying to ignore a set of eyes that were burning deep into my soul. Another mother was so brimming with neediness to unload her parental verbal diarrhea onto me it was seriously uncomfortable.
I was hard. I stood my ground; I interacted with my child and fiddled with my iPhone.
Then suddenly, like a saving grace, a Stepford Wife floated into the room, no doubt straight from ‘Baby Massage,' smothered in Issy Mayake, all Ugg boots and side swept baby hair.
''Oh Elsie has those shoes!'' She squealed at the twitching mother who immediately opened her mouth letting loose her drivel.
I am not sure who was more relieved; I was at least free to play Angry Birds.
I cannot partake in this mindless chatter about night feeds, the latest Cath Kidston change bags and the like. Who decided that the only common bond two mothers have is mothering and this is what will bind us all together? I like who I like, the fact that you have a child is neither here nor there to me.
Please do not get excited about us lining up our Bugaboos outside music groups; it is never going to happen. For a start, I will be at home watching Jeremy Kyle, and ignoring the ironing.
It makes me wonder what these women were like before the baby. Did they randomly strike up conversations with the person in front of them in the queue at Marks and Spencers about the colour of their shoes? No, I doubt they did.
Why do so many women let motherhood take over every aspect of their lives?
Am I naive to think it does not or should not?
I like to think when the child is not physically attached to my leg that I am still me; the girl I always was. Yes, I CAN make play dough from scratch and I know how to remove wax crayon from the kitchen walls but I also know how to down ‘B-52' cocktails with no hands and break some shapes to Jackin House.
I am holding onto my cool with both hands and I will fight to the death before I hand it over to a music group and a conversation about bottle feeds with a woman I have never met before. If I need parenting advice I will ask a friend or search online; if I want a play date I will fix one up with someone I know.
So you have been warned.
For the record, I am not anti the Stepford Mum thing and if it floats your boat then fine, knock your self out with ‘Baby Sign Language' and ‘Hop little Bunnies' - just leave me well out of it; I am trying to sort out a babysitter. ''
Let my husband do DIY? I don't think so - written by Mumra for In The Powder Room.
I once saw a well-known British comedian - Michael Macintyre - do a routine where he talked about the Man Drawer.' It
got me thinking because in our house... this drawer is mine.
In it you will find:
String
Spare keys (uses unknown)
Allen keys
Batteries (possibly dead, possibly covered in leaked acid)
A screwdriver
Takeaway menus
A hammer
Picture hooks
Old mobile phones
It all goes back to my childhood. I was raised in a house where my father did not know how to wire a plug. If my mother was out, Dad would ask me to turn on the hot water immersion and heating system! I wonder how many cold showers my father took when he was home alone?
It was my mother who taught me how to be handy around the house. But history repeats and I now have a significant other who would deem an electrical item broken rather than investigate a blown fuse. And I have accumulated a drawer of miscellaneous manly' objects.
Don't get me wrong though, I'm not a geezer bird, not even close.
I don't drink pints and I will not even contemplate leaving the house without make up on but I do insist on putting together Ikea furniture within 30 minutes of it entering the house.
Not long after I got with my man he was having a conversation with one of his friends about wall mounting a TV. He asked how you would go about hiding the cables and I replied chase them into the walls or go for trunking '. His friend agreed I was right but added that was a bit weird'.
You see I would never let my other half even put up a picture in our house, it would concern me greatly that he might mess up his hair or the wall.
Now that I have a daughter I fully intend to teach her my handy woman ways as soon as she is old enough. I'm deeply grateful to my mother for passing on her skills.
I don't feel that there is anything strange about this. I feel capable, independent and frankly, men would only balls it up, would they not?
Am I the only one to own a woman drawer'? Don't let me down women of the world! Let's stand together waving our screwdrivers and unite in the technology of Ikea's interlocking bolts.
If you are interested in featuring Mumra in any capacity please contact me on:
mumrablog@hotmail.com
mumrablog@hotmail.com
