Brit Mums Live and Blog Evaluation

In little more than a week Brit Mums Live will be over for another year

I cannot believe it has been a year since the last one

Or even the one before

This year Brit Mums Live for me is about evaluating my blog

And deciding where to go from here

My blogging has got a bit lost since Tilda died

A bit frenzied

No structure or style

With Rainbow Baby well on her way

And Esther and William about to start school

It is time to make changes

It is time to get my blog back to something I am proud of

Rather than a rambling tumble of mixed up emotion

I have a bit of a plan in my head already

And will be seeking inspiration at Brit Mums Live

On how to do what I want and need to do with my blog

I think my starting place is going to be having more of a structure for my content

A schedule so that I get everything done

For myself and for brands, charities and businesses that I work with

My plan at the moment looks like this

Monday – Minibeasts and Motor Skills (for the summer) and then Mummy Monday featuring products and reviews and talk about me as a mummy

Tuesday – Togs for Tots featuring clothes reviews and sharing our favourite places to shop. I have already made a start on this with a weekly feature about Dressing A Boy

Wednesday – Awe and Wonder, this is going to be a day focused on learning and particularly learning through play

Thursday – Tilda Day – a time to talk about Tilda

Friday – Phonics and Fun with Words, another play based learning focus this time with a focus on reading and writing

Saturday – Messy Play for Matilda Mae / Sensory ideas for babies

Sunday – Rainbow Report and Reviews

I am going to apply a similar routine

To our lives at home

I want to make sure I make the most of the time I have with Esther and William

I want to take better care of our house

I want to enjoy Rainbow Baby

I want time to just be with Tilda, to focus on thinking of her

And I would really like some time with David

In the last 16 months I have been drifting

I still am most days

Not knowing quite what to do or where to go

Missing Matilda Mae more and more each day

And while I know that I will always miss her

I know that I need to make an effort now

To be stronger for others who need me

I am a mummy to four beautiful children

A wife to the most amazing man

They need more of me than they have had access to

These past 16 months

And so it is time

To start looking forward

I cannot be with Tilda now

But I can honour her throughout the rest of my days

By being the best mother and wife I can possibly be

And that includes making time to be me

As a writer, a blogger

Because I love what I do

I do not want it to stop

I just want to be more reliable

More responsible

More alive than I have been

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My sponsor for this year’s Brit Mums Live

Is the rather wonderful Gummee Glove

Tilda loved her teething glove

And I have kept in contact with Gummee Glove

Ever since I first discovered them with Matilda Mae

At The Baby Show in October 2012

getting to grips with gummee glove

I am looking forward to working with Gummee Glove over the next 12 months

And sharing lots of cute photos of Rainbow Baby with her teething mittens

To help hone my blogging skills

And to make them work for me and the brands and charities I work with

These are the sessions I am most looking forward to attending next weekend

How I Did It: Success stories from high-profile bloggers

Design tips to make your blog look gorgeous with the lovely Capture By Lucy

How To Be an Agent of Change: Advocacy and charity campaigns

Pinterest: How to be a power pinner

Collaboration: Working together for bigger traffic and larger impact

How to Instagram Better: Take gorgeous snaps, build followers, be part of the community

Mama me-time: Escape the hubbub and explore what nurtures you at this mini creative ”retreat”

This weekend is my time

To consider, reflect and choose

Where do I go from here?

Where does Edspire go from here?

edspire avatar

Where do you think I should go?

Where do you want to go?

What are you hoping Brit Mums Live might hold for you?

10 thoughts on “Brit Mums Live and Blog Evaluation

  1. Have a brilliant time at Brit Mums. I’d love to have gone but it’s too far for me to travel. I think your structure looks great and it’s a fab way to organise your blog and what you want to write about.

  2. Jennie, your blog never has been and never will be lost and frenzied… It has been an incredibly powerful and honest testimony to the pain of losing a most beloved little girl. A little girl who’s legacy continues to live on. You are an inspiration to us all and I’m so looking forward to meeting you next weekend.xxx

  3. Oh wow, thank you so much for mentioning my session! I hope it lives up to expectations – I think BritMums is the perfect weekend to think about what you want to do with your blog and this time next year imagine where you will be xxxxxx

  4. I agree with Claire, your blog has been honest not frenzied. What your blog has done is to bring together people to remember Matilda, to raise money for a charity which you possibly hadn’t heard of before – the Lullabyr Trust, to raise awareness of Count the Kicks, you have probably helped many people you don’t know personally.
    You and your blog are important. I apreciate the need for structure, and I recognise your need to claim back yourself.
    Have a wonderful time at Brit Mums Live. I suspect I am probably too old to attend things like this, they all seem to be aimed at parents with younger children. Sounds like great fun, and wonderful workshops. Enjoy learning new skills, it makes life interesting.

  5. I think it’s incredible to look back over the last months and see how much you have achieved and how far you have come. Tilda will remain in your hearts and your lives forever and will be proud of you for looking to the future and to yourself xxx

  6. You honour all of your children through this blog and in your daily life. I love that you have a plan and are focussed on what you want to achieve – and achive it you will. I am attending Britmums and I am hoping to meet new friends, and actually talk face-to-face with some amazing bloggers and people who have made me feel so welcome in such a fantastic community. x

  7. Oh Jennie, you are so fantastic and inspiring. I totally understand the need to be in control of how your blog develops and understand where it’s going but please don’t be so hard on yourself lovely (I know it’s difficult). Know that there are so many of us that read your words and want to change what has happened but equally want to give you all the support and love you need to continue. Cannot wait to see you on Friday xxx

  8. Your blog is so special Jennie and I am so happy to see you will continue writing and inspiring us all to be better mummies and better people. Thursdays for Tilda sounds wonderful. Your blog has never ever been frenzied just a heartbroken mummy who had lost a piece of her heart who shares her feelings high and low with us all who ate lucky enough to be part of your journey. Enjoy Britmums and take some time for you to be you xxx

  9. I loved reading this and I don’t for a minute think your blog has been rambling although I can really appreciate that you do. Your new plan looks exciting, and I really hope you get tonnes of inspiration from Britmums this year. :o).

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