Is the Parent Blogger market saturated?

Is the “Parent Blogger” market saturated? There are now thousands of us out there churning out blog posts left, right and centre. But how many more great parent bloggers will come forward trying to be the next super high profile power blogger? All clamouring to be called up to write opinion pieces for well known media sources or even the TV Mecca, an appearance on This Morning! There is certainly a wide pool of genuinely talented writers out there, all willing to write pieces for online newspapers for free in the ambitious hope that the exposure will send them stratospheric. (Those papers have it sussed! Great content, written for free!)

Where will it end? Will we all just implode into some big blogosphere black hole leaving a sorry trail of burnt out lap tops, tablets and PCs behind us?

Sure, lots of us SAY that we are just blogging for ourselves....as a little hobby or some “me” time or as an online diary for our families to read or whatever. But who, really, is gonna turn down having a piece published in say, The Daily Mail?! Because even tho most of us hate it....most of us still guiltily read the side bar of shame and covet the opportunity to write articles which we all think we could have written better, whilst simultaneously bashing out the least bitter compliments we can muster to the successful fellow blogger currently filling your screen... (or is that just me....)

I wonder if Carrie Bradshaw is to blame? The image imprinted on most of our brains of her puffing away on the now forbidden (shriek!) Marlboro Light, writing up her column in her cool NY apartment, having had a night of cocktails and hilarity with her mates in some super cool venue! Isn’t that what at least SOME of us fantasise about when we’re stuck in our grubby, kids snot covered PJs, cradling luke warm tea, greasy haired and bleary eyed, writing up our latest BRILLIANT piece?! That’s gonna be me! I’m gonna be as cool as Carrie! When I’ve lost all this baby weight (that I seemed to have before babies) and when my kids are at least in full time education, and I’ve had more than 4 hours sleep in one go and we have won the lottery so that someone can clean my super cool house in New York whilst I write up my latest COLUMN (it will be a proper column) for the New York TIMES!

No? 

Essentially though the parenting community is lovely network to be a part of. It’s vast and varied and incredibly supportive. Any bitterness at other’s success is unlikely to be aimed at others...just an internal envy...why couldn’t it be me?! Why aren’t I that funny/clever/savvy?!

 And I’m in no way denigrating this community by suggesting there maybe too many of us. That would be pissing on my own doorstep! It has helped me through a hell of a lot of tough times in my parenting career so far, and I hope this continues. There’s always someone online at any hour to chat to on Twitter or Facebook, awake for probably the same reasons as me. I’ve really had great advice and learnt tons and tons about parenting from being in touch with such a great lot.

Of course there really are some parent bloggers who are just happy to blog away with no ambition other than to entertain themselves and their readers. Parents who like having products to review, or running competitions, or running linkies, or just posting gorgeous pics of their kiddies. Not everyone is as cynical and competitive as me!

But there are just so many of us bloggers aspiring to the adulation of the masses out there! We’re multiplying faster than wet gremlins. (Old skool reference there). People are realising that it’s a very easy, fun, potentially ego-boosting way to occupy your time. And when you’re breastfeeding, your little ones are having a nap (like mine RIGHT NOW), or when they’re finally asleep at night...all you have to do is fire up the old laptop/tablet/PC and tap out some of your funnier or more entertaining experiences of the day.

Who knows where the Parent Blogging phenomenon will end up.... I will be interested to see if it’s still going strong in 10 or even 5 years time. And what will be the thing to usurp it? Vlogging seems to be getting more popular. Maybe there’ll be a TV channel just for parents? Live streaming parenting? All I know is that I’ll probably still be there at the back, desperately trying to get to the front and have my OPINIONZ IN YOUR FACE!!!!! Watch out world, Mrs Helicopter is coming to get you!!!!!

UPDATE 14-07-2015: OMG I predicted it here first! One word: Periscope! SPOOOOOOKY! I can see into the future! 

Stop telling me I am lucky to have my husband!

I am so tired of being told how grateful I should be for my husband. I hear it all the time. Even my own Grandmother has said it to me. So what is allegedly so special about my husband?

1. My husband cooks. He will cook every night unless I want to cook something.
2. He cooked every night of both my pregnancies because I couldn’t stand the smell of ANYTHING. He also did all the washing up because it grossed me out and the washing cos I was knackered. He did virtually everything around the house.
3. He does most of the clothes washing.
4. He does the bins and the litter tray with little or no reminder.
5. He vacuums when it needs doing and not because I’ve asked.
6. He gets up with the kids every school day and gives them breakfast and gets one or both of them dressed.
7. He loves spending time with the kids and spends hours playing with them both.
8. He drives us everywhere.
9. He’s more than happy to stay in pretty much every night of the week and let me, if I wanted, go out and do whatever I like….go to an exercise class, go to the cinema, get drunk with mates etc.
10. He’s a lovely person, he’s funny, clever, handsome (in my opinion!) and he treats me with the perfect balance of respect and ridicule.
11. He doesn’t bash me in?
12. I don’t *think* he shags everything he sees?
13. He isn’t a massive racist, homophobic, sexist pig?

As you can see, by the question marks on points 11, 12 and 13, I am wondering if I am actually supposed to be grateful for these things too? Because as far as I am concerned, these are a given for me as well as the first 1-9.

Husband in "Enjoying the company of his own children" story scandal. 

I am grateful for ONE point. 10. I am grateful I met someone who I think fits this description and who feels the same way about me…. enough to want to marry me and have babies with and I am grateful that I met him so I am young enough to spend a big chunk of my life with him and our lush kids.

I am now going to address why I don’t think I should be grateful for 1-9:

1. I love cooking. I did most of the cooking except during my pregnancies both of which I spent the duration sick as a dog. I resumed cooking until I had a gastric band fitted and now I only cook occasionally because I always end up COOKING TOO MUCH! So we BOTH cook. And the only time I don’t cook is when I’m carrying a watermelon & on the verge of puking constantly or trying to save us money by not wasting food.

2. I was ill as shit during both pregnancies and then I squeezed a watermelon out my foof, had mental breakdowns in the form of PND and was an emotional & physical wreck both times. He didn’t/wasn’t.

3. He washes the clothes but he can’t fold for shit (despite trying), he has never picked up an iron (although to be fair, I rarely do) and doesn’t really do bed sheets or towels. He doesn’t BUY any clothes. He doesn’t decide what clothes NEED to be bought and when and what size and what the season dictates in terms of needs for the kids wardrobe. He doesn’t go through the drawers every so often and take out the clothes that don’t fit and then keep them in age-ordered bags to go through at a later date to decide whether they will be charity shop or hand-me-downs.

4. I’m in charge of making sure we have enough cat litter and bin liners, which sounds like a good part of the deal except it means that I organise ALL THE SHOPPING ALL THE TIME FOR EVERYTHING. It’s mostly me that notes down if we run out of anything then add it to the list, either sit at my iPad or writing my list to actually shop and remember what we need and what we will eat for the rest of the week and if we have enough snacks, toiletries, cleaning products, cat food, bog roll, nappies etc etc. I think about shopping most days.

5. He does vacuum but he’s never ever cleaned our toilet. But that’s ok because I like cleaning the bathroom (freak!) and he’s ok with vacuuming. We’re a team!

6. He has to wake up before me for work. He’s out of the house by 7.30 so he’s always awake with them in the week. I finish getting them ready and then have the sorry task of getting them actually out of the house (preferably without tantrums which is rarely) and to school on time every day. On weekends we take in turns to have lie ins.

7. I don’t think I need to address this point!

8. I have JUST failed my 5th test...go me! So I am trying. I do however cycle us wherever I can. I’m environmentally winning!

9. He thrives on his own company, just him, his guitars and all his musical computery shiz....writing songs and bashing out tunes in his little studio. I like being out with friends and chatting chatting chatting. This suits us both.

And to further that final point a bit....it is about personality types too. I am obviously not attracted to alpha male types who like their time “down the pub”, “flirting wiv da ladies” and thinking housework/cooking is women’s work. Obviously I am talking about the extreme here but really part of my being with Emlyn is because I am naturally attracted to someone who wants to treat me as an absolute equal in all things. That isn’t luck....that’s just DNA and pheromones, surely?!

And hold up a second here, why is Emlyn not lucky to have ME?! I am super hot, very funny, intelligent, I have impeccable taste and I produce gorgeous brilliant children! I bring good things to the table just as much as he does!

Seriously though, why should I be “lucky” to be receiving this complete parity? Why can I not accept this as just how it should be? Why do I need to be grateful that my husband likes his kids? We are not living in the Victorian times. Just under 100 years on from women getting the right to vote, I shouldn’t even need to be writing this. We must stop accepting old values as OK.

Each household is different obviously. And I am not dictating here that a man needs to do the dishes for your partnership to be equal. Nobody really knows what goes on behind closed doors (unless one of you writes a confessional style blog...ahem). If you do the lion’s share of the work but your partner works from 7am to midnight or whatever then that’s a totally different situation to mine and incomparable. And I am not casting judgement on those other partnerships either. What works for you, works for you.

But however your relationship works, if it’s different to mine or not, please don’t tell me I’m lucky.