I’ve been blogging on this site for almost two years now, and it’s been a really interesting experience. I’ve gotten to know so many other parents, bloggers and non-bloggers alike, and learnt so much more about parenting, through the comments I’ve received on my posts. There’s a wonderful community online, and I really appreciate all the friends I’ve made through this blog.
I was tagged by V of Life is in the Small Things to participate in this blog hop, and I thought it seemed like a good time, as I’ve been thinking about some of these questions myself too. I first met V at the SmartKids Asia Expo 2013, and was pretty chuffed to meet her little boy, also named Noah, in his Noah-saurus t-shirt. I enjoy reading her posts tremendously, because she writes very well (I get put off quite easily by poor grammar and incoherent writing), and covers a wide range of topics. I particularly like her posts on the latest kids’ activities, because it’s a great source of inspiration on where to go and what to do with little ones. Plus, have you seen how cute her kids are? I love reading blogs in general, and I have a soft spot for blogs featuring adorable children. 😛
V with her two adorable kids
I’ve been a little behind on my posts recently, because we’ve just returned to Singapore for good, after being in Adelaide for the past nine months. I’m Noah’s primary caregiver, which means I spend most of my time doing all sorts of mummy things, like erm, playing with cars, feeding him (which can take up to two hours per meal, thank you very much), and changing smelly diapers. Ah, the glamorous life of a SAHM…
This is where I usually blog:
As you can see, my workspace is usually the bed, right next to Noah while he naps, and sometimes, instead of blogging, I end up taking a nap with him too. When he was younger, he napped more frequently, which gave me more time to blog. I also blogged on my iPhone while nursing him, but for some reason, the formatting is affected when I use my phone to blog now, so I stick to my trusty MacBook instead. I do ‘blog’ daily on Dayre, because it’s so convenient to use on my iPhone, though my updates there are usually of our day-to-day activities, rather than long posts like these. I was chosen as the Dayre Editor’s Pick recently, which has motivated me to keep writing!
On to the Q&A!
1. What am I working on?
I’m currently into making my own teaching materials for Noah, and plan to share them on the blog soon. It’s more time-consuming than I thought it would be, mainly because I’ve never created materials for a toddler, and constantly second-guess myself.
I also have a review and giveaway coming up, which is something that I haven’t been able to do in some time, because we’ve been overseas for so long. I’m really hoping to get invited to more events and to do more reviews, now that we’re back for good! (If you’ve got any products or events that you want us to review, please feel free to drop me an email.)
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know that books are something which are very close to my heart. I hope to start sharing some of our favourite reads on this blog, and on the blog’s Facebook page too. I’ve been reading quite a bit more now that I’ve got my Kindle Paperwhite
and I really wonder why we didn’t get one earlier. Now, it’s just a matter of making time to review these books that I’ve been reading, as well as Noah’s favourite books, as these days, it’s been more tempting to read instead of write!
I’ve been toying with the idea of revamping my blog as well, in terms of its physical appearance. You should have noticed that the header picture does not resemble us at all, because (a) we aren’t blonde, (b) I’m not a yummy mummy, and (c), Noah is a boy (though he will sometimes tell you otherwise). However, I’m extremely indecisive, and cannot, for the life of me, figure out what I want the new header picture to look like. All I know is that I want it to be cute. Ha. Oh and that I want the little icon on top (I don’t know what it’s called) to be something other than the boring grid that I have now. Any suggestions on what the new header picture and little icon should be?
See my boring grid on the left, vs V’s cute heart on the right? Does anyone know what it’s called, by the way?
2. How does my work differ from others in its genre?
My friends who read my blog (thank you!) have told me that my posts are very “me”, and they can just hear my voice saying those exact same words that they’re reading. Heh. That’s a good thing, right? 😉 Oh, and those near and dear to me will know that I talk A LOT, which explains why most of my posts tend to be rather wordy, but I hope that they’re at least easy to read!
My blog isn’t restricted to any particular genre, as I like to write about whatever I feel is interesting. My posts can be inspired by current events, like the Hello Kitty madness that swept through our country some time ago, and I also enjoy writing about our foodie adventures, because we LOVE our food, and I think most people are always on the lookout for good places to eat. However, because I’m a full-time SAHM, my life kinda revolves around being a parent, which means that my posts are, for better or for worse, mainly about our parenting experiences.
I’m not quite sure how my blog differs from other parenting blogs, though one main difference I’ve noticed so far is that I don’t really do a lot of event reviews at the moment. Perhaps it’s because Noah is a little too young for many activities, or maybe it’s because we have been away and therefore unable to attend these events, but I hope to start writing such posts soon.
3. Why do I write what I do?
I started this blog to chronicle our journey as a family, especially because it was so difficult for us to conceive. I actually kept another blog during the IVF process, but that blog was very private and personal, and I didn’t really want to share it with the whole world. After I gave birth, I decided to start afresh on a new blog, which is also symbolic of our new start as a family of three.
I try to write about things which I personally would find interesting and useful, which is why some of my earlier posts include nursing room reviews, baby shopping lists, and a hospital packing list. As a new mum, I was absolutely clueless about so many things, and I hope my honest sharing of our experiences will be helpful to other new parents.
4. How does my writing process work?
Sometimes, I wait a long time for inspiration to strike. I wait for C to say or do something silly, then gleefully pounce on it as material for a post, and now that Noah does and says a lot of funny things, I have a new source of inspiration.
I used to start writing a post, realise that I needed photos to go with it, then frantically try to capture the perfect shots for the post. These days, I try to be a little more organised, and to take more photos, before I start writing, especially if I’m working on a review. The key word in that sentence is, try, because I’m a really bad photographer. (Anyone wants to offer me a sponsored photography workshop? :P)
As a former EL/Lit teacher, grammatical errors really bug me (I find myself mentally correcting all the mistakes I come across when I read other blogs), so I proof-read, edit, and re-write my pieces quite a bit. Most of my posts go through many rounds of writing and editing, and I seldom finish a piece on the spot, unless I am particularly inspired, and provided Noah cooperates by taking a nice, long nap, of course.
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I hope this post has helped you learn a little more about me and what my writing process is like. Is your writing process similar to mine? Do share your tips with me!
Next up on this blog hop, we have two mummy bloggers, Shermeen of Meeningfully, and Edlyn of MummyEd.
Shermeen’s lovely son J, is about the same age as Noah. I first met Shermeen at an informal lunch gathering, and found that we have quite a bit in common. She’s a FTWM, and I am always amazed at how she is able to juggle so many things so well.
Edlyn is a super-mummy to three adorable children, and her youngest is a few months younger than Noah. I say she’s a super-mummy because she is a WAHM, and I have no idea how she gets anything done, with three kids under the age of seven. We first met online, when she very kindly gave me advice on one of my posts, when I was worrying over Noah’s suspected tongue tie, for which I’ll always be grateful.
Do check out both their blogs next Monday, to learn more about their writing processes.
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