Thursday 30 June 2011

Why I don't blog

See the irony in that?  A couple of days ago, I read this post from @himupnorth and it really struck a cord with me.  It's something I'd been thinking about for a while and wasn't sure how it would be received.  But since he took the plunge, I thought I would too.

A lifetime ago, I started a blog.  It was, to me, just like a diary I'd let everyone read.  It was simply to empty my head, a one-way conversation where I always had the last word.  And at first I enjoyed it.  But as I got more and more into Twitter and read more and more blogs, I realised I didn't quite fit in where it seemed I should.  

It's the term "Mummyblogger".  Ya see, I'm not one of those.  Firstly, I've technically never been a Mummy.  As you may be able to tell from the blog title, I'm Irish.  So when my lads were born, I was initially Mama.  Then Mammy.  And when we left Ireland, I had progressed to Mam.  But once moving here, in an effort to fit in some with their albeit teeny peers, my lads started calling me Mum.  See?  No mummy.

Secondly, much as I love all my friends on Twitter and however much I enjoy their blogs, my dynamic is slightly different.  My lads are almost grown and have very few years left in school.  They spend most of their time in their rooms, with their own laptops.  We no longer bake, or paint, or go to the park.  They don't wear cute clothes nor play with toys (Pokémon not withstanding!).  They eat like horses, swear like hookers, have their own, very strong opinions (where did they get THAT from?) and know more than me about a LOT of stuff.  And one of them has their own blog.  So I can't really blog about them - more than anything, it would scare the living shit out of parents who have yet to experience the teenage years!

Finally, once I'd started the blog, I felt I should be writing on an almost daily basis, whether or not I had something witty/entertaining/shocking or even mildly noteworthy to say.  Although I would consider myself to have a touch of verbal diarrhoea, even I can't spout off ad infinitum.

And so, my blog (should it go any further than this!), will be me talking shite.  It will be like an extra-long tweet.  It will be like when you try to text a story and end up writing, "Ah fuck it, I'll tell you when I see you".  This is me face-to-face.  I can't promise it will be riveting, it won't contain blogging wizardry (I can barely imbed a link!), it may be offensive, it won't make you skinny or clever.  But it might make you smile. :-D