Tag: Facebook

Sending the kids to the circus 

On By rebelwithkindnessIn Uncategorised, Uncategorized2 Comments

Ok I’m fuming right now, last night on my Facebook page I shared this 
  
Photo Credit : Sue Fitzmaurice 

About 30 minutes after I posted I received an email telling me I should be ashamed. It seems that after losing a child I should never wish any harm to my others. I should know how special they are.

Now as you can see from the picture I didn’t wish any harm to my kids and maybe they may have enjoyed the circus.

But really !!!

I love my children with all my heart but I’m being totally honest when I say at times they completely drive me mad. 

As for saying I should know better, what the f*ck.

Livvy didn’t die because I threatened to send her off to the circus. She died because of a shitty neurological disorder named Rett Syndrome. 

As for my other three girls I am parenting them the way I feel best. At times like most moms I feel like I’ve messed up. I shout, scream and often lose my patience. 

Losing Livvy didn’t turn me into the perfect parent.

In fact what it did teach me was that I had to treat my girls like normal. I couldn’t wrap them In cotton wool and be scared of anything happening to them. It wasn’t easy the loss of a child does make you over protective and frightened of everything. But raising them in a bubble wouldn’t be fair to them. 

They have a life to live to the full. The whole world to explore, people to meet, memories to make.

And right now if that means a trip with the circus, so be it. 😜

Tots 100 Blog Summit – Birmingham

On By rebelwithkindnessIn Uncategorised, Uncategorized1 Comment

Last week I attended my a blog summit in Birmingham. To be perfectly truthful I hadn’t a clue what to expect as I had never before attended one run by tots 100 and with the conference being free I wasn’t sure of the speakers or the experience that was going to be offer.

Now I don’t wish that to sound so snobby ( as I’m sure it does)but i can be rather cynical and believe in life you tend to get what you pay for.

Well I was so wrong, from the moment I found the venue I was surprised by the quality of the summit.

The venue itself was stunning and they had coffee on the go which anyone who knows me will relate when I say good coffee can make or break a day for me.

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The agenda was packed with a variety of sessions that I was excited to attend. So many in fact that I was seriously wishing I could split myself in two.

The first session I attended was the Grill Section, this was a chance to grill more experienced bloggers. Chrissie from Mediocre Mum (I was super excited to meet Chrissie as we have been tweeting on twitter for a while)., Helen from Fuss Free Flavours, Ruth from Geek Mummy and Sally from Who’s the Mummy and Tots100 All were happy to answer questions on anything blog related. I asked about changing your blog voice,my blog is featuring less posts about my children because now as teenagers they require more discretion on my part. Spoilsports.

The advice I received was really helpful and I left the session with pages full of notes. A big thank you to the bloggers under the grill.

Also in this session to Sally from tots100 even gave us a run down on how the metrics work. I confess I still haven’t a clue but that’s down to my lacking brain not Sally’s explanation.

My 2nd session was on advanced SEO being run by Judith Lewis and I’m sure it was super informative to many but five minutes in my head was spinning so I escaped to grab a coffee and some pain killers and took some time out before lunch.

Ooh talking of lunch it was simply yummy. A great selection on offer.
I ate well that day. To quote Oliver Twist “more please sir”.

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The third session I attended was run by Cathy from nurture store. It was all about getting the most out of Facebook. This was a really informative session and I’ve already been using some of the advice we were given.

My fourth and final chosen session was run by John Arnold on outdoor photography. It was really interesting and John is a great teacher as he makes it accessible for all at whatever level they are at. He also convinced me I needed a new lens for my DSLR, well that’s what I told the hubby.

After another break and more coffee the day came to an end with perhaps the most inspiring part of the whole event. A talk by Andy Cope the author of How to be Brilliant and other books including our family favourites The Spy Dog.

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My youngest wasn’t at all impressed that I didn’t come home with a signed book from him. Of course my fault entirely I know I should learn to carry books around with me in case I meet her favourite writers. Lesson learned.

Anyway Andy brought home to me something that I had forgotten for a while. He told us that happiness is a choice. We have too remind ourselves each morning that each day is a gift and to live it happy. That we could be a lot worse, we could have toothache. There was off course a lot more to Andy’s talk including percentages and oranges but for me it really hit home.

As it reminded me of Livvy, and when learned of her condition and that we may not have forever. We had to make the decision to make each day count. To seize each day and live it to the best we could. To create those memories.

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In summary Blog Summit was pretty awesome. I really encourage any new bloggers or older longer standing ones to check them out.

It was informative and at times hilarious. Well worth attending.

Personally I had a great day I got to meet some new friends and catch up with old ones.

I got to enjoy lovely coffee while listening to speakers that really knew their stuff.

I left happy and with a notebook packed full of ideas and helpful advice.

A really fanatic day and a big thank you to tots 100 for organising it.

So my only question is

When’s the next one???

I’m considering becoming a hermit

On By rebelwithkindnessIn Uncategorised, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Ok maybe the title of this post is a little extreme but I am finding myself increasing enjoying my own company more than ever.

Having time to work through my thoughts.

Reading books and having the time to digest the meanings.

No small talk

Quiet time in conversation with God.

Journaling to my hearts content.

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Ok ok being truthful I couldn’t become a hermit. I need my daily fix of cuddles and smooches.

But it is nice once in a while to have some time out.

Since Christmas I have taken a step back from social networking, my mobile phone, my laptop.

It didn’t start out as an intentional thing just an escape from feeling overwhelmed . I couldn’t keep up, my twitter feed was out of control. Tweets on events that I had completely missed out on. Situations with friends that had just bypassed me in the numerous irrelevance that I was following.

Facebook was the same how can one person have over 100 notifications in a day, I’m so not that popular, just group updates etc etc

My email box looked scary, I just began to avoid it.

So I took a step back. Decided that if it was important I would deal with it but if not I would let it go.

Refusing to check my accounts no more than 5 times a day rather than every 5 minutes.

Radical maybe ha ha but I survived and I’ve thrived.

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I’ve read whole books in one sitting rather than a couple of chapters while checking twitter.

I held conversations with my children without checking my phone just in case.

I’ve watched DVDs snuggled on the sofa with my husband, no pausing or losing the plot just to return this email.

I’ve been present in my life. In the here and now with the person I’m standing with, not allowing half of my mind to be whirling around in cyberworld.

In the silence I have began a journey of reminding myself of who I am and who I wish to be.

I’m not really ever going to become a hermit but I have and will be continuing with the changes I have made.

Being present in your loved ones life’s is so much more important that being present in the virtual world.

Lesson learned.

“Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going.” — Tennessee Williams

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.” — Henry David Thoreau

Virtual Air Kisses

On By rebelwithkindnessIn Uncategorised, Uncategorized2 Comments

One of my daughters views the world in a very black and white way. She is incredibly honest and very logical. This at times can be hard work but always refreshing.

Well we were chatting the other day and she asked me the question. “why do people lie to suck up to others”. As this was a completely out of the blue I asked her to explain what she meant. “like when a girl tells the teacher her hair looks pretty”. Maybe she is just being nice I said. “but mom the teacher must know that she was having a bad hair day so knew it was false”. Right ok but she then went on to add. “So the next time the girl says something nice to the teacher she won’t believe it. Which would be a shame for example if she has had a new hair style and it did look nice”.

This really struck a chord with me. How many times have we said something just to please or fill a pause in conversation which we haven’t really meant. The truth is my daughter is right because we do this it means when we do speak in truth and in a heartfelt manner it may not be believed, accepted, trusted.

My daughter after brooding for a while went on to ask about Facebook and everyones (slight exaggeration) use of of the term BFF. It’s seems she finds it funny when people write on her wall about being best friends how much they adore her. Yet when at school they barely acknowledge her.

Society is changing and the use of social networking is increasing and to be perfectly honest i love it. The Internet has given me opportunities to conquer my shyness and speak my mind. Yet I do wonder if we are getting lost from the truth of our statements. Do we comment on a friends photo just for the sake of doing so. Agree with a status just because. Giving out false flattery when truth really should require us to stay quiet.

There is so much talk going on about people being cruel on the Internet saying things to others which they wouldn’t dare to say to their faces. Yet the truth is far wider. We have become false. The world is being filled with virtual air kisses.

My daughter speaks the truth by doing this we are actually taking away the joy of a job well done truthful comment. Or an honest I like that dress compliment.

I know she has made me think. I will be more accountable in my replies, tweets, comments. I want to give credit where due and for a reason not just because. I also want to receive it in truth too.

I also hope my daughter never loses the innocence and honestness of her mind.