blogging | TheBoyandMe

365 #11

March 16, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 7 Comments

This linky only works because of people linking to it and then contributing their thoughts to others' posts.

Join in by entering the URL of your favourite photograph of the week (either a 52 or a 365 photo) and show some comment love to everyone else in the community. We've got a Facebook group, and now I've created a collaborative Pinterest board (if you'd like to collaborate, let me know and I'll add you).

Choose your favourite photo from the past week and link it up below.
Please add the badge to your linked-up post so that other people know how to find all the other fabulous entries.
If you can spare five minutes to comment on a few other entries I know they'd appreciate it!

I am a finalist in the MAD Blog Awards 2013, in both the Photography and Family Fun category. If you'd like to vote for either me or another blogger, please click the badge below to take you to the voting page.

A Special Little Girl (For Matilda Mae)

March 7, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 28 Comments

Last Summer I had the pleasure of holding a newborn baby. I'd known her mummy for two years and she had become a friend. Yes, an online friend, but a friend nonetheless. Before I met the little girl's mummy, I'd asked if I could have a cuddle from the baby and the mummy very happily agreed.

So at Britmums 2012 I had the pleasure of cuddling Jennie's youngest daughter, Matilda Mae. As I rubbed antibacterial handgel in my hands, I could feel a slight stirring. This was further compounded by the rush of affection and maternal instincts kicking in when I held Baby Tilda in my arms. I smelled her sweet, newborn smell, felt her little squiggliness and looked up at Jennie with tears stinging my eyes. She was the first baby that I'd held since The Boy was born. Suddenly all those desires for another child which had been quashed and locked away, rose up inside me and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I wanted another baby.

That is the legacy that Matilda Mae has left me. Thanks to that beautiful baby girl and her very kind mummy, I've been getting help with my birth trauma from The Boy, and am making headway to extending our family.

The heartbreak that I feel from hearing about the sudden and unexplained death of Matilda a month ago, is nothing in comparison to how Jennie and her family feel. Yet I, and many other parent bloggers, feel connected to their loss.

Why?

Jennie asked me to write about why the parent blogging community has felt the loss of her life so strongly, this is being included in the funeral service.

Community and society evolve. In the 21st century where friends and family are separated by great distances, methods of communication have had to change for relationships to survive. Yet with this world of sending 'instant' messages virtually, time differences and busy lives create yet another obstacle, another barrier to feeling connected. Barriers which, to a new mother, can feel just as isolating as the geographical separation.

As a new mother, I discovered the 'world' of twitter, and in turn the online parent community. It's hard to explain how a group of people can find solice, comfort and friendship via the Internet, but they can. In the same way our parents' and grandparents' generations could be more open through a letter to a penpal, so can parents today. Friendships are struck up through real-time discussions on twitter; lives, hopes and dreams are explored through blogs. No-one judges or condemns; we are all parents, we are all people with feelings, and we are an army of moral support in each other's pockets. There is always someone there.

The parent blogging community is a special one; to show empathy, caring and compassion for a 'stranger' is humbling and restores my faith in humanity.

Most of us start blogs as a way of recording everyday life or verbalising our anxieties. We never dream that people are reading, enjoying, empathising; yet all too soon we find words of comfort and advice, experiences shared and solutions offered. Edspire is a blog that is full of a mother's love for her determined and amazing twins, and her miracle baby, Matilda. Jennie writes with such heartfelt emotion, sharing her innermost thoughts, fears and hopes and inviting the reader to be part of her life. I've followed the wedding story and the secret that was Matilda when vows were exchanged, felt the joy of a natural birth, the anguish of losing her prematurely.

Through blogs we see each other's relationships develop, marriages happen, babies be born and grow. We feel the pride when they sit for the first time, we feel the tiredness due to a night spent nursing a teething baby, and we feel the grief when one of ours is lost. Some of use will never meet in person (I am lucky enough to have met Jennie and to have held Matilda), but it does not diminish our bond.

Shine brightly Matilda Mae

(02.05.2012 – 02.02.2013)

365 #9

March 2, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 18 Comments

Heading into the third month of the year, the weather is improving as the days get longer, the sun stronger, and with that comes the promise of more outdoor play and better photographic opportunities. Having spent the afternoon exploring a (mostly) ruined castle, the photographs have virtually taken themselves.

We're coming to the first wall in Project 365; the novelty has worn off and taking photos has become a little tedious. Don't give up, it's such a rewarding project to do and you'll be amazed at seeing all that you've achieved at the end of the year. Keep snapping away, we all have rough weeks.

Choose your favourite photo from the past week and link it up below.
Please add the badge to your linked-up post so that other people know how to find all the other fabulous entries.
If you can spare five minutes to comment on a few other entries I know they'd appreciate it!

'Fun Food For Children' Pinterest Collaborative Board

February 27, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 11 Comments

A little over a year ago I sent a desperate plea out on twitter for some assistance in trying to get The Boy to eat his food. He was messing around at mealtimes and doing as much as possible to avoid eating. I soon discovered that it was a control issue as well as partly boredom. Time to start getting creative with his meals!

Since then I've had to use this technique every so often to engage him in his meals and get him eating properly. It helps and if I'm honest it's quite fun trying to come up with new ideas.

However as I'm not very inventive with 'food art', I've started a collaborative Pinterest board where members can 'pin' fun and engaging presentational ideas to entice our children to eat.

If you'd like to follow the Pinterest board, you can find the link here. If you'd like to join the board and help create a catalogue of presentational ideas on 'Fun Food for Children', let me know in the comments below and I'll add you. The ideas don't need to come from your own blog, they can be pins from other sites or repins internally.

Let's get those children eating!

365 #8

February 23, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 4 Comments

Well the weather this week has been a bit cheeky!

There I was thinking that Spring was coming and getting enthusiastic about being outdoors again, and it's turned into bitterest Winter again.

I'm not impressed!

As ever, this linky only works because of people linking to it and then contributing their thoughts to others' posts.

Join in by entering the URL of your favourite photograph of the week (either a 52 or a 365 photo) and show some comment love to everyone else in the community. We've got a Facebook group follow, and now I've created a collaborative Pinterest board follow (if you'd like to collaborate, let me know and I'll add you).

Choose your favourite photo from the past week and link it up below.
Please add the badge to your linked-up post so that other people know how to find all the other fabulous entries.
If you can spare five minutes to comment on a few other entries I know they'd appreciate it!

365 #7

February 16, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 6 Comments

What a marvellous week we've had! So busy with half-term activities and I've taken precisely eleventy billion photos with my dSLR. It turns out that me knackering my 18-55mm lens last weekend (I actually cried) was a blessing in disguise because the depth of field on my 28-105mm lens is so much better.

As ever, this linky only works because of people linking to it and then contributing their thoughts to others' posts.

Choose your favourite photo from the past week and link it up below.
Please add the badge to your linked-up post so that other people know how to find all the other fabulous entries.
If you can spare five minutes to comment on a few other entries I know they'd appreciate it!

365 #6

February 9, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 4 Comments

"I can feel it coming in the air today, oh yeah!"

Anyone with me? Anyone else feel that shhhh 'Spring' might just be in sight? I can't wait because with my favourite season of the year comes longer days, more outdoor activities, better natural light and possibly, just possibly the promise of warmth. (I'm wearing a fleece with the heating on 23°C as I type this.)

As ever, this linky only works because of people linking to it and then contributing their thoughts to others' posts.

Choose your favourite photo from the past week and link it up below.
Please add the badge to your linked-up post so that other people know how to find all the other fabulous entries.
If you can spare five minutes to comment on a few other entries I know they'd appreciate it!

365 #4

January 26, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 8 Comments

Come on then you lot, bring on the snow pictures!

As ever, this linky only works because of people linking to it and then contributing their thoughts to others' posts.

Choose your favourite photo from the past week and link it up below.
Please add the badge to your linked-up post so that other people know how to find all the other fabulous entries.
If you can spare five minutes to comment on a few other entries I know they'd appreciate it!

365 #1

January 5, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 25 Comments

Hello all you lovely photographers out there! Welcome to week 1 of the project 365 linky and I'm looking forward to seeing the photographic diaries of everyone who links up; this project really does turn into a community. We've already got a Facebook group, and now I've created a collaborative Pinterest board (if you'd like to collaborate, let me know and I'll add you).

As ever, this linky only works because of people linking to it and then contributing their thoughts to others' posts. (Well actually there's technical stuff I have to do to make it work, but you know what I mean!)

Join in by entering the URL of your favourite photograph of the week (either a 52 or a 365 photo0 and show some comment love to everyone else in the community.

Choose your favourite photo from the past week and link it up below.
Please add the badge to your linked-up post so that other people know how to find all the other fabulous entries.
If you can spare five minutes to comment on a few other entries I know they'd appreciate it!

(Linky Tools has been misbehaving the last few days, if you can't see the linky then add your URL to the comments box and I'll add it for you when it's decided to stop throwing a strop again!)

Project 365: A New Year

January 2, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 13 Comments

I spent the last month or so alternating between;

"NEVER, EVER AGAIN!"

and;

"But it's my thing and I won't not be able to!"

So here I am, about to enter into my third year of taking a photograph every day. I tend to take a lot more than that but to concentrate on one that is technically good is hard work; the trick is not to make your child want to shove the camera lens into the nearest mound of playdough.

There's a lot of interest in the project at the moment and so I'm going to answer some FAQs and set out some guidelines here:

Project 365 involves taking one photograph a day, every day, for a year. It's your project and therefore it should be youtaking the photograph.
The photographs can be uploaded to either a blog (daily or weekly), Instagram, Tumblr, Posterous or 365project.org (the official and original site). I've done two years of blogging it daily and I'm losing the will to live, therefore I'm going to put the images together into a weekly collage (using Picmonkey.com) and blog it on a Saturday.
Each weekend I run a linky for the community. The point is to share either one favourite photo of the week in the linky or, if like me it's going to be a weekly collage, then the link to that round-up post. It is possible to link up Instagram images by finding the web version and using that URL. The linky can be found over on the 365 tab of my blog. It opens at 8pm on a Saturday evening and closes at 11.59 on Sunday night.
I ask that you include my 365 badge onto either the linked blog post or in a sidebar wherever the pictures are hosted (if possible). Not because I'm precious and want the information spread around, but because it means that people can find the linky more easily to see other entries and join in on the community.
There is a Facebook group here, it's private and you'll need to request access. As long as it's obvious to me that you're taking part in the project then you're in!
There's also a collaborative Pinterest board I've set up to share images. If you'd like to join then please let me know.

Here's the badge for the project, you can find the html code underneath in a nifty box thing done by Mr. TBaM.

See you on Saturday!