Making it up

App??

Me and my poor little blog didn’t make it through to any finals. Meh. However, the fabulous Family Quest, our app from the BritMums and ThreeUK campaign last year is a finalist in two categories in the loved by parents awards !

I am so proud

Feel very free to vote for it, and spread the word. It’s in the specials section, under both children and family apps. I won’t get anything out of it but happiness, but there you go.

This is going to be a linen shift for Tigerboy for when we do the Grand Annual reenactment of Tudor life at Kentwell Hall this summer. I’ll write more about that shortly, but if you are within 50 miles or so of the place (or even a little further) I’d really really advise trying to visit. It’s fabulous. And the first two weeks you stand a chance of catching a glimpse of us.

This is not me. And it’s not actually a crafty activity. This is handcream with glitter added, and the idea is that one person starts of with their hand so dosed, and then goes about making normal contact with other ppl – high fives, handshakes, hugs – and you can see how many ppl they’ve touched, and track how a disease would progress. We’re doing the black death this week.

Making a rosary – this is Small, who decided to be awkward and picked the dark beads out of three of the cups Helen had set up with the right number of beads in. Our reenactment year this time is 1556, which is a Catholic year, so these rosaries, made of wooden beads and linen thread, may well be acceptable. Though we might replace the fimo cross, unless it’s decided they look enough like pottery

I’m lying actually, I’ve got half a dozen Cybher inspired posts rattling around in my brain. But this one is clawing at the back of my eyes, so I’m going to set it free now.

It’s about that no follow link thing. Ppl were talking about the legality of no follow links, and I think in most cases they were really discussing breaking google’s guidelines. But there are advertising issues with disclosure, and I’ve discovered that it’s the quickest way to make some PRs go quiet, explain that you only give no follow links.

But one Mrs Kerry Jean Lister, PR for large firms like Lego and so on, pointed out that her clients spend lots of money appearing where they want to on google, and the reviews they get from bloggers are for a different purpose. They are to appeal to your specific, highly engaged, readership. Not to game google, not to shade the results – but personality marketing, on your reputation. So no follow links are fine for that.

I just wish a few more PRs were similarly clued up.

I’m completely confused over my attitude to awards. Of course I want to win. We’re brought up to believe being the best if a good thing. But I hate the idea of pimping and begging, I want to be recognised without having to ask ppl to look.

Which, in the style of awards we’ve got floating around right now in the blogging world, just isn’t going to work. Not for me – I don’t have enough regular readers who are into that kind of thing and would think to vote without being asked. Which I suppose means that actually, I’m not good enough. Hm.

So, if I didn’t ask, didn’t get the votes to go through to the next stage of either BiBs or MADs why do I have this curious feeling of disappointment? I knew it wouldn’t happen. But there’s that tiny germ of hope that somehow it will…

Why would I want to win? Do I really want to be a part of the in crowd that much? Of course I do! I want posh prizes, I want glorious nights out, I want ppl to sit up and notice when I mention my award winning blog, like I saw ppl react at Cybher when other bloggers just mentioned their nominations. I want to be able to use that to climb another step, maybe break into paid writing, be the blogger that ppl want to meet but are almost too shy to – don’t I?

I don’t know. I want some of it. The payment, definitely. Times are, as they say, hard. But not at the price of asking for ppl to like me. There’s a stubborn streak that won’t let me do that.

So I guess I’ll go on without awards, trying to make my way some other way. Otherwise, you might even say

This post started life as a comment on Michelle’s blog (yes, that is a follow link, do you remember the days when we used to just link to ppl because we wanted to, not because of a linky or a carnival, just because?), but got out of control and had to be dragged over here.

We came on a train.

I figured out feeding in a wrap.

Navigated the tube, found the venue, found some ppl I know.

Then the hotel, and a Chinese meal, and finally back to peace and quiet.

I didn’t like passing cocooned bodies of men in doorways, sleeping amidst the raucous celebrations of day to day life.

And I feel a little guilty that I’m warm, with a bed and a kettle and sweets and they are not.

See you all tomorrow, cybher bloggers.

Yes, that is a peacefully sleeping child. One down, three to go.

If a child lives with criticism, they learn to condemn…

I’ve been listening to myself and my children. And I think I’ve been doing far too much condemning the older children are far too quick with a sharp word or snide comment, often much worse than I would say, but I think that they are enlarging mirrors aren’t they?

And smallest is an echo. So I know when they’ve been calling each other unpleasant names, as she innocently and piercingly repeats them. She also us mainly talking in questions “what did I say?” Being a favourite, and it has been suggested that perhaps I say that too much.

In my defense, I use it to check that everything I’ve said has been taken on board, but I need to find a different way to do that.

So how long will it take me to change my habits and in doing so, change theirs?

{reading} I Shall Wear Midnight Terry Pratchett. Rather darker than the others in this series.
{cooking} hole, with and without toad.
{watching} back to the future part two. And slightly wishing I hadn’t bothered. They seem to have forgotten the funny for this one.
{planning} Tudor costumes. Hose, braes, shift and pourpoint all in my very near future.
{feeding} round the clock.
{sleeping} I wish.

So, this time next week I’ll be in that London, hopefully just finishing up dinner before getting an early night and lots of sleep before attending *the* blogging conference of the year, Cybher.

I’m a bit nervous.

This is kind of silly, as I’ve been to both cybermummy conferences, and really enjoyed them. But, I’m not actually all that good at big crowds. I’m awful at names and faces. I may or may not recognise ppl I’ve met before, and my chances of recognising ppl I’ve never met are minimal.

I want a blogger bingo card. With ppl’s pictures next to their twitter and blog name as well as their real name so I can keep track of who I’ve managed to met and who I’m still looking for. Because I don’t want to be on twitter the next day saying, you were there and I didn’t see you?

And I’ve started to build a twitter list of attendees. Please feel free to leave your twitter id in a comment so I can add you, and do follow the list so you can find everyone else. I’m also building a back up google+ circle in case twitter crashes, so feel free to give me that link, or comment on this post in g+, but I don’t think I can share a circle can I?

And how will you recognise me? I’ll be wearing clothes that give me easy access to my breasts, which I’ll be whipping out all over the place, because I’ll have the delectable 9 week old tigerboy with me. Yes, I’ll be the woman with a baby in a sling. And I’m shy, but I don’t bite, so please do say hi.