Now you are three! Pink Pear Bear, my third child.

Three years now I’ve been blogging. Three years since I started my little section of the internet with my very first post about the trauma of brushing my daughter’s hair!. I’d seen other bloggers pop up on Facebook and thought ‘I could do that!’ little realising the sheer scale of the hard work and hours and hours you have to put into it to get anywhere.

When I first started, it was an outlet for my brain, feeling mushy from 4 years of full time Mumming, finding my way out of the fog of PND and ready to step out of my self created little box. My friends always told them I had a way of making the many many stories of my Mum fails sound hilarious, I suppose that I have a gift of making the drama that seems to plague my life sound funny and entertaining and so I thought I’d try and share that with the world.

I also wanted to showcase my story telling videos I made, I had the idea of writing and illustrating a children’s book and thought this would be a good platform to launch from. I also did a lot of craft posts and attempted a video advent calendar every year with a different craft a day.

After a few months, I sent a message to the lovely Sarah, blogging royalty The Unmumsy Mum and although she probably got a billion messages from aspiring bloggers a day, she was so lovely and encouraging and took me over to twitter, something I’d been totally not into before and introduced me to some wonderful people including Mr Kitney. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming and day by day, my channels started to grow as I got the idea about how to use them and how fun they could be. There began my obsession with social media!

A post shared by Louise Pink Pear Bear (@pinkpearbear) on Jun 4, 2018 at 11:57am PDT

Over time, my blog has grown away from the idea of being a platform for a book, (maybe one day Mum and Dad, I know you’re desperate to buy it!), and took on a whole new identity and purpose. I found that people liked what I wrote, responded to me, chatted to me, and later brands wanted to work with me.

Small reviews came first, toys and clothes and then bigger projects, photoshoots, hair makeovers, collaborations with big brands. We get to go to wonderful festivals like Cornbury, Geronimo and this year Camp Bestival for the first time. We have a holiday coming up at Hoburne Holiday Parks and get invites to some wonderful and exciting events. I’ve won a trip to London on twitter and we’ve had meals and days out, beautiful clothes, toys, gifts, review stays and actual money!

The best thing of all for me, above all of this, is the community I’ve a) created and b) discovered. Via Pink Pear Bear I’ve discovered a group of like minded people who read and watch my posts, chat to me on social media, confide in me, answer my questions, offer ideas, share experiences and give me solidarity. I am big on no judgement, we are all just winging it, one way or another, the only goal is to get through life with the kids and your sanity intact, anything else is a bonus!

I’ve also discovered a whole new avenue of friends in my fellow bloggers. Some of whom have become friends for life. My friend and I decided to branch out and do something different and created the Cotswold Blogger Awards which was such an amazing experience and a very steep learning curve at the same time. It was lovely to try and give something back to the community and plans are well under way for next years event.

The last few months have been difficult for me personally, with my daughter leaving school to be home educated, there hasn’t been any time for anything, I devoted everything to her happiness (and had a blast along the way) putting my needs aside completely, only taking the jobs I felt I could fit in around her or would really benefit us.

Now though, she’s feeling happy in a new school and we’re going to have an epically amazing Summer holiday and then September will roll around and I can go full steam ahead on the blog and seeing where the next three years will take me!

I was training to be a counsellor when I had my first child, sitting there taking my exam, barely able to fit behind the desk due to my big bump, and I swiftly realised I wasn’t going to be able to emotionally care for my family and have any space left over for anyone else. This blog however, along with being my therapy, has become a way of helping others. I’ve written extensively about mental health, my own, anxiety, anxiety in children, and every single time I get a message from someone thanking me for my words, reaching out, I feel like I am fulfilling what I set out to do all those years ago, to help people.

A post shared by Louise Pink Pear Bear (@pinkpearbear) on May 22, 2017 at 11:48am PDT

 

So finally, the big finish, I want to say thank you to you, thank you to every single one of you who reads my words, comments, double taps my photos, messages me, shares my content, supports me, encourages me and is kind to me when I feel low. If I could, I’d give you all cake and flowers. I appreciate each and every one of you so much and can’t wait to share the next 3 years with you too.