Meet SA Mom blogger Cindy Alfino:
Hello! I’m Cindy – nice to meet you!
I always find these “intros” really difficult to word – how do you sum up life in a paragraph? Let’s give it a bash:
I’m an insurance broker (for short term insurance), I love dark chocolate, pretty things, strong coffee, tattoos and my family. Seth and I have been together for 11 years and got married “really young” (I was 20 and not pregnant – why do people always assume that?!). We’ve always called Cape Town home and since getting hitched we’ve killed more plants than I’d like to admit, but went ahead with moving onto animals anyway. We adopted 2 Labradors (Coco and Spartan) and are in the process of growing three little people (Kyla – 5, Riya-Ray – 4 and Knox – 2).
1. What do you normally get up to on an average day?
I try and eek out every last drop of sleep that I can and then when I just can’t hide under the covers any longer, I get the girls ready for school. When we finally make it to the car I drop them off at school and then make my way to my office in Town. Coffee is first priority, then clearing my inbox and helping clients before heading home at about 2. Then the end of the day crazy sets in and we muddle through supper, bath time and then bedtime for the kids. Once they’re down we sit down with coffee and watch series.
2. How do you feel about motherhood – what are your struggles and joys?
Being a Mom is something that I have always wanted to be. Desperately. Before having our own kids, I used to come home from visiting friends with kids and cry because I wanted my own so badly. Crazy really. Now that we are blessed with our three, things are really busy, often tiring and regularly frustrating, but I wouldn’t change it. Watching them grow, learn new things and interact with one another is one of my daily joys. Sometimes bed time doesn’t come soon enough, but the older they’re getting the more I am thoroughly enjoying their company.
3. Tell us about your kid(s)
Kyla is 5 going on 13. I’m almost scared of what the real 13 is going to look like. She is incredibly creative (must have gotten that from Seth), if she could draw/paint/cut/stick the day away she would. She is a quiet and shy in new company but has no problem telling her siblings what to do. Having a real mermaid tail is at the top of her bucket list and tomatoes might as well be the devil.
Riya-Ray (we just call her Riya – the emphasis on the “i” is like “wire” and not like “Mia”) is our little actress. The facial expressions and dance moves that she comes up with are just the best. She does everything passionately – fiercely loves, contagiously laughs, hysterically cries and explosively melts down. There is never a dull moment. She continuously invents her own language and stores vegetables in her cheek like a hamster.
Knox is one of those kids who are so flipping naughty but happen to have the cutest little dimple while doing it – basically he gets away with everything. Always in character he will constantly have us giggling at his antics, it’s crazy how easily he makes us laugh.
4. How did you start blogging?
It was about 4 years ago, Kyla was just walking and Riya was a baby. I didn’t want to miss out on capturing those moments and blogging felt like a cool way to do that. Along the way I met awesome people and sharing your story and reading others always just reminds me that we are not in this alone.
5. Share with us a valuable blogging tip you’ve learnt. (or more)
Do it for you. Once you start doing it for anyone else it starts to suck.
6. If you make money from your blog, give us a breakdown on how you do it. Give us some of your methods on how to get started on this, or any tips or advice.
Yes, I do sometimes make money (or receive products) through my blog. I’m not even sure how it happened, except that last year I took blogging “seriously”. Regularly putting out quality content and trying not to lose myself in the hype. Some lovely PR people/brands out there seem to like it and got in touch. Since then I regularly work with brands that I like. I pride myself in making sure they are relevant to our family/lifestyle. You won’t find me blogging about cars or power tools, but you will see things that we genuinely love and enjoy. No matter what it is that I chose to do, I make sure it’s still a personal view and add our story in to the mix.
My advice is to keep being you. The right people will find you.
Blog name – 3 Kids, 2 Dogs and 1 Old House
Blog address http://www.alfinos.wordpress.com
Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/pages/3Kids-2Dogs-1Old-House/179553362107367
Instagram account – http://instagram.com/cindyalfino
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