Meet South African Mom Blogger Portia, who answers some questions:
What do you normally get up to on an average day? (Give us a brief description about yourself)
My days are scary, I am not a morning person, but because I was too lazy to get up at night and I was breastfeeding, we co-sleep with our little 18 months old. So I always wake up tired and cranky I then rush to get ready and go to work. Luckily I am fortunate to have an amazing nanny who assists with the morning craziness and my husband always takes The Heir who is 8 years old to school in the morning. All I have to do is dodge the breastfed monster (The Spare) and drag myself through my morning routine.
From a work perspective I am Change Manager by trade and head up team of amazing change specialists in the best insurance company, so my days are filled with meetings, meetings, and meetings. I have recently relocated back to Johannesburg so my family could live in the same house everyday instead of only on weekends, but this has meant I travel to Cape Town twice in a month. On a normal day, I make it home about 18h00 to 18h30, breastfeed the SPARE who is very insistent on this, eat supper, play and chat to THE HEIR. The kids’ bedtime is allegedly 8 pm but the horror with which they greet this announcement every single day still perplexes me. Hopefully after that hubby and I can close ourselves in the lounge have adult conversation and debrief. I would not get through most days without the husband; he makes it a lot easier to be me.
How do you feel about motherhood – what are your struggles and joys?
I am scared of motherhood: it cannot be contained. Every part of my life is focused on being a mother, and I am still scared.
My biggest worry is that my kids must be happy and how I can ensure that. My eldest son has ADHD and struggles with making friends; this is a worry for me as he is a friendly child with high intelligence levels and is very loving and extremely kind, even to his little brother who terrorises him at every opportunity.
My little baby (THE SPARE) has a congenital facial paralysis which affects his right eyelid muscle and the muscles on his face. He is feisty, go getter, very stubborn and doesn’t understand why he should stop because you said no. I hope he never loses any of that spirit because he is going to need it in a world that doesn’t celebrate diversity, but I know that he will be always have a champion in his older brother.
So I don’t worry about my children being poor financially – I grew up very poor but I turned out sort of fine, crazy but fine. I worry about the world being kind to them, I worry that they must not carry the burden of the judgement of others through their lives, I worry that they will be safe and sound and that they will have an opportunity to follow their passion and have a fulfilling life.
Tell us about your kid(s)
I have 2 kids: THE HEIR is 8 years old, he is an old soul, he is supper clever, hyper activity, has no concentration like his mother, highly affectionate and loving. He loves movies and dragons, and for the first time he will be travelling to Durban to visit my mom as an unaccompanied minor; he is so excited my heart is breaking in pieces, because he doesn’t need me anymore. He is an amazingly special child, who looks like my husband but is exactly like me in personality.
THE SPARE is 18 months old: he is feisty, and headstrong, he is a dare devil, he wants to ride bicycles with the older kids, he loves his nanny (I think he is planning to marry her), he thinks my job is to sit down and breastfeed him and leave it out there for him to find anytime he wants, and he loves his daddy, cell phones and FOOD.. All types of FOOD… All the time.
How did you start blogging?
By chance, I have been writing poetry and short stories for years, and I love reading in an obsessive kind of way. So when I read my first blog I realised there is a platform to put my stories, in a place where I could find them again and wouldn’t lose them like I lost my notebooks, I was sold.
Share with us a valuable blogging tip you’ve learnt. (or more)
Follow other bloggers, read material, but be you, your authentic voice is your own no one else can do you like you can. Remember that once you start doing more paid work you might have to tweak your style to suite your new audience. ENJOY, enjoy.
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.
I do not make money from my blog yet, maybe one day when I can dedicate more time to it.
Portia Lindi Mogale blogs at A Well Heeled Woman. You can also follow her on Twitter, Facebook Instagram and Pinterest.
Love the nicknames Heir and Spare!