Before New Year’s Eve happened, I had not given a thought to
making resolutions. I tend not to what with their propensity to be so easily
(and quickly) broken. Why set yourself up for disappointment?

But I am now very strongly resolved to get my head right and
make this anxiety a tyrant of my past. I don’t expect that there is a cure but
I do know that when my head is in a good place, I can keep full blown panic at
bay.

This is a resolution worth making and worth keeping. So on a
personal level, there is just this one thing.  

When it comes to the blog, I am all about the resolutions.
There are so many things that I would like to do, that need to be done,
that I just wish I had more time in the day to do. Today I am writing this from
the library. Bren is at home with the kids and it is just me, alone, with my
computer. Getting up this morning was easy because I knew it was my day to
write. It couldn’t start soon enough. But these days are not easy to come by
and more often than not, my blog is a creative space hampered by time or the
lack of it.

But setting myself impossible goals on the blog is not going
to help with the resolution to stop the anxiety so I can never promise I will
do anything here. Best blogging intentions are nothing when weighed against a kid starting school, babies learning to walk, husbands needing the occasional handjob.
Life is busy and getting busier still. But I persist with this little place
because it feeds my soul on a level that the other things can’t. I would like
to grow it ever more big and beautiful but now is not the time in my life where
I have the freedom to do it. So all I can hope is that you will keep reading
even though this thing is watered as though it is an easy-care plant pushed to
its limits of neglect.

Balance. I need some. Because right now I feel like I have a
million jobs and am succeeding in doing NONE of them well.

Stick with me while I muddle through, will you?

With all this in mind, I wanted to talk you through some
of the things I foresee taking shape on The Little Mumma in 2013.

1. Reviews and
Giveaways

Here on The Little Mumma, I have always felt that too many
reviews and giveaways would be a distraction to what I really want to spend my
time doing and that is writing. By limiting the amount of reviews I do, in
particular, I hope that when I do choose to mention a product here, you can be
sure that I genuinely believe in it.

This year, I will only do a handful of reviews. I don’t
especially enjoy writing them and I’m not sure you especially like reading them
so they will be minimal. Giveaways are fun but seriously time-consuming so
while I love sharing freebies with you guys, I will be selective about which
ones I choose to run.

And so that we are all on the same page, you should know
that I charge what I call a ‘Writer’s Fee’ and some others call an "Admin Fee" when publishing giveaways and
reviews. $40 does not buy my opinion or give PR companies free reign on my
site. But it is a small way for me to put a value on my considerable time and
the quality of my writing when I work together with a brand.

Sponsored posts are a different thing again (example here and here) and I am
undecided as to where I sit with those. I will let you know if I ever decide to
write one.

2. Sponsors

Not to be confused with sponsored posts, see over there in the far right sidebar, the column that says Little Sponsors? Those are the businesses who support The Little Mumma by paying (with money but also via contra) to have their logo button on my page. In other words, they're ads. At the moment, I work mostly with small businesses who complement my aesthetic and values. I have a relationship of mutual support with my sponsors. I will always shield my blog from big, ugly, intrusive ads.

I will be taking on more sponsors in 2013 and I hope that you will support them as they help support me and this little blog of mine.

If you would like to sponsor The Little Mumma, drop me a line thelittlemumma[at]gmail[dot]com  

3. Introduce
Yourself!

Soon I will be running a post asking you to leave a comment
on the blog saying hello and perhaps telling me how you found the blog or
perhaps why you read it. Most of the reader interaction happens on the Facebook
page which is great – I understand that it is easier to reply there – but my
stats tell me that hundreds of you are reading each day so I thought it might
be nice to see who you all are. Commenting on the blog doesn’t require you to
log in but simply type your name and email address so I hope you’ll take part!

To encourage you, I will be donating $1 for every comment up
to 100 and 50 cents for every comment over that to the Sunrise Children’s
Villages. I first became aware of this amazing charity watching its founder,
Geraldine Cox AM, being interviewed. She works
tirelessly with some of the neediest children in Cambodia and hearing her story
filled with me with such joy at the difference she is making but also, with heaviness
at the scale of the work still left to be done. In my small way, I want to
contribute and I hope you will help me by leaving a short comment when I call
you to arms in the next month or so.

4. $5 & $10 Sale

Harlow is our last baby so it’s time to clear out all those
little baby things that she and the boys no longer need. I will be listing baby
clothes and other stuff for either $5 or $10 (plus postage) on the Facebook
page and this time, I’ll be donating $2 from every sale to St Kilda Mums. I’ll
let you know when that’s up and running so stay tuned for little bargains!

 

Of course, there are many more ideas swirling in my head.
You can expect to see a tour of Harlow’s Nursery (finally!), and also her birth
story (finally!). I have been promising to post interviews with other mums with
inspiring stories to share and I still plan to do that, too. But mostly, you
should expect vintage Angie – a complex mish mash of what it is to be a woman
and a mother. In the past you have told me I make you laugh, make you
cry, make you think and that sometimes, I make your day. I want to keep
doing that. It is such a privilege.

And for everyone who has read and commented, thank you! If I
have not responded to your comment, and it does happen sometimes, please know
that I have read it and absolutely planned to acknowledge your words with a
reply but time has gotten away from me. Your feedback is more valuable to me
than I can tell you. There is a reason bloggers refer to it as “comment crack.”

Happy New Year, everyone. I am excited about 2013.

 

 

**I've just discovered some weird and completely unauthorised hyperlinks appearing in my posts. I don't know why this is happening and have contacted Typepad for a way to fix it. In the mean time, if you hover over a link and an ad pops up, this is SPAM and you should not click it. If you hover over the link and nothing pops up then this is something I have genuinely linked to. Sorry for the hassle. I'm so upset about it and really hoping the problem will be resolved ASAP.