Am I a mummy blogger now? Rebranding!

I’ve never really known where exactly (if anywhere) I fit into the blogosphere. I’m certainly not a beauty blogger – I barely remember to take my make up off, and just a quick look at my dinosaur dress will tell you that I am not a fashion blogger. I do write about travel, but let’s be honest, I don’t have the money to be jetting off to various hot Instagram-worthy places in Europe, so my travel content is pretty scarce. I’ve always gone with the catch-all umbrella term of ‘lifestyle blogger’, for want of a better term, but now I have a baby, and I post about my baby, so am I a mummy blogger?

I don’t feel like one, because I’m not sure I even feel much like a blogger most of the time! And in terms of being a mum – well, it’s been 8 months and I still feel as though I am just pretending. 

I would never call myself a mummy blogger. Not because there is anything wrong with being a mummy blogger – the exact opposite! To me, a mummy blogger doesn’t just do the crafts on Pinterest, but creates them! I’m not sure I’ve ever successfully done something I’ve seen on Pinterest. I certainly have never done one without some level of swearing. 

But on the other hand, all of my content is about my baby, and why wouldn’t it be? He’s the cutest bloody thing, and 24/7 hours a day are taken up with looking after him, and loving him and there’s so much to talk about. 

It would be silly to act like my life, and therefore my content is still the same. Let’s not pretend my posts aren’t all about Ruben! I used to feel ashamed about that but I’m learning to embrace it. But I’m still not sure I’m a mummy blogger because I don’t know what I’m doing (in motherhood, blogging and life in general!) I have no wisdom to impart. 

To me, a mummy blogger is someone who has their shit together. They tell you their top tips for weaning and their holistic approach to play and the rest of us mere mortals pin their posts to our boards and wish we had the time to home-make organic salt dough. Whereas I talk about how sometimes I completely lose my shit (https://www.codiekinz.co.uk/blog/to-the-mum-who-feels-like-she-is-losing-her-shit), and my Insta stories are full of my sweet boy pulling disgusted faces and spitting out whatever I try to give him for #BLW. I’m certainly not a Pinterest kinda mum. But I want to be. 

The other type of mummy blogger is the type who swears like a sailor (I’ve got that down!) and acts like she’s too cool for her kids. They drink wine at lunchtime and call their children little shits, and roll their eyes at Peppa Pig and I love reading these too – but it’s not who I am. Because I care a lot. Sometimes I am a little bit of a ‘crap mum’. Sometimes I put some awful youtube on for him and sit him in his chair so I can down a can of Coke and a twirl. But I’m not someone who revels in this – I’m deffo not a cool mum. 

So what kind of a mum am I? I think of all the labels, the one that sums me up best is ‘try-hard’. I’m trying hard to be a good mum, to be a fun mum, to raise a socially conscious little veggie who believes in equality and wants to save the planet. I’m trying to be a kind mum, kind to other mums and a funny mum – a mum where other mums don’t feel embarrassed to talk about their piles. 

But I’m still a Codie too. Whatever that means. I still love eating far too much and reviewing restaurants and getting a real thrill from a good bath bomb and a YA novel. 

So I’ve had a bit of a rebrand. I’d like to say it’s been months of planning, discussions, marketing meetings, and mood boards but actually it came to me like a lightning bolt and between cleaning up toys and changing a nappy, I lobbed it up on Instagram and Twitter and asked for opinions. Then I messed around with some logos (with Steven taking the wheel because he couldn’t bear to see my pitiful attempts!) and here we are. I’m still Codiekinz, but with Roo too. I no longer feel like my blog is stagnant, nor do I feel like I need to hide the fact that I talk about my baby a lot. 

I might lose some readers and that’s a shame but I can’t post fake content. Blogging is hard enough without having to reign in what you write about. 

So I’m still gonna be me. There will still be book reviews written a year after I actually finished the book, and oversharing posts that make you cringe and cross your legs. But it will be interspersed with some posts about motherhood and some pretty cute pictures of baby Roo. I hope you come along with me!