Mummy To Twins Plus One
We have some awesome news!
Kiddipedia is very thrilled to announce our partnership with Mummy to Twins Plus One.
Founded by Suzanne, Mummy to Twins Plus One blog was created as a project for her to work on and a way to document what is happening with her and the children.
This blog and her other social media sites are her way of building a community about twins, children, life and the wonderful stories that happen as a mother.
1.Tell us a little bit about why how and why you started Mummy to Twins Plus One?
Mummy to Twins Plus One started over nine years ago now and was originally called, “Mummy to Twins”.
The name changed when we had our third child (Our plus one, a baby boy) in January 2016.
I started the blog just after my twin girls were born in 2008. The blog was something for me to do from home. Before having the twins, I worked as a content coordinator for the ABC and as a producer for CareerOne.com.au.
Being at home with the twins was exhausting and wonderful, however, I felt that I was not doing anything for myself. I caught myself looking online at dream jobs in my industry and then realized that there would be no way that I could get these jobs. I was the sole carer for our twins, and due to no help or family, it was up to me and hubby to do it all.
I thought why not do something online and from home. I started the blog slowly with no one knowing and then secretly published articles about my days with the twins and what I was up to.
It was my way of having a corner of the internet just for me. To build something for like-minded mums and dads and to also have an outlet where I have the possibility to build a great online business and social community.
Fast forward nine years later, I now have three kids, a great social community, a blog that is growing and getting more popular. Due to the blog, the family and I have been given some great opportunities that we would have never had, had if it had not been for it.
The kids and me. Mummy and the girls on the 27th of Sept, 2008. Katoomba Hosp. Julia on left, Lillian on right.
- Do you have any tips for someone wanting to transition from their career to a stay-at-home mummy blogger?
If you are thinking about starting a blog, I say do it! Give it a go and see what happens.
Don’t be put off with other blogs or ideas. If others and yourself are seeing that there is a gap or a need for something, then I’m sure it will be popular.
Also, if someone is giving you negative energy then don’t share what you are doing. Sometimes if you share your plans or ideas people who are negative bring you down.
I know how this feels and I have decided to stop this and just do things myself. Starting something, you are constantly thinking about and who knows… what happens if you are a HUGE success?
Collage of Alexander. Ones from when he was born 7th Jan 2016 and others a few days later
Some tips to help you if you want to start being a mummy blogger:
- Pick a name that will grow with your blog. This name needs to be something you can brand. (Your babies will not be babies forever. If you have a name think about using babies or pictures of babies… you will most likely want to change this in the future due to kids and you growing into the blog and the kids growing up).
- Now that you have decided on a name you need to make sure that the domain names and social sites are available. To check for available domains, you can go to com they have a great search on their site and if you do decide on one you can register it right on their website. Don’t just register the domain before making sure that social media handles are free too… You don’t want to register the domain to then find out you cannot get the name of your choice on Facebook or Instagram. The website namechk.com can help you see what names are free or taken on Social media and can also to check domain names as well.
- Once you have a name and domain then you need to host it. Go daddy can help or if you have mates that deal with this, then as them.
- A platform or CMS (Content Management System) is needed for running your blog. WordPress is a great option. It is free to set up an account and you can start with a free template for your blog. Templates change the look and feel of your blog and they are easy to set up.
- Post with your own stories, your unique voice and just be you.
- Make sure to post lovely pictures that showcase your ideas.
- Give things away to help your readers and to grow your network.
- Create great content that others will love to share.
- You don’t need to post every day but a few times a week is a good idea. If you can do every day that is great, however with kids, life and anything else you are doing you might find posting daily hard to maintain. I did it for a while but with the third child, school and other activities, oh and kids and me getting ill it was hard to keep up with it.
- Try and have a content schedule. When, where and how often will you post?
- People will try and tell you that your blog or site is not important. Importance to others is seen in making money and being hugely successful in many other networks. If it is important to you then it is something that you need to make sure to spend time on. Make time for your passion and ideas. Don’t listen to others. Keep going and you never know where you will end up.
- Look back at the progress you have made. You might not be hitting a million likes or even thousands but if you have made someone’s day, or received lovely comments from your followers it is all worth it.
- Share other people’s content and ideas as well as yours.
- Make the blog a business from the word go. Treat it as such and it will become one.
- Enjoy it. Share your posts and have fun.
You don’t need to instantly start off with a domain name, you can just use WordPress online, but you need to be aware that your blog URL will have wordpress.com listed in it. You can move over to a dedicated URL later if you wish.
Collage of the twins and then on the day they turned 9 last Sept 2017.
- What advice would you offer to parents who are expecting twins?
It is not as bad as you think having two kids at once. It is hard at times like everything, but it was not as hard as I thought it would be. Like everything, it has its challenges.
Some things that will make it a bit easier for parents who are expecting twins: Make sure to cook and freeze as much food as you can. Believe me, if you can invest in a deep freezer you should. I cooked about three months’ worth of food and froze it. This allowed me to just heat up food for dinner and then it was done. No cooking from scratch.
- You don’t need to buy two of everything at first. We made do with a cot for the twins to share until they were three months old.
- We managed to find a twin pram that fit into our existing car, which meant that we didn’t need to upgrade the car which would have been an extra cost. See what can fit into what you have. Also, you don’t need the fanciest looking pram, just get one that looks good enough and will do the job. Save the money for other things. (Trust me, you will need the extra cash you save from the pram).
- Wake up the sleeping baby so both babies can feed at the same time. If you don’t do this, you will be constantly up feeding a baby. If you get the babies into a schedule to feed and sleep then you can have some sleep too, or get to do a few things by yourself.
- If family or friends want to come and help let them. If they come and visit tell them to bring lunch. When they come ask if they can help with the kitchen, hanging out clothes on the line, putting on the washing and more. It is tough when you are struggling to get it all done. Help is nice. Maybe they can watch the babies and let you sleep…. Oh, I love sleeping!
- You will be a sleep deprived zombie for at least three months. If you can express breastmilk to allow your partner or family to feed the babies, then do it. This will allow you to get some much-needed rest.
- Don’t stress if you cannot breastfeed. Formula is fine, and you do what you can. The babies are getting fed, you are recovering and getting some sleep. Everyone is happy. All good!
- Make sure you practice how to put the pram up and down and back into the car. Then once you are confident you can take the babies out of the house. This was a huge achievement and one that I was glad I did. Being couped up in the house is not good for you or the kids, being outside with sunshine, other things to do and see is ideal. Even just putting the babies in the pram and taking a walk to the shops is a great achievement. Make sure that you get out of the house.
- Make sure that the babies get some sunshine in their day. It is easy to just stay inside all day and not go out. A bit of sunshine in the morning and late afternoon is good for baby’s sleep, development and health. (Obviously not in the heat of the day and only for about 15-20mins at the most)
- One last thing is enjoying your babies. Have fun noticing how they interact with each other, if they have their own language and how they are learning from you and their environment. It is fascinating to watch a baby grow and develop and especially twins.
Alexander’s Birthday cake from the weekend. He turned 2 on the 7th of January.
- What should the Kiddi-Community expect from you?
The Kiddi-Community should expect a full mixed bag from me.
I love to write informative posts, stories about my parenting failures and what would have worked out better, fun craft, cooking, funny stories, thoughts from a tired mummy, helpful ideas and great strategies to try.
I am very excited to be a part of the Kiddi-Community and I hope that my articles will help many parents and parents to be.
Me and Alex
- What’s your funniest parenting moment?
One of my girls swallowed a decorative rock that you put on the bottom of plants. This rock was not that big but not that small either. It was also an aqua green colour, yes, I remember the colour. In fact, I can still see it now.
The problem was when she swallowed this rock it was not hers, it was her sisters. You bet, her sister was very annoyed that her sister had swallowed her rock.
When it happened, she could not swallow properly so, therefore, we raced off to the hospital to get help. After an x-ray, it revealed that it was indeed in her esophagus and was working its way down to the other exit. Yep, she would eventually get rid of it.
So, I had to spend my days going through the potty looking for this rock. During my time looking for this rock in the bathroom, my other girl kept on yelling at me that she wanted her rock back and kept on asking had I found it.
Really, you want it back if I find it in the potty????? I don’t think so.
It ended up that the kid who swallowed the rock ended up using the toilet and not the potty so the rock was lost and never found again. (Of course, we were toilet training at this stage)
I must say if I did find it I would not return it to the kid who was so desperate to get it back.
To this day she still is upset about losing her rock and blames her sister. She still wants me to get her a replacement.
Lilian and Alexander Feb 2016
6. If I was a genie and could grant you three wishes, what would you wish for? (and why…)
- Enough money to allow hubby and me to be at home for the kids and to allow us to follow our passions.
- Great health for the family. I want to be around for as long as possible to see my kids grow and hopefully see any grandchildren.
- To travel to a fabulous place every year with the family. There are so many places that I would love to go to. Europe, Asia, America, and of course Australia and surrounds. I currently drool over travel websites and dream of being whisked away to an island resort. (Maybe it will happen one day)
