I never intended to start a blog.

There, I’ve said it. My great mate Carol Tobin said that I should.

She said that they way I spoke to her about my funny experiences of parenting should be shared, and that I should then get it all into a book.

Carol Tobin does not fuck around and I do not have any intention of not doing what she says.

So I started Raising Ireland and simultaneously began ‘I Forgot To Take My Pill!’ (available now on Amazon and from the boot of my car if you’re interested)

Just as I was learning how to self-publish the book, the great HerFamily.ie was launched and I was gobsmacked to receive an email from editor Sive O’Brien asking me to be the first guest blogger.

She had been reading my blog, she said, and really liked it.

Weird, right? Like, who the actual f*ck reads our blogs? Just our mates and a few of our Facebook pals who can still stomach us going on and on and on about our kids, right?

So of course, I said yes and when I’d completed my week guest blogging, they were kind enough to plug the book in the lead up to it’s launch.

They have huge following on both Facebook and Twitter so I was like, ‘Score!’

I launched the book in May and it has done modestly well. The absolute highlight of all the publicity around it was bringing cakes into Ryan Tubridy on his radio show and trying my best not to flirt with him (failed a bit, tbh).

I had a couple of conversations with Sive from HerFamily about going to work with them as a writer over the summer but just couldn’t figure it out with the kids and childcare.

I was bummed. Really bummed.

Then one day in September, I had a message from my childminder outlining the three days a week that she could happily step in and mind the kids.

And two days after that, Sive and I discussed my working for HerFamily.ie on exactly those same three days.

I got a job! A real, paid, get-up-and-put-your-make-up-on-and-go-to-work job that encapsulates everything that I love to do.

I get to write, I get to stand up for mother’s rights, parent’s rights, women’s rights and children’s rights via this huge and strong platform.

I get to flex my creative muscle. I get to be funny and make comedy sketch videos. I get to have a consistent salary that I can use to put away for stuff for the kids and that ole wedding we’re having at the end of the year.

I think sometimes bloggers thinks that they are regarded as a ‘success’ if they make money through ads on their site or by writing paid pieces, and that is the case for some.

But I truly believe that it’s worth looking at the bigger picture. I have never been paid a penny for anything that I’ve ever written on this blog but because of it, I have landed the job of my dreams.

And that’s good enough for me.