It’s awards season around these parts. Get ready for the shouting of “What are you wearing” and for the main answers not be “Whatever I found that was some semblance of clean and not attacked by the child!”. Yes, the awards for bloggers are coming thick and fast, and I have been lucky enough this year to have readers who considered my work good enough to be considered for more than one award. This week I got some fantastic news, my blog has made it into the final of Blog Awards Ireland.
I wrote previously about being shortlisted for two categories in these awards – Best Parenting Blog and Best Health/Wellbeing Blog. I was absolutely thrilled with this, as some incredible talent was also in the same categories. My toddler based rants got as far as the Shortlist, which is fantastic, but under the Health/Wellbeing category, I have been selected as a finalist. This is a category I never would have seen myself as being, but I think definitely does capture the direction this blog is currently in. I write a lot about mental health. It started out as just venting about my own mental health, about post natal depression and anxiety. I found it cathartic and people I spoke to and who commented on the pieces I wrote definitely reduced the loneliness and isolation which I was feeling at the time. I began to think that if I was sharing the stories from the darker side of mental health encountered by parents, that hopefully it would be a source of comfort and information for others who may be feeling the same things or in the same boat. That was the impetus for starting the Mental Health Mondays series, which is semi-regular and shares stories from parents who have dealt with mental health issues and are telling what effect it has had on them and their families.
I am so thrilled and humbled that my blog is being considered for the final of this category. It’s up against some absolutely incredible opposition, so the standards are definitely high. While I won’t be able to attend on the night (the tiny man dictates schedule so I can’t quite make it), I will be avidly watching on twitter with fingers crossed and cheering on the eventual winner, whoever it is. (There are also a lot of Blogger friends in other categories in the final, so it’ll be a one woman cheer squad on twitter for all of them – join me, won’t you?).
Thank you so much to anyone who voted, who gave their support, who has commented and read and continues to read. The support I have received is amazing, and I am so grateful for this blogging community which has grown so much since I started this little blog almost three years ago.
The final takes place on the 15th, in a circus tent in Dun Laoighaire, which sounds like so much fun! Hopefully everyone in attendance enjoys the night!
