So You Think You’re Funny? Season 2, Episode 14 – Kat from Confessions Of A Working Mum
It’s here, folks – the long awaited 29th installment of our comedy parenting interview series. And yes, I did just have to go through and count them all up as I really didn’t have a clue how many we’d done. However, now I know that it’s number 29, it probably would have been more suitable to save this intro for next week when we hit the big 30, so I could make a big song and dance about it.
But, now I’ve written it we might as well stick with it, especially given that next week I will most likely have forgotten completely that we’ve reached number 30, and will probably write a bizarre preamble about cheese or something equally random. I really do have very little control over what comes pouring out of my brain post 11pm, as regular readers of my pointless preambles will be all too familiar with.
Anyway, where were we? Oh yes, the interview thingie.
This week we have the superb Kat from Confessions Of A Working Mum – a blog which started in July 2016 ahead of Kat’s return to work – a subject that most parents have massive mixed feelings about! She’s been muddling through ever since and writing lots of very funny things about the whole experience, as you’ll find out if you read her answers to our incredibly mundane questions below.
The links to all of her stuff are after the questions so once you’ve had a good read through you might want to pop across to Kat-land and have a nose around and show some love!
Allez allez…
1. Tell us about yourself in 20 words or less:
I’m a mum. I work. I’m knackered. I like wine.
2. How would your child(ren) describe you?
I asked Willow (20 months – she’s very advanced for her age) and this is what she said. “My mummy is really annoying when she wakes me up during the week and makes me eat my breakfast and get dressed so we make it to nursery and work on time but then she doesn’t appreciate it at weekends when I wake up extra early (sometimes even before CBeebies has started) so we can spend more time together. She’s a bit bonkers really but we do have lots of fun and she throws awesome kitchen discos.”
3. When and why did you last properly laugh out loud?
I laughed out loud at one of Mother Pukka’s Insta Stories the other day. Her little Girl, Mae, was doing an impression of her elderly neighbour Derek – she nailed it (down to pulling her pants up above her waist old man style). It slayed me!
4. Do you try to be funny when you are writing? Tell us a bit about your blogging ‘process’.
I guess I do but it just comes naturally as a parent blogger because the situations that you find yourself in are so absurd that they quite often are funny. I just write about our real life experience so there is always some degree of hilarity. Parenting is so wonderful and exhausting and consuming that I think it’s really important to see the funny side of things. Let’s face it, if you don’t laugh, you will cry and probably never stop….
5. What is the funniest thing you’ve read in the past few months?
Anything by the tweet of God @TheTweetofGod – it’s hilarious. Unless you believe in God, in which case don’t read it!
6. What are the best and worst things about becoming a parent?
The best thing is watching the little human you’ve created grow into a proper little person with their own personality. I love watching her say and do new things every day. Also you get to go to fun places like the zoo, watch kids movies and eat potato waffles for tea.
The worst thing is the lack of sleep. Our little angel does not understand the concept of a full night’s rest and the wonders it will bestow on us all. We remain hopeful….
7. Do your friends/family find you funny in ‘real life’?
Willow thinks I’m funny when I do silly voices for the different characters when we’re reading. We always have a good giggle. I must be funny because my fiancé starts laughing manically at me when I talk about having another baby.
8. Go on, say something funny!
Trumps! Come on, trumps are always funny!
9. How did you get into writing and why?
I started blogging as my maternity leave was coming to an end and I was going bat shit crazy thinking about going back to work. I began to read blogs by parents who had already been through it and that really helped. I work in communications so write nearly every day for a living anyway so thought I would give it a go and put my own words of wisdom (I use the term loosely) out there. The blogging world kind of sucks you in so before I knew it I had social media accounts connected to the blog and have met loads of ace parenting people along the way!
I don’t get to spend as much time on the blog as I’d like but working full time with a toddler and a house to clean (occasionally) means I don’t have much spare time and if there is I’m probably comatose in front of the TV with a half drunk glass of wine in my hand!
10. If you could only have one meal every day for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
Cheeseburger with all the trimmings and extra gherkins please! Also can I finish it all and not have to share it with my toddler?
11. Complete the sentence; ‘Since having a child…’
I’ve lost and found myself.
I’ve lost my mind several times (normally in the sleep deprived small hours) “Am I doing it right?” “Does she hate me?” “She doesn’t sleep – is she broken?” I’ve also found my place as a mama. Sure she eats from the bin every now and again, but she’s doing ok. We’re muddling through. I’ve learned to accept that I’m good enough and no longer sweat the small stuff.
12. In your opinion, what is the worst children’s TV show, and why?
Peppa Pig annoys the crap out of me for several reasons:
• The stupid theme tune
• Peppa is a precocious little brat
• Daddy Pig is a moron – I have no idea how he gets through a day
• Nobody seems concerned that George isn’t hitting any of his developmental milestone s and can only say “dinosaur”
• Everyone lives and works at the top of ridiculously steep hills but don’t fall over or have a heart attack when they drive/walk/cycle up and down them
• Mrs Rabbit is multi-tasking the shit out of life and keeping the whole of the local economy, healthcare and infrastructure services going yet receives no acknowledgement for her outstanding contribution to society.
• All the characters are talking animals so why can’t Peppa’s goldfish talk?
I could go on about this for a long time…. Perhaps I’ll save it for a blog post!
13. Please tell us about your blog and why we should visit:
I blog as Confessions of a Working Mum so I try to focus on topics that working parents can relate to such as writing about our experience of Shared Parental Leave or putting Willow in nursery.
If you stumble across my tiny piece of the internet then I like to think that I can help working parents and maybe give them a bit of support. Ridiculous as it is in the twenty first century, there are still judgy pants people out there who think working parents are in league with the devil and should be at home crafting and baking with their offspring all day. (I’m shite at crafts and baking by the way). The reality for many of us is that we have to work (full time, part time, job share, from home, from Costa, from Wetherspoon’s…) to pay the bills and to be able to afford to do nice things with our family. To clarify I’m not judging stay at home parents in any way, shape or form either so please don’t write in dear reader. There is no easy option. We’re all doing what is best for our family at the end of the day.
And that’s all she wrote, folks. It was good though wasn’t it!? If you like what you read and want to find out more (and in all honesty why wouldn’t you want to find out more!?) have a little tippy tappy on the lovely image below and you will be whisked, as if by magic, to Kat’s lovely blog. It’s like the future has already arrived.
Embrace it. Feel it. Want it. Click it.
