It was twenty years ago today

That I posted my first every blog post announcing to my immediate family (and mostly to my big sister who lived in Melbourne and my little sister who lived in London) that we were having a baby.

I started the blog so I could stay in touch with my family and give them updates on my pregnancy. The internet as we knew it was pretty much BRAND new. Besides some forums for weddings and blogs in the states written by new Mums it was the Wild West. I spent the next probably 16 years writing consistently and sharing every moment of my life as a Mum. I wrote about our tree change from Camperdown in the inner west of Sydney to moving to the Southern Highlands. I shared our travels, our renovation so many recipes and entertaining. It became my full time working with brands and sponsorship deals I could never have dreamt of. It took me to the Maldives, to London to New Zealand – all around the world. It literally changed my life.

Sharing the ins and outs changed as the girls got older has been harder for me to juggle. If they wouldn’t even let me take a photo of them, they sure as shit weren’t going to let me share details of highschool… navigating boyfriends, drinking, teen issues, driving , friend dramas the loneliness of being a Mum to teenagers while still having a little kid and managing life and marriage –  all of it seemed to personal and too hard to explain or justify my way out of. So Instagram filled the gap and allowed me to still be me, open and honest, sharing our lives in ways that I can and feel comfortable with.

This blog gave me my own business, my shop, which I started with m,y sister and I am so proud that were were able to work together for as long as we were. I am still adjusting to solo work life and I miss working with her every day.  Here I am twenty years later with a whole grown up adult child instead of a 4cm blurry picture wondering what it would all mean and where it would take me.

I couldn’t not recognise today. That day opened up a huge chapter of my life I had no idea about. It allowed me to share and connect with people all over the world. It allowed me to be creative and write and share my heart with people in ways to hopefully make them feel like “oh me too. I feel like that too.” The connections I have shared with people through pregnancy, newborn life, juggling extra children, making tree changes, having teenagers, managing a business and now grown up kids and one smaller kid and menopause and SHIT. A lot happens in 20 years doesn’t it? Also: what is time and where has 20 years gone and why does the government now send us letters about dementia and bowel cancer?!

The internet is a different place now than it was then. It’s so instant! And fast! And video based! But I know that there is still a need for that quiet  place for connection and that’s why I still show up online each day because more than ever we need to feel like “oh me too. I feel like that too.” It’s important as it ever was. Maybe even more than ever.

So if you have been here since that first post 20 years ago today, or somewhere along the way, thank you for being here. Your connection, your kind words, your friendships (many that have extended into real life) have meant the world to me as I have navigated motherhood. I’m sorry I don’t write here as much as I should (honestly logging in here gives me anxiety and makes me feel like I’ll break the old girl and I don’t know how to fix it). But I can’t close it down because I need all the recipes on here as much as you guys do. DO you know how often I google “Babymac ANNE or Babymac risoni salad”? And also for the love of GOD if you want a recipe try goggling babymac and then the recipe and you’ll never guess it will come up!

So thank you. Happy birthday little Reginald, or Babymac or any version of that you have of me from this time. Thank you for still being here and supporting me, I appreciate it so much.

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