Life With A Fussy Eater

I began blogging in early 2010. My first blog was a pathetic attempt to find my voice and lasted only a month. But this first attempt enabled me to dip my toe into the blogosphere pool before I decided to jump in. Nearly a year later I have well and truly jumped in and I’m still learning how to swim.

I run a small business from home selling a product that I developed because I have a very fussy eater. When I first spoke to someone* about the idea of writing a blog centered on my life with a fussy eater I remember saying, “There is only just so much I can say about having a fussy eater.”

I then did research on the healthy eating/nutrition for kids focused bloggers that were already out there, and I was impressed. They are pretty much all perfect, glowing examples of mums who can turn fussy eaters into broccoli chomping champions within a week. One blogger even has images of her immaculate showroom quality refrigerator stacked with pristine containers of chopped up vegetables and homemade snacks. I admire this, but it’s not me.

I’m an ex-New Yorker living on a wheat and sheep farm in WhoopWhoop. I use to scream at my fussy eater when she refused to eat dinner. I was at my wits end and I couldn’t take it anymore. Even though I like to dream of owning a Thermomix, I have to settle for good old pots and pans. So my blog needed to reflect me. It is an eclectic mix of issues all centered on health, nutrition, and raising happy children. I am not perfect, so the blog is not perfect.

Whether this approach ultimately works for my business is yet to be seen. I think this is the most difficult issue I have faced with my blog.  Do I offer readers snippets into my imperfect world and tell them how I survive, or do I show them a perfect world where there are no fussy eaters?  As my audience expands, my concerns grow that my blog needs to straighten up a little and do a better job promoting my product and be less about trying to kill my husband with a chicken. Yet, it is the freedom to write about what I want that keeps me committed to the blog.

Along the way I have also met some lovely bloggers whom I now consider to be friends. The value of commenting cannot be underestimated, nor can the value of developing associations. I was one of The Organised Housewife’s first guest bloggers, posting about how she helped me get my laundry in order. This then led to my advertising on her blog and doing a giveaway on her site. This association I developed significantly improved my Facebook likes and exposed my product to a new audience.

I have also learned that it is important to get out and meet other bloggers in person. I joined my local Digital Parents group and have attended their socials.  These face-to-face relationships are just as important as the online relationships. This year I will be attending the Digital Parents Conference in Melbourne because I understand the value of interacting with other bloggers and learning new things. I am going purely as a blogger and not to promote my product.

As my first year of blogging comes to a close I think it is time for a review and to consider a makeover. The beauty of the blogosphere is that you can do this. You can change your look or focus and people seem to go with the flow and follow along. I have learned a lot in the past year and I have been encouraged by the many Australian bloggers I have watched grow and develop their blogs. While I am sometimes daunted by the technical aspect of moving to a different platform or self-hosting my blog, I have to trust that there are others out there who can help me in this process.

Blogging is a wonderful way to exercise your brain and to connect with other people. The rope bridge effect of following one blog and then linking on to another is exciting as you never know where it will lead you. The blogs that I follow are so diverse in their subject matter that it challenges me to think about things from a different perspective or they introduce me to new ideas, products or services.

DigitalParents has been a tremendous help and has given me a place to chat and learn from other bloggers in a space that is not as public as Facebook or Twitter. DigitalParents was where I learned the ground rules for blogging and the importance of playing nice.

*That someone was Glowless.

Fussy Eater’s Mum blogs at LifeWithAFussyEater and she is the wonderful mum who developed HealthyChart. When she’s not wondering how she ended up on a farm in Western Australia, she spends her time raising two darling little girls and teaching them to talk with a New York accent.