We spoke with mum blogger Jess for Mother’s Day and she gave us some motherly realness.
Jess, AKA, “The Prosecco Mum” started her journey on social media about 10 years ago. It all began with a private and “unfindable” blog. She set up the online page as a place where she could have a bit of a moan about things happening in her life.
After learning about her pregnancy with her daughter, Sofia, Jess made the decision to put her thoughts and feelings somewhere. Her first “Prosecco Mum” post was published in October 2013 but only became serious about her platform after people on Facebook had suggested she should write more.
Jess was used to posting her feelings on her personal Facebook and her readers thought she was funny. She listened, and to this day, Jess writes regularly. Although she has only started posting on Instagram recently, she already has over a thousand followers. And people appreciate the realness of her posts.
Life is too short for restrictions
Jess does not bind to certain aesthetics and wants to keep things simple. “The one thing I don’t do is themes, I don’t want my life dedicated to a set ‘grid theme’ and being restricted to post on certain days, in certain
colours. Life is too short for online restrictions, I want to be able to post when I want too. No curated feeds here!” she says.
“The Prosecco Mum” was an obvious name decision for Jess. She simply combined two things she identifies with the most: drinking Prosecco and being a mother. Jess also identifies as being a “happy-go-lucky, over worrying, anxiety-ridden middle-aged mum of two.”
The blogger keeps busy. Between her part-time job, running the household and her social media, Jess has a lot on her plate and is not shy to expose it. Although she mainly writes for her own therapeutic purpose of letting her feelings out, she genuinely enjoys having a piece of her family on the Internet. If her posts can help others, all the better. “I only write about what I am genuinely interested in. We love exploring and going on days out as a family, so I enjoy writing about those to give other people ideas of
places to visit,” she says.
It’s ok to show some struggle
One of the things Jess likes to write the most about is milestone events, such as Sofia starting school, birthdays and other big events. The Prosecco Mum finds herself to be a little too honest at times but believes that many appreciate the bluntness of parent life. As a matter of fact, Jess strongly believes that no one has a perfect life and that if people do, they are lying.
For Jess, exposing the ups and downs of parenting is very important. She acknowledges that parenthood is hard, and she encourages people not to be ashamed to say that they are struggling.
Mother’s Day dilemmas
As this weekend is Mother’s Day, Jess acknowledges the celebration. “I don’t think I really appreciated Mother’s Day until I became a mother myself,” she says. Today, she is faced with what she calls the “Bermuda triangle of mum problems”. Jess explains this predicament is wanting to see her own mother for Mother’s Day, but as a mother would have to bring children along. Consequently, Stuart, Jess’ husband should be treating her, preventing him from celebrating with his own mother. “It’s thrown up Christmas-like issues in our household!” she says.
As for Jess’s Mother’s Day plan this year, her family has decided to go to the Weymouth Sealife Centre. “We’ve decided against the idea of going for a nice lunch, as a meal with a five and two-year-old old is no fun for anyone. Especially not us!” she says.
Ironically enough, The Prosecco Mum’s best Mother’s Day present is the birth of her two-year-old son, Arlo. Arlo was born on Mother’s Day 2017 and will be a very difficult gift to beat.
You can read Jess’s articles on her blog and look at her pictures on her Instagram.
