The theme of these posts is what has really happened, and this little adventure was the one that made the blogosphere a real place with real people.

Contrary to the generaly rule; that bloggers are a sad and lonely nerds, I’ve made a lot friends through blogging and so have loads of us who snatch the odd hour or two to update our blogs. We’re the people that never shut up! Plus, we’re not the usual run of the mill Mums are we? I’m not sure about you but I’m mildly eccentric, quirky and busy as hell so not only do I keep strange hours, I’m out of the loop on competitive-school-gate-mum-syndrome – which means social media suits me just fine and dandy.

Not long after starting out, I discovered the British Mummy Bloggers social network on Ning and signed up.

To me, it was a bit like walking on stage naked, staring into the spotlights and waiting for the howls of laughter. (I’m a sensitive soul really)

It’s not fun being the newbie is it? There’s nothing worse than feeling you are encroaching on a space you have no right to be in – I was quite apprehensive and worried that maybe it would be a negative experience and that I’d be snubbed.

Imagining if I posted anything ‘uncool’ that I would be kicked into touch, I posted a tentative ‘Hello’.

And.

I was pleasantly surprised.
The welcome was a warm and friendly one.

There were quite a few people saying ‘Hello’ back and offering advice on blogging, family, fun in fact anything. I had lots of help when I wanted to move from wordpress to a hosted environment and the gorgeous Violet Posy gave me a blog make over – which I still sport to this day.

Next up was an interesting development, an invitation to meet up for coffee with the BMB ladies…how intriguing, who were these people hiding behind avatars and blogger handles? My curiosity got the better for me and I accepted.

Just one look in the mirror told me I’d become quite the unemployed-slovenly-singlemum-housewife – I had to scrub up…meet real people. I was scared.

I was meeting Potty and A Modern Mother at Starbucks in Paddington. It all seemed very 2.0 and urban, just my thing in fact.

I scuttled in a panic walked into the coffee shop. Nervous as hell and looking for prams. I spotted two ladies and took a chance.

‘Hello, I’m Nixdminx – are you…er, ummm??’

My words hung in the air, my throat dried, I started to feel a bit stupid – I didn’t know their real names!

‘Hi I’m A Modern Mother’ said the lovely Susanna, she was friendly and warm.
‘And Potty’ beamed the other BMBer.

Gulp.
Phew.
It’s them.
Thank God for that!
I liked them both immediately.

We didn’t have long and we chatted over coffees. It was a very brief meeting, but I’m so glad I went.

Behind these blogger handles were three women, real people, real lives. Things were getting interesting, and a bit more real.

At the next get together at the Rainforest Cafe there were loads of us including kids and this week there will be even more as the guest list now stands at 100 – that’s astounding.

Thanks again to Susanna for setting this up – I hope this reaps great rewards for you in the future but I know it has already x

This post of Susanna’s really made me think of times long gone and the games we used to play, so I’ve created my first meme and yes, it’s a nostalgia trip but it’s also a nod to invention and imagination.

1. The game I loved?

British Bulldog – loud, brash, dangerous but great fun, knock down ginger was another fave

2. The game I hated?

Ladders – you sat on the floor, alternately opposite, with legs stretched out to create the ‘ladder’ and some heffalump would run over your legs.

3. The games we made up as kids?

Coming from a family of six children, there’s no shortage of ideas when it comes to imaginary play.

The Holiday Let Prank Call
My parents always left holidays to the last minute. I remember my Dad handing the newspaper to us, small ads for holiday let cottages circled in a pen…my sister and I had to call them up. Oh silly him! We’d take small change to the phone box and call up the adverts in very stupid voices and very silly accents. We rarely made it through the whole call as we’d end up curled up on the floor shrieking with laughter. More often than not, they hung up before we did.

The Free Hearing Test
My eldest brother went to boarding school, then university when I was quite young. We’d spend weeks cooking up pranks to play on him when he came home, not just because we missed him, but because he was so easy to wind up. Our favourite prank was sending off the reply paid ad for a Free Hearing Test. We’d arrange an appointment for when he was home and make sure he opened the door to the salesman. The best thing was his reaction to the salesman who would over enunciate, gesticulate and speak very loudly….still makes me snigger…we daren’t remind him!

Clod wars
It’s really hard to imagine how I would react if I saw Miniminx try and pull this one off, but then again she’s an only child and not part the unruly army that I was. Next door but one to us was another family, with four kids, who we were on off friends with. We bickered and postured and if things got really bad, a battle commenced. We’d embark on all out Clod Wars. Every spade, fork, hoe, rake was dragged out of the garden shed, and we’d hit the rose bed and start digging up clods of earth. Balancing them on garden tools, we’d take aim and fire at our enemies. Being one of the youngest (and smallest), I would often get a mouthful of dirt as my own clods rebounded off the garden fence and hit me in the face.

4. The games my child has invented?

First there’s

‘My name’s Mummy and I’m going to work today and you’re going to have to….blad di blah di blah – yeah??!!’ which is usually accompanied with a pair of my high heels, my handbag and my sunglasses – I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry!

Second, a really silly one in the garden that’s actually hysterically funny is bucket football – just grab a football and a bucket and take aim and fire…a game of hit, miss and fall down laughing!

And third, which is possibly the most natural is when she finds a leaf, or a conker, a dandelion and reinvents a bat and ball which keeps her happy for ages.

So now it’s over to you lovely ladies, please take your badge and join this meme. I’m curious too – have the old games died out? Do we let our children run wild with their imaginations? Are children even allowed to play anymore?

Just four simple questions so answer and pass on to four of your favourite blogs…

1. What’s the game you loved?

4. What games has your child invented?

Here you go, all the founding members of British Mummy Bloggers – play it back if you will x

Part Mummy Part Me, Got Your Hands Full, Maternal Tales,
, A Modern Mother, Jo Beaufoix, Potty Mummy, Nappy Valley Girl, Dulwich Divorcee, Little Mummy, Alpha Mummy, Sticky Fingers, Multitude, Violet Posy, I Promise That I Will Do My Best, More Than Just a Mother, A Confused Take That Fan, Wahm-Bahm, Home Office Mum, Single Parent Dad, Bambino Goodies, The Green Familia, Emma Bradshaw, Almost Mrs. Average, Book of Rubbish Ideas, Wallstory, That Girl 39, Welcome to My World Jan Mary, Mummy Do That Reluctant Mumsahib, Most/Least, Family Affairs, Samantha Smythe’s Modern Family Journal, NixdMinx, Wife in the North, Living Abroad, Bee Drunken, New Mum, Same Old Me, Some Mothers Do Ave Em, Just a Plan Ride Away, Life and Times of Manic Mel, Beta Mum, Highland Housewife, Mothership, Are We Nearly There Yet Mummy?, Smoking Mum, Paradise Lost in Translation, Bush Mummy, Mummojo, Sass-e Mum, Surprise Mum, Working Mum, Not Wrong, Just Different, Crystal Jigsaw, Holly’s Never, Never Land, Raving Mary’s Rage Page, Footballer’s Knees, Elsie Button, Deluded Woman, Bringing Up Charlie, DJ Kirkby, Grit’s Day, Mother of Shrek, MadnStiching, Auntie Gwen’s Diary, Deb Carr’s Daydreams, Thames Valley Mums Blog, London Mums Blog, Expat Mums Blog, Adventure Mother, My Life for the World to See, Claire Lancaster, The Buggy Blogger, Noble Savage, Funky Angel, A Boy With Aspergers, Guienea Pig Mum, Mums Money Tips, Huddle and Bliss, Reasons to be Cheerful, Bramley Mums, Perfectly Happy Mum, Beautiful Spectrum, Kate Morris…