Yes, it’s ten years today since my first post was published.
It was written on my couch in my “old house”, amid piles of post-holiday laundry. Back then I had two small boys who went to bed early and a husband who worked late and my blog was my evening project.
I started out sharing recipes and then daytrips and I dipped into other things along the way. My “week in dinners” series was really popular and I picked it up every couple of years. I’ve written humour posts and sad posts, I’ve written about grief and tantrums. I have always tried to stay true to myself and just be me.
I’d been on Twitter a while and had been encouraged to start a blog but the imposter syndrome was strong. I spent some time mulling it over before starting it, figuring out the technology and thinking of names and eventually landed on “Bumbles of Rice”. (Read all about it here) Admittedly, didn’t consider that I would end up introducing myself as that name for the next ten years, but here I am.
As time passed my blog has brought me opportunities I genuinely didn’t ever imagine when I wrote that first post. (I’m not just saying it). I’ve written articles in national newspapers and online on other sites. We appeared on the front page of the Irish Times! I was flown to London for events, I’ve collaborated with big brands.
My biggest shock is that I’m a regular radio contributor now, starting out talking to Marian Finucane (RIP) about Family TV in 2015 and just this week I was in studio talking to Claire Byrne about cartoons.
In ten years a lot has happened. We’ve travelled, and explored. We’ve gone from a family of four to a family of five. My children have grown from babies and toddlers to tweens and teens. We’ve moved house, started school and left primary on to secondary, moved jobs.
We’ve loved and lost, losing our biggest blog supporter and most frequent commenter my dad, in 2019. (check out comments on my posts pre June 2019 if you don’t believe me.)
On these pages we’ve shared birthday cakes and celebrated Christmases and we’ve passed on tips so you don’t make the mistakes that we did! We’ve survived a pandemic and homeschool.
I do less on this website these days, sharing the up to date information on my Instagram and Facebook pages first. But this is where I started out and I want to keep this space that has given so much to me. So, I’m going to make a concerted effort to keep it going, so please keep reading and clicking.
Ten years is a long time. I owe a lot to my blogging friends in the early days, the Irish Parenting Bloggers who kept me on track and motivated. To anyone who follows along or happens on this list thanks for reading, for messaging and for encouraging. Please stick around and join me for future (more frequent) posts or join me for the “behind the scenes” on Instagram.
Here’s to the next decade of Bumbles!
Sinéad
