Saying Goodbye To Happy Mum Happy Child: It's Time For A Rebrand

So a lot of you will know this, but some won't, so bear with me while I do a quick recap of my entire life story - just kidding. I won't put you through that. Not today anyway ....

In 2014, I had a 6 month old and a 2.5 year old, and I started Happy Mum Happy Child. This was a website to document the activities I did with my kids.

This website grew incredibly over the years, and before I knew it, it was one of New Zealand's top parenting websites and had won some pretty awesome awards (including Best in Parenting at the New Zealand Social Media Awards in 2017).

Not only did I share the activities I did with my kids, but I also shared recipes, reviews, and most importantly, the journey with my mental health struggles.

As my kids grew though, I started feeling like I wasn't sure where I belonged in this space.

I wasn't doing as many kid-related activities with them compared to when they were toddlers. They didn't need me to set things up for them like I used to - they love doing it themselves now.

My son also started not liking his photo being taken. Even if it was just for us as a family, he shied away from it. So after a big chat about it, I decided that to keep him happy and feeling comfortable, I would stop posting photos of him online. This was a conversation we had together and made him very happy to know that any photos I took of him, wouldn't end up online. I had the same chat with my daughter but she didn't mind me taking photos.

I chatted with my kids a lot about what I did here in this space, and the size of my audience and what it meant to share things online; but their brains can only understand so much. I obviously made the decision for them when they were younger, and was extremely respectful of what I posted, however as they grew older it was obvious it needed to change.

I also couldn't chat about the struggles as a parent quite like I used to. I'm aware my children deserve privacy and not to be embarassed, and although I would never intentionally share anything that would ever encroach on those two things when they were younger, if I share too much about them as they enter their pre-teen years, I may unintentionally do it and it really can affect them in more ways than one.

So a few years ago I pulled back from sharing them online. My daughter doesn't mind her photo going out there, but my son says "no way", and I have no problem with that. Heck if my girl changed her mind, I wouldn't care either. Ultimately this is my space and not theirs.

I'm also very particular about getting consent before I post any photos or talk about any specific events that happen.

Heck this post kind of went off on a tangent but I think I need it to be very clear that my kids' privacy and wellbeing comes first.

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It's ultimately because of this that earlier this year, I decided to shelve Happy Mum Happy Child and start Life of Maria.

This place is more about ME than about them.

It's about me being a work in progress. I'm not a Mum to toddlers anymore who demand my attention 24/7. Yes I'm still a mother (to a 12 and 10 year old) but I'm someone who struggles with mental health issues, identity issues, and Coeliac Disease issues. I grow and learn every single day, whilst still being a parent; and I want to share that (and my dark sense of humour).

So no, my parenting status hasn't changed, but I have evolved and I am more than just that now.

I could have simply left the online world but dear lord do I crave connections. One of the things I love about what I created with Happy Mum Happy Child was the connections with everyone around the world.

It helped me feel less alone and I will forever be grateful for it. I am hoping to continue that with this space too.

None of my social media accounts will change (I have rebranded to "Maria Foy" instead of Happy Mum Happy Child), and the content will relatively stay the same. I just now have this space moving forward.

My old HMHC website is still there and all posts will be accessible, but I will be posting to this page moving forward.

Goodness that was long, well done if you made it this far. You deserve a gold star and a day off, and someone to do your laundry ...

TLDR: I am saying goodbye to Happy Mum Happy Child, and hello to Life of Maria. Which will be a new space for me to share the ups and downs of my life as a mother AND human being. I will share my struggles with depression, anxiety, and Coeliac Disease. I will also be sharing product reviews, book reviews, gluten free recipes and MORE!