I’m Nicola, 34, mum to Lola (almost 3) and Lockie 8months. We’re about to leave Edinburgh for the simple life further north to be closer to my husband’s distillery business. I’m studying social media management so very lucky I can work anywhere! I love Hosting guest Q and As on Instagram live, watching RuPaul’s Drag Race and eating Guylian chocolate seashells for breakfast.

Are you from Edinburgh? If not how did you come to live here? I’m from Dunfermline in Fife.. which until the 17th century, was the capital of Scotland *insert nerd emoji* That said, I went to school in Edinburgh and have lived here for as long as I’ve had two eyebrows instead of one, so I don’t really consider Dunfy home.

Before Kids, where would we have found you on a Saturday night? When I was single, I would have been doing hot yoga.. or at home in my pjs eating ice cream for dinner, enjoying the simplicity of life between boyfriends. Once married.. you’d find me at home in my pjs eating Thai, enjoying the simplicity of life before kids.

What is your average Saturday like now with kids? Big Slice works Monday – Friday so come the weekend, I have a team mate. We have breakfast together in the morning, followed by a dog walk. We then come home for lunch followed by a full family power-down from 12:30-2:30pm. The afternoon is often weather dependant but sometimes we’ll visit family, go to the park, or brave an early dinner out somewhere kid-friendly. 9 times out of 10 by 7:30pm all is quiet so I’ll be in my pjs firing up Netflix or speed dialling some take out.. there’s a theme emerging here, isn’t there?

What did you find hardest about having children? The all-consuming sleep deprivation. Getting very little-to-nothing back for at least the first 6 months.. and having to share my food.

Tell us a time when becoming a parent blew your mind. What challengeshave you faced? A couple of months ago, Lola said “Mummy, I love you very much” for the first time. Yesterday, Lockie waddled over, jumped on top of me with his arms out and gave me a huge hug and kiss. Moments like that make his 3am screaming and Lola’s impromptu fortnight of shouting “f*** sake!” 18 times a day that little bit easier to handle.

If you have a quiet childfree afternoon in Edinburgh, where would you spend it? The babies are in nursery 2 days a week so I frequently tell myself I’ll do nothing one day and catch up on sleep, but I always end up running around like a blue-bummed fly instead. Whether it’s running errands, doing chores, catching up on body maintenance (I can’t face the world without hot pink nails) or attacking Weeslice’s inbox, the free days always seem to be the fastest.

Favourite place for a cocktail with the girls? This is a tough one because I worked in the drinks industry for a while, Big Slice still does. For a smart/casual catch up with the girls, it would probably be any of the Big Red Teapot venues; The Blackbird in Tolcross, Hamilton’s in Stockbridge, Treacle on Broughton St or Voyage of Buck in the West End. The guys don’t take themselves too seriously, the drinks menu is given a full refresh seasonally and the venues’ individual aesthetics are executed to a really high standard. The rubber duck ceiling box light in VoB is an Instagrammable must. Your hidden gem in the city? For views, it’s Blackford Hill where I dog walk every day. It’s a full panorama of the city, across the river Forth and out to Fife. For food, it’s a Spanish tapas restaurant called La Sal tucked away behind Causewayside & South Clerk St. Tiny, authentic & casual as hell, it’s divine. For date drinks, it’s got to be the snug in Morningside’s Canny Man, or the snug in World’s Best Bar regular, Bramble, on Queen St.

What do you love most about being a parent in Edinburgh? I love that I can visit any of my Edinburgh-dwelling friends within 20 minutes. I love that there is so much to do here and so many interesting places to go. We’re trying to raise the children to be hardy; dog walking in rain or snow, wind or shine.. Swayze knows – in this city it’s not out of the question to suffer all 4 at once.. 😉 #fun#guest#Kids#mum#parenting

The post The Other Mum- WeeSlice first appeared on MUMFORCE.

Hello friends! We are back with another Other Mum feature, its been a while for these but I have been so busy and these take so much time today that I have just pushed it to the back….sorry as I know these are very popular! Today we have Riona! Social media mummy who is often seen going viral with her original songs about motherhood! She is Irish, she is talented, very real and extremely funny!! I first saw Riona on facebook and now we have connected on instagram and man, that lady has some pipes! What a voice! Now go and check out this sexy body confident mama…

Now Riona can be here www.rionaoconnor.com

Facebook –here

Instagram-here

Youtube-here

THE OTHER MUM – RIONA O’CONNOR

Hey! I’m Riona aka The Unnatural Woman. I write funny songs and parodies and make ridiculous videos to make you laugh and take life a lot less seriously. My humour is as dry as a breast feeders vagina. I have no idea what I’m doing in life or motherhood and I am not one of those people with their shit together. I love cynicism and hope in equal measure and I hate different things on different days. My own brain is my worst enemy so I try not to listen to her much. She can be a right old bag.I also act and do voice overs. I have spent years in Londons West End and touring the world with shows like The Commitments, Beauty and the Beast and Twelfth Night. You’ll have heard me in computer games like Elite Dangerous, the odd Subway commercial and in adverts singing about bread. You can also hear me singing vocals for Beano Toons on their Frozen parody ‘Don’t Let It Go!’ – which is awesome, as I’ve been reading the Beano while pooping for 30 years!My husband Nicoll is a computer game developer of crazy games such as time-travelling-lumberjack-em-up  FIST OF AWESOME and drivey-drivey-smash-em-up Maximum Car. We have a two year old son whose favourite things include dangerously high slides, Teletubbies and tantrums.

Where are you from? Do you still live there?if not where have you settled?I am from Kerry in the south west of Ireland. I moved away when I was 19 and now live in Bedfordshire via London. I’ve come full circle from a small town, to the big city to a little village. We’re still super near London so I get the best of both worlds.

What would be your revolution?Personally? To go through life not giving a care in the world world about body image, low self esteem or imposter syndrome.

What did you do on an average Saturday night before kids?I’m an actor so usually I would do two shows in the west end, drink Soho dry followed by a Balans burger and the night bus home for 5am before dragging my sorry arse into work again for a two show Sunday!

What is your Saturday like now?I have actually got much better at doing very little these days. When my toddler was younger he was a little limpet so I found it easier being out and about where he had lots of distractions. Nowadays we start off with a very lazy morning, maybe the park or head out for lunch and a stroll. There is always the avoidance of some household task. Saturdays usually involves a hunt for scones for my husband. There can never be enough scones.

If you have alone time-where would you go?Currently I hide in my bedroom with my computer trying to squeeze out an idea for a new video or post while trying to resist the possibility of a nap. If I had actual ALONE ALONE time where I didn’t have to work, like AWAY, I… I have no idea. Why is this beyond the realm of my imagination??!! Hahahah I don’t get away much on my own other than to see friends, then we generally try to fit six months worth of food and wine into one evening. It’s always good!  

THE OTHER MUM – RIONA O’CONNOR

Where is your happy place?Breastfeeding my son to sleep. The pub. Anywhere with potatoes.  

What thing do you not like to do?Remind people that actors and creators like to eat stuff and have a roof over their heads! I’m so bored of being asked to do everything for free.  

If you could have a superpower what would it be and why?Definitely apparate. My son is so in love with Nana and Auntie LouLou who live at home in Ireland. I’d love for him to be able to see them every week. Plus the babysitting perks I could 100% get on board with!

Who are your top 3 lady heroes?My Mom. Brene Brown. All my female friends – their resilience and strength blows me away.

When you were little, what did you want to be?A vet

What’s the best book you have read this year?Body Positive Power by BodyPosiPanda

What makes you feel afraid?Everything to do with my son getting hurt. That I’ll never overcome my own brains negative thoughts about myself.

THE OTHER MUM – RIONA O’CONNOR

What would your last meal be?Mash, spinach, sweet corn with philadelphia, roast potatoes, quorn escalope, stuffing and gravy!

What is your dream job?I’ve already done it. As an actor all I’ve ever wanted to do was work, not be famous, just to use the skills that I am best at and feel like I am contributing. I would love to go back to the west end. If job sharing was a thing as an actor, I’d be back auditioning tomorrow but it’s not, and me working 6 days a week is not right for my family just now. I’ve also learned that a dream job is still a job and there are highs and lows to that too. You’ve got to embrace them all! Right now I’m loving working on some adverts and voice overs and of course creating lots for social media. I’ve discovered the body positive movement and it’s really inspired me to create from that space, so maybe that’s a new dream right there!

On the first day of ruling the world, what would you do?Equal pay. Abortion access globally. LGBTQIA, disabled and fat equality. Diet industry abolition. Then hand it all over to Michelle Obama. Make sure she’s well fed and watered and surrounded by other women making decisions. Go to bed.

THE OTHER MUM – RIONA O’CONNOR

Thank Riona!

The post The Other Mum – Riona O’Connor first appeared on MUMFORCE.

Where are you from? Proud Mancunian

Do you still live there? No I moved away from my home town when I was 18 to Suffolk. I lived in Suffolk for 13 years and then moved to Kent. We now are very happy in Sevenoaks, Kent.

What would be your revolution? Oh my goodness how long have you got?! I always laugh that if I ever became Prime Minster the first thing I would do would be to have a massive crack down on people parking on pavements! When I used to have a double buggy it was impossible to get past! That’s not a very sexy revolution is it? It is practical though 🙂

What did you do on an average Saturday night before kids? I am a real homebody so I used to stay at home loads and watch a film. I would make a very good recluse!

What is your Saturday like now? Exactly the same but with a few more people on the sofa

If you have alone time-where would you go? For a nap! Where is your happy place? My bed or by a pool on holiday.

What thing do you not like to do? Ironing!

If you could have a superpower what would it be and why? 100% freeze time! I would love to be able to get more stuff in the day.

Who are your top 3 lady heroes? Gosh this is so hard! I would say .. Princess Diana, Cilla Black (I adored her when I was growing up) and Beyonce .. because, well Beyonce!

When you were little, what did you want to be? Kylie Minogue

What’s the best book you have read this year? I love books .. so it is hard to pick just one but I really enjoyed Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton.

What makes you feel afraid? I hate flying! and snakes!

What would your last meal be? Chinese takeaway.

What is your dream job? Writer. I am already doing my dream job and I consider myself to be very lucky.

On the first day of ruling the world, what would you do? Back to those cars on pavements again 🙂

#fun#guest#mentalhealth#mum

The post The Other Mum – The Organised Mum first appeared on MUMFORCE.

Where are you from? Do you still live there?if not where have you settled?All my family is Greek originally from Cyprus! My mum and dad moved here to avoid the occupation in the 70s. I was born in Holloway Road along with my brother and sister. I have always been a Londoner! My husband and I worked as Charity Workers in Beirut for a few years before returning to the UK where we settled in leafy herts and had our 3 boys!

What would be your revolution?Oh come on it has to be a revolution that makes everyone realise that we are all secretly Greek!!!!!! It would be a Greek Revolution whereby I would force everyone to eat Halloumi and sport really hairy legs like me! ? Did you know taramosalata makes a great face mask? No scientific proof other than the fact that I tried it on myself!

What did you do on an average Saturday night before kids?Oh man well my husband and I did all our pre-parenting years in the Lebanon so it was all night cafes and manoushi bars and romantic walks to beautiful downtown Beirut.

What is your Saturday like now?Er not like that. I live with FOUR MEN. Its all lets kill each other over monopoly then make up just in time for pizza and Britains Got Talent!!!!!

If you have alone time-where would you go?I just want to sit in my sunny garden and just be…..ALONE. Reading and drinking coffee. Failing that freetime walking round a bookshop does it for me. I was originally an Eng Lit Grad!

Where is your happy place?That is so easy and it is so incredibly dull but its my bed. I love it there. I feel safe and peaceful there. These days I am a sad little old lady who retires to her lady chamber before the kids do!

What thing do you not like to do?What is the point in ironing? Seriously? It does nothing for me. Gimmee a toilet to bleach or a bath to scrub. You get worthwhile results you get me bru? But ironing what does it really give us? What does it bring to the world? To humanity? Non-crumpled clothes that get crumpled the minute you iron them and wear them.

If you could have a superpower what would it be and why? Oh yeah easy peasy. I just want to fly. When I was a kid I tried it all the time. I remember always jumping down the stairs to see if I could when I was little. I still try it these days but my husband looks at me a bit strangely if I do.

Who are your top 3 lady heroes?Victoria Wood.Lucille Bal lTracey Ullman My most fav inspirational funny girls of all time.

When you were little, what did you want to be?Easy. An actress. I loved dressing up when I was little and being different characters. I would get whatever I could find out of my mums closet and make up funny characters with kooky names.

What’s the best book you have read this year?Loved loved loved The Cows by Dawn O’ Porter. A real eye opening read for women like me who really use and engage with social media. It tells an amazing story but also equips you with the wisdom and common sense you need to navigate through the social media world. I remember reading Dawns book at a real time of instagram apathy when I got hit by some negative comments. It helped me out my pit at the time.

What makes you feel afraid?Not being in control.

What would your last meal be?Prawn Biryani

What is your dream job?To have my own character comedy show on TV.

The first day of ruling the world, what would you do? Stop people killing each other and roll out world peace; oh and if I may I would and also stop people wearing really thin leggings that show me EVERYTHING on the school run. Tee hee. ?

The post The Other Mum – Big Fat Greek Mother first appeared on MUMFORCE.