I’ve talked before about my first business being the polar opposite of my passions and personality but I think I also need to admit that, apart from being a quest for commercial success, it was an attempt to fit in. A lifelong outsider, moving to a new town 2 weeks before giving birth to my first child was not the wisest move and when you ache for some form of support you’ll do pretty much anything.
So, I wore cardigans (brown ones guys!!) and spent my evenings doing tapestry and sewing cute baby blankets to sell alongside my tartan hand warmers and other such nonsense. Honest! I went to baby sensory classes and tentatively smiled at other mums at the hope it might spark a conversation. Being a mum became my identity and rocker alternative me took a backseat.
I was so tied up in wanting to display my motherhood as a badge of honour I tried to find a literal badge I could wear to declare to the world I was doing the work (cos bloody hell is it work!). I could if I wasn’t crippled by baby brain have ordered a Mum ring from the amazing Great Frog London but instead I found a pin on Ebay for the Mothers Union. With barely the time to wash my hair or drink a cup of tea at the right temperature, I failed to do my research and had no clue what the association represented or promoted and ignorantly wore my pin for a few weeks prior to enlightenment.
I’d like to say I found the amazing punkymoms after that but my kids were long grown by that point but the need to celebrate alternative mums hasn’t left me and so I’ve been playing with a Metal Mothers collection which will launch next week and I promise there’s not a brown cardigan in sight!
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