Winter must be nearly over. The sun is shining. It’s not bitterly cold any more. And, after months without an excuse for me to pull on a sequinned ball-gown, the blogging awards season is upon us once again. And yes, I need your vote …
You wait months for one and then both the BritMums Brilliance in Blogging Awards (‘the BiBs’) and the Tots100 Mum and Dad Awards (‘the MADs’) only go and open together on the same day! (Insert your own joke about London buses here.)
The BiBs and the MADs are the two biggest parenting blogging awards of the year – over 500,000 votes were cast between them in 2015. They recognise those whose blogs have most informed, entertained and inspired their readers across a variety of categories.
Public nominations for this year’s awards are open until April 13th (BiBs) and April 8th (MADs).
I would dearly love you to consider nominating me – and also my nearest and dearest blogging chums – in both sets of awards. Here’s why I think we’re worth a shout (other than to stroke my rampaging ego, obviously).
Slouching towards Thatcham
BiBs: Writer. MADs: Best Writer
This one’s all about me. Why should you consider me in the Writer category?
Let’s be honest here. Am I the best writer in the parenting community? No.
Am I the writer most likely to bring tears of laughter or sadness to your eyes? Only if I use tear gas.
Am I the most popular and widely read blogger out there? Only in my wildest dreams.
Aha. Cue gratuitous Taylor Swift video.
So why should anyone nominate me? What sets me apart as a writer worthy of your vote?
Well, here’s the case for the prosecution, m’lud. I blog purely for the joy of it. I don’t do it for money or events or products. I don’t even do it for the pursuit of page views or rankings.
I blog because I love to write. As Descartes might have said – he didn’t, but let me run with this – I write therefore I am. Scribo ergo sum.
Setting aside the pretentious Latin wordsmithery, that doesn’t make me unique in the blogging world but it does make me and my content different to most others out there. There aren’t many bloggers who produce the breadth of output I do.
I’ve written everything from serious reflections on grief and legacy and what the deaths of David Bowie and Alan Rickman meant to me as a parent, to a light-hearted guide to the diplomatic minefield that is parents’ evening and every shade in between. Not to mention being stupid brave enough to both write and perform parenting parodies of pop classics, such as my reworking of Pretty in Pink.
While I’m being honest, I’m not going to beat about the bush here. I would appreciate even a single nomination. I would love to be shortlisted. But I’m not going to lie: I would dearly love to win. I don’t expect to but nothing ventured nothing gained, right?
Meet the Parents podcast
BiBs: Fresh Voice. MADs: Best New Blog
The MADs Best New Blog Award is for blogs less than a year old, while the BiBs Fresh Voice Award is for new or recently relaunched blogs.
Meet the Parents, a collaborative podcast with a rotating team of both mum and dad contributors, ticks both boxes. It’s new. It’s relaunched. And – buy two get one free bonus! – it’s all about fresh voices. (See what I did there?)
Over the past year I’ve launched two podcasts. The Slouching towards Thatcham podcast featured a weekly guest and I talking about and reading one of our favourite posts. Like the BritMums Live keynotes, it provided the opportunity to listen to some of your favourite bloggers in their own voices.
In February, this relaunched in a bigger (and hopefully better) format as the Meet the Parents podcast. This still features occasional guests but is designed to provide a broad view of parenting topics via a mix of mums and dads including Amie (Finding Our Feet), Dave (The DADventurer), Hannah (Budding Smiles), Julian (Northern Dad), Mark (Best Dad I Can Be) and Vicky (Verily Victoria Vocalises).
As far as I’m aware, it’s the only UK parenting podcast that provides a cross-section from both sides of the parenting fence – so not only is it new but it’s genuinely different too.
We’re a group of real parents with real stories, sharing our own thoughts and experiences. Mum or dad, young or older, there’s something for everyone in our weekly chats.
A nomination for the Meet the Parents podcast is a nomination for a collective of some of the best parenting blogging voices around.
Finally, if you need any further convincing, I have literally waxed lyrical so, with apologies to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, here goes …
Vote For Me (to the tune of Let It Be)
When it’s time to vote in twenty-sixteen
Spare a little thought for me
Writer and podcaster, vote for me
You may have read my blog once
And on Twitter you may follow me
Slouching towards Thatcham, vote for me
Vote for me, vote for me
Vote for me, vote for me
Slouching towards Thatcham, vote for me
You may have heard me on my podcast
Singing songs of parody
When you’re nominating, vote for me
I write about my children
Sometimes serious, sometimes funny
Nominate Best Writer, vote for me
Vote for me, vote for me
Vote for me, vote for me
Meet the Parents podcast, vote for me
Vote for me, vote for me
Vote for me, vote for me
Fresh Voice or Best New Blog, vote for me
Vote for me, vote for me
Vote for me, vote for me
Meet the Parents podcast, vote for me
If you’re feeling inclined
You should vote in every category
But if you would be so kind, vote for me
And if you were to nominate me
I would be so very pleased
When you’re nominating, vote for me
Vote for me, vote for me
Vote for me, yeah, vote for me
Slouching towards Thatcham, vote for me
Vote for me, vote for me
Vote for me, yeah, vote for me
Meet the Parents podcast, vote for me
Vote for me, vote for me
Vote for me, yeah, vote for me
When you’re nominating, vote for me
Seriously though, whoever your favourite parenting, family and lifestyle blogs are, do please take a few minutes to nominate them across both sets of awards. There are so many fantastic bloggers out there who are deserving of recognition. But don’t forget to consider me/us, please!
Good luck, everyone.
Click here to vote in the Tots100 Mum and Dad Awards (MADs). Nominations close April 8th.
Click here to vote in the BritMums Brilliance in Blogging Awards (BiBs). Nominations close April 13th.
You will need the following details to complete the BiBs nomination form:
Blog name: Slouching towards Thatcham
Blog URL: http://slouchingtowardsthatcham.com
Twitter ID: @thatchamdad
Favourite post (suggested): https://slouchingtowardsthatcham.com/2016/01/14/a-few-thoughts-on-grief-and-legacy/
Blog name: Meet the Parents podcast
Blog URL: http://meettheparentspodcast.com/
Twitter ID: @ParentsPodcast
Favourite post (suggested): http://meettheparentspodcast.com/2016/02/11/meet-the-parents-podcast-episode-1-valentine-shmalentine/
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