As you can imagine my email inbox has daily offers sent to it. Most of them go in the bin but when I received an email Carmen at Wombat&Co with details of the Wallaby Babywearing Coat something made me want to find out more. The fact it was freezing cold made the faux fur lining stand out even more.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.
Here's an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 21,000 times in 2015. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 8 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
I was intrigued by selling various #2015bestnine collages on my Instagram feed over the last few days of 2015. It did the trick, it got me wondering what mine were. I was a little surprised by the results.
I am @neslinglibrary on Instagram if you don’t yet follow me. I share photos of everyday life as well as sling library. I do after all describe myself in my profile bio as:
“Rachel Coy: Mum of two boys with the mission to help the NE carry their babies big and small. I’m a carrying consultant & sling librarian at the NE Sling Library”
So here are mine. 9 photos which between them sum up my life in 2015. I also apparently made 744 posts in 2015 and they had a total of 2300 likes. These 9 images make up just 117 of those. What do these images tell me? Maybe a look at each one is might help.
The first 4 images are the most popular I posted in 2015. From top left they are a local mama showing her hand knitted babywearing coat insert (16 likes), next all received 14 likes are: me playing with a Woven Wings Droplets wrap at Slingababy CPD, a mamas first wrapping attempts and associated sleepy dust and another’s solo attempt at a double hammock after a consultation. These 4 images show the variety of a sling library and consultant. The range you can spend too. There is no one size fits all.
Next comes a photo of life or more correctly World Book Day 2015 and the outfits hubby and the boys wore. Not sling library related but life. Then there is Maria and her gorgeous girl playing with ring slings. The summary of what NESL means was posted when I was feeling raw and worried about the library. It was a silly summary that made me feel better and got 12 likes. I am not sure what it was about these images that made them as popular as they were.
The final two are normal life. A picture of my eldest looking rather grubby, dressed in Victorian dress for a trip to Beamish with school. The last is an image of me off duty and probably looking the happiest I had looked for a long time. Taken at a restaurant in Preston the night before a friends wedding. I joked it was a Mai Tai for the sling librarian. I was happy and relaxed in a moment. Both are something I find extremely hard to achieve. I am constantly on edge, worried about what others think of me, worried about the library. Maybe the fact I was relaxed was the reason this image resonated with people.
My Best Nine of 2015 are an arbitrary choice based on popularity alone. Why not do a top ten and then this image would have been included too. With only 10 likes it didn’t make it onto me photo grid but in this mamas eyes and smile is as much happiness and joy of any of the other images that were chosen.
Popularity doesn’t mean importance. Likes don’t mean a photo is more or less significant. I will continue to share images across social media. The picture below shows my last 12 uploads: they too are a combination of sling library and real life. I will continue to do what I love: being a sling library, consultant and mummy, and hope that you will follow me on this journey.
I know how to help families find a sling that matches their needs. I know how to explain why hysteria over high street carriers is simply that – hysteria. I know that one size doesn’t fit all, that individual families need individual carrying solutions. I’ve spent thousands (and continue to do so) training to be the best I can be.
But……
Being a Babywearing Consultant is an amazing job. It is different every day. It is not your run of the mill job. Each family has something about them that is different – even if they do want the same carrier. Most people don’t understand what I do. In my job I cannot judge. I cannot work to a set of fixed rules. I need to be flexible. There is no one type of parent who visits the sling library or for a consultation. I simply work with the families who have sought my help to find a carrying solution that works for them. I am honoured to be part of their lives, even just for a fleeting moment.
My clients are individuals. All with individual reasons to carry their babies (however big they are). It is their individual needs which make my job an amazing one to do. I have ‘colleagues’ around the country, they are also dedicated to helping people to carry their babies. Whether they are self-employed and trying to make a small living to help them raise their own families, or volunteers giving up their time to help others, it doesn’t matter. What matters is their dedication and desire to make carrying normal.
This blog was inspired by Vicky Smith of Taylored Fit Physiotherapy as the writing style was based on her recent ‘I am a physio’ blog and she kindly let me use it as a template for my piece.
Originally Published for Birth and Baby as a: Network Blogger: I’m A Babywearing Consultant
Isaac will be 4 in April. We have used a sling since he was 8 hours old but now I think this could have been our last Slinging Christmas.
Isaac’s 1st Christmas 2012
Christmas 2015
What age did your children stop being carried?
Christmas 2013
Christmas 2014
Post -Christmas stroll 2015
Slings and More 