I've only been blogging for about six months but in that time my life has completely changed and as a result the lives of those close to me have changed too.
Gone are the evenings in front of the TV flaked out and snoring by 9pm. Now my evenings are spent sitting opposite my hubby at the kitchen table, both of us engrossed in our Twitter feeds or blogs.
Funnily enough we have settled into the same 'Twitter Tribe' and are often caught up in the same conversations.
He started a blog too. Inspired by an an amazingly kind act that shook the roots of everything that he believed in.
Then there are the people that I have met on line. People that I've bonded with without visual distractions. People that you know care for you and look out for you - probably more than you 'real' friends do. You find yourself looking out for things that you know they will like and you speak openly without the constraints of everyday life.
Surprise parcels in the post..... when was the last time you got one of those from your everyday friends?
Yesterday with the postman came a box full of lovingly sewn cushions and dresses for my children, made by one very special person who stayed up nearly all night making them for me despite having four demanding children of her own.
How many of you regular friends would do that?
Then there are the people that I have met and formed business relationships with. I have a fab new client who I was following on Twitter. She came to me for advice - not knowing that I was already watching her - and it took a while for us both to realise.
We are a couple of weeks into our business relationship and what a couple of weeks they have been! She is totally inspirational - with six kids in tow. You should stop by her site and have a look at her revolutionary new product. It's called easidream and it is awesome!
Then there is a lady over in LA. She has gone out of her way to help me in a project that I am setting up this weekend for one of my clients.
She didn't have to do that - we have never met. She has not only showed kindness to me - but she also sent @byyanto a stack of the Pearsons Salted Nut Roll that he fell in love with after me gifting him some on my return from Chicago.
She went out, bought them for him, packed them up and sent them to him here in the UK - all the way from sunny LA!
And then there is my boy - Sonny. What I have witnessed over the last few weeks has been nothing short of amazing. I have seen him blossom and grow and this is entirely down to his blog.
On Saturday we went to Drayton Manor Park - with free passes offered to Sonny. When we were back home after a wonderful day out I commented to him that he looks really happy at the moment and his reply totally shocked and surprised me.
He told me that he is happy for the first time in his life - that he feels like he has a purpose, something to look forward.
He is eight years old and I felt like a failure as a parent at that moment. All any mum wants is for her children to be happy.
But he went on to explain that he hadn't been happy at school - that there was someone in his class who was making him very unhappy but he now felt like that didn't matter anymore because he has his blog - he is TotallySonny and people want to listen to what he has to say!
The transformation in him has been nothing short of a miracle. I'm not saying that he went around under an Eeyore cloud before. He is popular, cute, clever and everyone loves him. He is just one of those kids that people take to. But he didn't have the spark that I have seen grow inside him over the last few weeks.
I wonder if he will think back to this summer and remember it as fondly as I will? I'm not sure how long his blog obsession will go on for but while it does I will nurture, encourage and promote the hell out of it. If he takes nothing more than this new found confidence then that's enough for me.
Blogging it seems is turning out to be a family obsession. The girls want a part of it too! Sonny tells FunnyGirl - "You will have to wait until you are seven at least." and to ModelGirl he is offering advice on what people would like to read if and when her time comes.....
So that is what my new life on the internet has brought me. A shared love of reading and writing and an amazing bunch of new buddies who I know will be my true friends forever.
Please do stop by the little fellas blog. He absolutely loves reading the comments that so many of you leave. You can find him at TotallySonny.com
Sophie4Sophie - you rock. xx
Sprmama - you are one of the kindest people I have known xx I hope that you enjoy your lunch at the Ivy on Saturday with annabel Karmel - you deserve it.
