Christmas, I have noticed these past two years, seems to be a time when bloggers slow down, switch off, and concentrate on packing their Instagram feeds full of cosy snapshots of family life-board games, paper hats and long walks in the countryside with children and dogs and festive knitwear.  In short, it’s the essence of hygge.

But it isn’t a time for blogging, for writing lengthy and heartfelt posts about postnatal depression, feminism, how much you love your kids or even that brand new video you made showcasing the grand unboxing of the latest freebie.   In fact, it seems to be a time when many bloggers switch off entirely and spend time with their actual families, as opposed to merely writing about them.

And that’s fine, of course.  It’s more than fine.  I take my hats off to these people.  However, it isn’t my reality.  I love my family time as much as the next person.  I love writing lengthy and heartfelt posts about all of the above (although I cannot claim to be an expert on any).  Hell, I’d even unbox a freebie on video if someone gave me one (maybe).   But I sometimes feel as though I am not of their world.  Like I sometimes feel like a fraud when it comes to motherhood, the same is certainly true of blogging.  Blogging, it can often seem, is a job for stay at home parents; unemployed but over occupied with demanding children and endless chores, looking for a way to be creative when the day job doesn’t allow it.  Or it’s a job for work at home parents, those who quit the rat race for a more flexible career-usually, I presume (although not always) with a husband’s salary to tide them over whilst they got going.

Of course, I am completely stereotyping here.  I don’t have access to the inner minds or family circumstances of others who tread the blogging path, and maybe the real reason that no one has heard of me and I am endlessly unsuccessful (although what is success anyway?  I don’t see myself as successful at blogging because I haven’t achieved my personal goals, but that’s not to say that I wouldn’t appear successful to others) has nothing to do with my usual excuse about having no time because, like, job and all that, but because I am just not very good at it, but (and I appreciate I have rambled right off topic here) I do work full time, and that does sometimes make it feel like an uneven playing field.  When other bloggers switch off and enjoy their family time, I am spending that family time wondering whether I should be turbo-charging my blogging.  Like now, at Christmas.  And that is why the #SchoolsOut linky is a thing.  It is a thing, ladies, gentlemen and bloggers.  Not all of us are having a Christmas break, and anyway I have a lot of mock exams to mark so what’s a break anyway?  Let’s join together and share our posts in the linky for when all other linkies are closed:  the #SCHOOLSOUT linky!

Yes, now I have thoroughly depressed/outraged you all with my random thoughts on the parent blogging sorority (I cannot call it a fraternity when it’s 90% female.  Soz guys), I am going to cheekily ask you to link your wondrous posts below.  They do not have to be Christmassy (although they can be).  My only criteria is that you want to link them up in the absence of all other linky options and shout, hey world!  I’m still blogging!  Someone is always here on the internets!  MERRY BLOGMAS EVERYONE!

Argh hold on, wait a second.  The rules!  I nearly forgot the rules!

Yes, so obviously don’t break the precious rules, which are:

1. Comment on the host’s post (please.  That’s what I pay my $2 Inlinkz subscription for peeps.  I need your comments to make this worthwhile).
2. Comment on the post before yours, then we all get a little bit of the #SchoolsOut linky lovin’.
3. Add the fabulous #SchoolsOut linky badge to your post.
4. If you want a retweet, feel free to tweet me your post at @singlemumspeaks
5. That’s it I think.

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