Eat, Sleep, Cry, Repeat: The Mummy Lessons

Thursday 02 May 2019

An award winning 'potty mouthed' blogger will be speaking in Guernsey this weekend as part of the Guernsey Literary Festival and how to write as if your father-in-law isn't reading it.

Helen Wallen has spoken openly and honestly on her blog Just a Normal Mummy and has written two books about motherhood.

As an instagram mum and blogger turned novelist, Helen Wallen's appearance at the Guernsey Literary Festival this year does not signify a break from the usual order of the day. The mother of three gave birth to her latest child last year so will combine this festival with her youngest's first visit to the island to talk about her novels Baby Boom! and  its sequel The Mummy Lessons. 

It follows three young women whose pregnancies, both planned and unplanned, take their lives in an unexpected direction.  

The blog Just a Normal Mummy has more than 65,000 fans on Facebook and 10,000 fans on Twitter and Helen has appeared on mums' favourite Mumsnet review videos on YouTube. When the blog started though the idea was just to have something to do on maternity leave. 

"I started the blog in 2011 and I'd always had a job in writing anyway coming from a PR background. There's a lot now, but at the time there wasn't much out there that was funny, there was a lot of advice but nothing too real.

"I'd moved away from London to Portsmouth and found my life had totally changed, I got back into writing when I was yet to make friends and it was something I liked doing. 

"I did a blog post: 'How to be a parent without being a d*ck' and that went viral. I think people just appreciated the honesty.  You do come across these competitive parents and I think writing about them hit a nerve with people," she said.

Happy Publication Day to me!!! #themummylessons @agentmilburn @HodderBooks ????????????????????❤️ pic.twitter.com/RvjJl5NhPM

— justanormalmummy (@wallymummy) March 21, 2019

Some of Helen's 'potty mouthed' truisms about parenting from the post that propelled her career include:

"If no-one’s dead, you’re still laughing, and you’ve actually made it out of the house before midday once this week, trust me – you’re doing a f@*king amazing job."

and:

"Once a human-being has launched themselves at speed through your vagina, fitting back into your size-10-jeans is about as high up the priority list as making your own humous." 

Pictured: Helen Wallen's latest release.  

"Just because I'm a mum it doesn't mean I've lost my sense of humour, I think that's why a lot of people relate to it. I try not to think about who's going to read my work, it definitely helps not to imagine my father in law would read it," she said.  

Helen Wallen is appearing at the Guernsey Literary Festival on Sunday 5 May at 11:30. Tickets can be bought here.  The event is in association with Island Mums.