The Mothers Day Interviews: Cash Carraway

This year to celebrate Mothers Day, I've interviewed a group of Mums that I particularly admire. They are all Mothers with different experiences, views, stories and opinions. Some are from the blogging and social media world whilst others are ones I know in real life. I'm running the series through out this week and we'll be talking about birth stories, parenting advice, sleep deprivation and much, much more!

My fourth interview is with Cash Carraway, writer of the alternative lifestyle and family blog The Comeback Mum. Cash lives with her daughter in London and writes from her unique perspective on parenting, life, fashion and politics. I can't remember how I found Cash's blog but I did and its certainly one of my favourites. There's nothing I love better than brutal honesty and you'll find plenty of it there! I voted for this blog in last years Mumsnet Blogging awards when it was nominated for Best Writer and Best Campaigner. 

How did The Comeback Mum begin, have you written blogs before, are you a writer by trade?
Back in 2010 when I was pregnant and living in a women’s refuge I started a blog - which I am not allowed to name for legal reasons. Some pieces from it got re-published in magazines and I was approached about writing a book but then literally weeks after giving birth my blog became the subject of a court case. The case went on for two years in which I was not allowed to write anything for public consumption. It was a pretty soul destroying time so I hid away and focused solely on being a mum.
I finally pieced myself back together and started The Comeback Mum in 2015 because I really missed writing and blogging. And I’m so glad I did, it has changed my life!
In terms of a trade I guess I am a writer. I mean, it pays the bills and has done for a while. Before I had my daughter I wrote reviews for music magazines. Then I worked on the news desk of a hateful tabloid, then on a low ranking soap opera, I got sacked from both…

How do you feel about your social media following and influence?
Social media is lovely because it means quick connection. I love sharing stories, I love hearing stories and I guess social media is an instant outlet for that. Everyone on social media is influential whether you have one follower or one million – I love how it gives everyone a voice, regardless of whether or not you agree with them!

The Homeless Period: My 100

So here I am starting another article with George Osborne and my vagina. I'm not really sure how I got here, I really didn't intend for these two things to collide, blog related or otherwise but yet here I am, sitting at my laptop talking politics and pussy once again. Since I wrote that article, I've had a lot of people contact me and show their support by signing the petition set up by Laura Coryton. I think its fair to say the general consensus is that the tampon tax should be stopped and with the petition now exceeding 300,000 signatures hopefully we are well on our way to seeing that happen.

Through that piece of writing I became aware of The Homeless Period petition, a campaign to give homeless shelters an allowance to buy sanitary products. Currently, charities aren't receiving any extra help with this and they are dipping into donated funds to purchase them (inc. paying the luxury tax of course).

There's Too Much Fucking Swearing On This Blog

Its fair to say that there's a lot of swearing on this blog. None of it is particularly offensive in an aggressive sense, its all intended as tongue in cheek humour but I cannot deny that the profanity word count is pretty high. I'd never really considered it until recently, I'm pretty free and liberal with how I write, in that I write how I like and if I like it then I keep it. I don't write for other people, I write for myself and I've found it very therapeutic, cathartic even. I just start tapping away and if a 'shit' or a 'fuck' contributes to the giggles or exasperates my tone I go with it. Particularly if you're writing about something that pisses you off, I've found a couple of 'bastards' and 'arseholes' really help get your point across. Of course I'm thrilled to bits to discover that people actually read my nonsense and even if it is just mostly my Mum (hi mum!), I've enjoyed that I've made people laugh and engaged with them on a certain topic or event in my life. I've had some cracking comments and direct messages, many full of obscenities and 'Fuck Yes!' moments. I've laughed my arse off at some of the feedback I had on that tit post, apparently it is a real issue affecting mothers globally - not just me!

George Osborne Is Taxing My Vagina

George Osborne is literally taxing my vagina, and I voted for him, the bastard.

Maybe I should have voted Labour, in particular for Stella Creasy who addressed the Commons last week about vagina added tax and forced some old, pompous guys to say the terrible word 'tampon'. She seems like the kind of girl I could get on well with, even if she doesn't like Jaffa Cakes.
But anyway its too late for all that now, I've just got to carry on living in a country where my natural and involuntary biological body processes are deemed as cosmetic and optional.

It is after all, terribly extravagant of me to menstruate.