Gosh, I am so very late with sharing my August “Feature A Mom Blogger”campaign!

Kate Royce, the mastermind behind Mamma’s Meeting Place. An online community where mothers

are encouraged to join as members, which then allows them to search the database and link up with other moms in their community/area.

I was moved by Kate’s “A Letter to my Unborn Child” where she makes reference to “Ethan/Brixton”, and then fast forward 21 months, and the world meets Ethan!

Here’s my Q & A with Kate, let’s meet the Mamma, behind the Meeting Place.

Can you tell me a bit about yourself (relationship status, career, kids/pets, volunteering, etc.)?

My name’s Kate Royce. I’m an advertising copywriter, co-founder of Mammas’ Meeting Place and adoring mother to little Ethan (21 months) whom, I am convinced, is set to be the greatest adventurer and explorer the world has ever known.

My gorgeous husband is a complete water baby, and I’m a total beach bum, which is why we decided to settle in Cape Town after 5 years or travelling.

What inspired your Blog?

Adapting to becoming a mom is hard work. You may have 9 months to ‘prepare’, but you don’t really understand the full scope of what motherhood is all about until your husband’s gone back to work, you’re knee-deep in nappies, and you suddenly realise that as natural as having a baby is, being a mom doesn’t necessarily come naturally.

I think a lot of moms talk about motherhood as if it’s all sunshine and unicorns and rainbows of happiness. It is all of those things. Sometimes. And then other times it’s exhausting, and overwhelming and lonely.

Hannah and I started Mammas’ Meeting Place to share some of our hard-learned lessons, laugh at our misgivings and mostly make moms feel like they’re not alone on this crazy, coo adventure.

How did you and Hannah meet and what has been some of the challenges that you faced in putting the blog together? (I read about your “new” family on your About page, so am assuming that she is co-founder of Mamma’s Meeting Place? Please correct me if I’m wrong).

You are absolutely right, Hannah is the other half of Mammas’ Meeting Place. We were introduced by a mutual friend. We had both just had our little ones, who were born 2 days apart, and so we were on maternity leave at the same time.

The idea for Mammas’ Meeting Place came to us on one of our many prom walks. We spent a lot of time on the prom in an attempt to get our little ones to sleep….

I think time, or lack of, has been the real challenge form me with regards to setting up and maintaining Mammas’ Meeting Place. I work full time and have a little one, so I do my best to fit Mammas’ Meeting Place in, in my ‘spare’ time – if there is such a thing.

What are you reading right now?

Killing Kebble by Mandy Weiner, and wow what and eye-opener it is.

What are the non-essential items in your handbag right now?

About 80% of my make-up bag. There’s just no time anymore…

Do you enjoy horror movies, why/why not?

I used to be a horror movie fanatic. In my younger years my roommate and I would do Scary Movie Sunday weekly. But as I got older and the news got scarier, the line between reality and fiction got a bit too blurred for my liking. There’s too much scary shit happening in reality to spend my ‘free’ time watching things that scare me, so I tend to only watch things that make me happy.

Have you ever flipped your lid in public (lost your cool), what triggered it and what was the outcome?

Not that I can recall. I’m generally a pretty calm person. If I do ever ‘flip out’ it tends to be behind closed-doors.

When was the last time you slept until 11 am on a Saturday (being sick does not count)?

 I can’t even recall. A lifetime ago.

If you could be a superhero, who would you be and why?

 If I had to choose one, I’d say Storm from X-men, she’s hot and she can control the weather. Eternal summer, here we come…

What was/is your favorite fairytale and why?

Alice in Wonderland – it just mixes the whimsical with the bizarre so incredibly well.

Share your favorite:

Books:

The Curious Incident About the Dog in the Night Time – Mark Haddon
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates – Tom Robbins
Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden

Movies:

Empire Records
Dazed & Confused
The Notebook

Songs:

Anything from Counting Crows; only the best band of all times. If you held a gun to my head to pick one song, I’d say Round Here.

Places:

Zanzibar. I married the man of my dreams there.

People:

My family of course. Oh, and I have a bizarre fascination with Pete Doherty, strange I know.

If you had one message to share with your neighborhood pets, what would that

be? 

Please stop using my pot plants as your porta potty.

You can follow Kate on her blog, Mamma’s Meeting Place or her Facebook Page.