What's on your fridge? Our fridge has a selection of smudgy fingerprints at varying heights, alphabet letters, a sheet of nursery rhymes, a shopping list scribbled on the back of an envelope, and an odd selection of fridge magnets. There's a Coastguard one (my father in law was the oldest ever serving Coastguard in the UK, he retired at 65 and he didn't really want to go then), an Arsenal football club one (that's from my brothers, my surfing husband hates football so it amuses me to have it on the fridge), the obligatory Cornish pasty (traditional local food of the gods), and in pride of place, a brilliant one that a great friend gave me that says "Dull women have immaculate houses". You can probably guess why that one appeals.
I don't think I consciously stick stuff on my fridge, it just kind of appears by virtue of having a magnet on it - and there it stays. But ever since we first came up with this activity, I've started sneaking peeks at other mums' fridges. It's amazing the variety of life to be found on a fridge door, and what it tells us about the people that use the fridge.
What does your fridge door say about you and your family? What would you like it to say to you? We look at our fridges every day. What we put on there must have some influence on our internal life, so let's make it a positive one.
This month we're turning storyofmum into a giant fridge: Fill your Fridge Magnet. We want you to join us in making your very own inspiring fridge magnet. Give it a simple message or image with the power to make you feel better every time you open and close that fridge door. Be funny, dark or sentimental - use words or a simple image that inspires you - just include whatever you know will lift your heart when you see it. Share it with other mums online. Then put it on your fridge and remember it every day. Our first contributions come from a group of young mums via Platform 51 - they may be a bit blurry, but they come from the heart.
Inspired by the idea of a fridge magnet as a positive message to oneself, I wrote a blog post last night on the voices inside my head: Internal Cheerleaders, Internal Bullies. Right now, the cheerleaders are winning, which is a great feeling, but it wasn't always so.
We also had a fab post this month from Rose Deniz in Turkey for our series on creativity and motherhood: Creative Chaos: Thriving as a Mother-Writer. Check it out for inspiration on balancing your creative home life with your creative dream. You can also follow Rose on twitter at @rosedeniz.
And finally... somehow we're holding our first evening Story of Mum Group in Penzance this month. We'll all be making fridge magnets there too, without the kids this time. If you can come along, we'd love to have you. If not, look out for some cracking magnets online soon (we will be drinking tea and/or wine, which may affect the quality of the magnets produced...!).
Looking forward to sharing your fridge door.
Pippa and Penny
