Move over, Beyoncé!
Mum-of-twins Sharon is all for keeping it real!
everyone loves Beyoncé. She’s beautiful, talented and successful. But even I rolled my eyes when she posted that picture announcing the birth of her twins.
‘Sure, I didn’t look as good after my two,’ I wrote, sharing her image on Facebook.
Five months earlier, I’d had twins Senan and Zoe, making me a mum-of-five!
I loved it, but I looked a lot more exhausted than Beyoncé.
However, my friends and family didn’t agree...
‘You look great, too!’ they said.
Which was when I got the idea…
‘Would you like to help Mummy take a picture?’ I asked my 6-year-old daughter Megan.
I always try to see the funny side of life. So I wondered if could I recreate Beyoncé’s picture in my own way?
Grabbing a pink, fluffy Primark blanket, I draped it round my shoulders. Then
I grabbed a veil from Megan’s dressing-up box.
I only had a pair of shorts and a top on underneath, and my trusty trainers.
Handing Megan my phone, I scooped up the twins and scuttled into the back garden.
‘Can you take some pictures of Mummy looking like Beyoncé?’ I asked, as I posed by flowers in front of the shed.
Grinning, Megan clicked away happily. Then my glamorous photoshoot was over, and she ran off to play with her friends.
Chuckling, I sent the photos to my husband Peter, who thought they were hilarious.
My best mate Sinead in Canada agreed, encouraging me to post the pictures on Facebook. ‘And I’ll share them on Twitter,’ she said.
Fine by me! They’d probably get a few likes and comments…
Only, within two hours, my pic had gone viral, with 2,500 likes and thousands of shares!
For the rest of the evening, my phone rang nonstop. Local news and radio stations called, and Sinead even had journalists in Canada ringing her, trying to reach me!
It was 1am before I put down my phone. But, the next morning, I awoke to hundreds of messages, and my face on Irish TV show Ireland AM!
Within hours, I’d had calls from American news organisations, including Fox News, Huffpost and ABC.
And it didn’t stop there. For the next week, my pictures were published across the globe.
Even my great-aunt in New Zealand rang to say she’d seen them on the telly – and I’ve not seen her in 20 years!
Of course, there were a few negative comments from people who thought I was mocking Beyoncé.
But that wasn’t my intention. I just wanted to show the contrast between a normal mum battling with twin babies, compared to an international superstar, who has stylists, photographers, make-up artists and nannies.
What started out as just a daft idea ended up giving me more than my 15 minutes of international stardom.
I may never reach Beyoncé’s level of fame and fortune, but that suits me.
I’m perfectly happy with my normal, family life, thanks!
Next morning, I awoke to see my face on Irish TV!