Strollerderby : blogging

New Jersey Woman Tweeting While Giving Birth

Brett Singer — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:00:00 GMT

Melissa Skabich of Cedar Grove, New Jersey is 39 weeks pregnant. She is being induced today due to high blood pressure. You can read more about it on her blog. You can also follow the delivery process live via Twitter. So, what's for dinner? I was thinking hamburgers, but I guess we had that once already...

Wait, what?

Yes, Melissa will be tweeting. Not before. Not after. DURING. DELIVERY.

My initial reaction is summed up by this commenter at NJ.com: "Worry about giving birth to your child, not tweeting. You twit." I would have left out the "twit" part, but I understand the frustration.

On the other hand, what's the harm? If she's into it, that's cool, right?

Mostly it seems like an unnecessary distraction. Isn't being in labor difficult enough without being concerned about tweeting? I'm also wondering if her doctor will tell her to put the darn Blackberry away and focus on pushing. This is her third kid, so I guess she knows what she's doing.

What do you think? Would you tweet while giving birth? Or is this just plain silly?

You can follow Melissa on Twitter at twitter.com/mommyblogger76.

Source: NJ.com

When Toddlers Attack The Neighbors

What's For Dinner Dad Week 2 - Tuesday

Kid Flies Across Country And No One Notices

Surrogate Pregnancy: Who's Next?

OctoMom's Kid - Bite Mark And Black Eye

What They're Babbling About: It's All Relative

JeanneSager — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:26:00 GMT

One of the best things about blogging are the varied looks at similar subjects in the news every week - just adding more to the conversation. Take a look at how we're related to everyone else in the blogosphere this week - and how we're not - in this week's What They're Babbling About.

After reading Hannah's post this week about the black girls showing preference for white baby dolls, a review of the new book "I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla" is apropos. The book on raising black and multiracial children gets the full treatment at The Anti-Racist Parent.

Always bragging about your family tree that goes back to someone great? The joke was on you this week with Familylink.com's April Fool's e-mail claiming addressees had been confirmed as relatives of President Obama. - Salt Lake Tribune

Madeline's look at the names that aren't coming back went hand-in-hand with the April Fool's Name post by The Name Lady this week. Can you spot the fake? - ParentDish

I shared the secrets to the childcare tax credit . . . and Lil Sugar's got a question for you - do you pay your nanny taxes? - Lil Sugar

Shannon helped us hop into spring with her Peep show - now find out what it's like to pull a Mythbusters on Peeps. - CafeMom

Image: PeepResearch

Airing the Parental Dirty Laundry

Brett Singer — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:00:00 GMT

If you blog, you presumably want readers. And one way to do that is with a snappy headline. One could borrow from supermarket tabloids and go with something sensational and completely fake -- "Sarah Palin Gives Birth To Three Headed Alien" – that would do it. But if you blog about family matters, the truth can work just as well.

For example: this post on Yahoo! Shine.

My son is home!!! And I am really mad at his father.

The title got me to click and see what the heck was going on.

The first sentence was a grabber:

I recently wrote a blog about how I hate it when my son goes to his father's for Christmas.

Then it got better:

So many of you left very nice comments about my tough time while he is gone. There were a few that said I was being petty. Let me Go deeper into this........

I started to feel like a voyeur. This was pretty personal stuff. But it's not like I'm looking in the author's window. I'm reading something she posted on the Internet.

I'm not sure what the initial post was about, but this one tells the tale of a father who brought his son home after Christmas with an injured thumb. The mother was mad because the kid should have gone to the emergency room, and thinks that pop was too cheap to pay the seventy-five dollar co-pay. The injury is described in "ER"-level detail: "When I picked him up, it was black and purple and he could not bend it. We went immediately to the ER. After 2 shots of pain killer, they drilled 2 holes in the nail to relieve the pressure." Presumably the couple is divorced and the boy was spending the holidays with his father, although the post doesn't say that explicitly.

So here's my question. Is this fair to the kid, the father, and everyone else involved? Most of us who blog, whether for pay or play, reveal certain details. But it's one thing to talk about a goofy thing your three year old told you. It's another thing to reveal personal details like the ones on this particular Shine post.

It could be a generational thing. I'm selective about what I share with the world, and I think most folks are. Other people don't mind putting it all out there. (That's why Facebook is so successful.) In this case, I imagine that posting these personal details is therapeutic for the author. It is also interesting to other people; the post has over 100 comments. But if I'm the father, I'd be irritated.

Of course, if I'm the father and I really didn't take my son to the emergency room because I didn't want to spend seventy-five dollars, I'm also a major league jerk. Part of the problem, of course, is that we don't know what the father did or didn't do. It's possible that he weighed in with a comment; I haven't read them all. Still, judgments will be made – by me, the commenters on Shine, and commenters here. That's the nature of blogs. Once it's out there, it's out there. But is there a line that we shouldn't cross when kids and/or our significant others are involved? Can there be such a thing as too much sharing online?

Source: Yahoo Shine

Image (which is completely unrelated to this topic): sas.org.uk

Is Miley Cyrus' First Photo Shoot Creepy?

Baby Bikini and Pregnant Man Top 2008 Weird News List

Babble Talk: Did Mommy Get New Boobies?

A Quiverfull Of Kids

Working Parents Smackdown Part 2 – Dads With Jobs vs Moms With Jobs

Working Parents Smackdown Part 1 - SAHD vs SAHM

Would You Ditch a Pro-Gay Blog Mama?

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:01:00 GMT

A friend of mine wrote a heartfelt, personal rebuke of a proposition in California that would ban gay marriage, and what does she get for merely voicing her opinion?

Readers began unsubscribing themselves from her blog.

I get that people disagree on this issue -- but have we reached such a cultural schism that we no longer tolerate even talking about tolerance? I'm hopeful for tonight's election, but man, I am so ready for it to be over.

Abortion Blogger Gives Liberal Parents a Bad Name

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:22:00 GMT

The popular new blog “What to Expect When You’re Aborting” may be the worst thing that’s happened to the choice movement since Sarah Palin. And, in a shout-out that promises to make anti-choice Republicans proud, the writer thanks her “lefty parents” for forming her beliefs.

The anonymous blogger is an anti-choice caricature of the kind of woman who would choose to have an abortion. She is a financially stable white woman in her early twenties; she has been on the pill since she was 13, though she has been "pretty f***ing lax" about it; she glorifies alcohol consumption (beginning her description of the day of her abortion with the headline, “Let’s get some cocktails and de-brief, shall we?”); and she takes glee in parading her hatred for all religion. I don’t have a problem with any of these things in and of themselves—I just don’t want this young woman to be the spokesperson for reproductive rights.

When the blogger sees her fetus, which she refers to as “Tumor,” in a sonogram, she writes, “This was not my Juno moment, where all of a sudden I bit my lower lip and recognized the ‘life’ inside of me. If I could have I would have ripped the f***ing thing our [sic] with my bear [sic] hands on the spot.” She is only concerned that the “tumor’s freakshow head” will mean she’ll be in more pain during the procedure.

The way a woman reacts to a pregnancy is entirely personal: she may feel nothing but relief to have an abortion, or she may decide, at 16, to become a mother. But I don’t want to hear a callous woman broadcasting her hatred of her fetus as an example of why reproductive rights are important, any more than I want to hear an evangelical teenage mom self-righteously defend her choice as heroic or moral.

This blogger, not surprisingly, minces no words in expressing her rather juvenile hatred for the “culture warriors.” She’s got no time for intelligently discussing policy issues (though she does occasionally include a meaningful quote from more nuanced thinkers); she just loathes the bastards and she takes joy in making that perfectly clear, entirely unaware that she is only giving anti-choice activists lots of grist for the self-righteous hatred mill.

This blog epitomizes my concern about the attitude amongst young people that it’s cool not to care too much about anything. If this is what teenage girls stumble upon on the Internet as they try to navigate the very difficult questions surrounding sex and relationships, parents need to work doubly hard to raise thoughtful, intelligent young women.

Photo: What to Expect When You're Aborting

Mommy Blogger Hurt In Plane Crash Helped by Readers

SunnyChanel — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:18:00 GMT

Never question the awesome strength of the blog. Mother of four, Stephanie Nielson of NieNie Dialogues, is one “mommy blogger” who’s readers came out to support in a very significant way, proving the monumential power of the people and the ~~pen~~ keyboard.

On August 16th, Stephanie and her husband were critically injured and severely burned in a small-craft plane accident in Arizona. Currently she is in a medically induced coma and has suffered burns over 83 percent of her body. Her husband was burned over 35 percent of his body and his condition has improved.

““We’ve formed a whole new community, a community of complete strangers who all care about one thing – in this case, one family – who’s in need,” Stephanie’s sister, Courtney Kendrick, told TODAY’s Matt Lauer on Tuesday.”

Stephanie’s blog focuses on the joys of motherhood in an arena usually reserved for the day to day difficulties. “What she represented to a lot of people is the positive impact of motherhood and what motherhood can be for so many people. I think that’s what people responded to.”

After word got out about the accident the visitors to her NieNie Dialogues jumped from 1,000 a day to about 20,000, many wondering how they could help. To assist the family with their ever mounting medical bills, which are already over $2 million (insurance covers the first million), a NieNie regular started a auction which grew to about 350 auctions and have raised about $100,000, a fraction of their bills but a nice chunk none the less.

For more info on Stepahnie, her family and the fundraising efforts, go to the NieNie Recovery site here.

Via Today

10 Signs You Might Need a Childfree Vacation

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:01:00 GMT

Some of us are heading to the BlogHer Conference in San Francisco this week, (and if you can't make this one, don't miss the BlogHer Reach Out Tour coming to a city near you). As I fidget with joy at the prospect of waiting for my flight which departs in 2 hours, it occurs to me that staycations notwithstanding sometimes there is absolutely nothing as delicious as kid-free vacations of one kind or another.

Here are 10 signs you might be in similar straits:

1. Grocery shopping is your alone time.

2. Going to work is the highlight of your day.

3. You and your partner discuss poop and sleep more than you discuss daily news or getting it on.

4. You no longer remember the pure joy of reading the Sunday paper front to back in bed with strong coffee.

5. The last book you read was written by Dr. Seuss.

6. Dressing up means getting out of your sweats.

7. The sound of small children talking starts to sound less like a babbling brook and more like someone pouring acid in your ear.

8. You find yourself short-tempered and negative with anyone under age 20.

9. You think you might have at one time been an extrovert, but now you're definitely an introvert.

10. When people ask you what you do for fun, you have absolutely no idea what to say.

Never fear that the costs of a kid-free vacation make it impossible. Maybe you can swap with a friend or family member to watch your kids overnight so you and your partner (or just you) can get away. Even if it's one night in a Super 8, you'll relish every minute of it.

[Photo Credit: Bellingham Herald]

Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to Gordie From 'Stand By Me'?

Jen Chaney — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:02:00 GMT

In "Stand By Me," he was River Phoenix's best friend. He got a leech stuck on a particularly unsavory part of his body. And he told a hell of a story about Lard Ass. His name is Wil Wheaton, and you can see a snippet of his fine work here:

Wheaton became instantly famous at age 14 after playing Gordie Lachance in the aforementioned modern classic. That led to another high-profile part for him on "Star Trek: Generations," where he starred as Wesley Crusher for several seasons. A string of roles in minor movies and occasional guest-starring gigs on TV shows -- as well as a brief stint as a computer programmer in Topeka, Kan. -- followed, but many "Stand By Me" fans may have found themselves asking: What the heck happened to Gordie?

If you keep close tabs on the blogosphere, you probably already know that Wheaton is a longtime blogger who posts at Wil Wheaton Dot Net, a site he created back in 2001 and continues to maintain all by himself. (A fellow blogger? I like him already.) He has written three books, including the recent "The Happiest Days of Our Lives." And he also does occasional acting -- he appeared last year in an episode of "Numb3rs" -- as well as some voice work, including vocals for (!!) "Grand Theft Auto IV."

On top of all that, he is married and has two stepchildren. But my favorite part of this story? The fact that the kid who played Gordie, a boy who wanted to be a writer when he grew up, grew up to become a writer himself.

Dads Dish on Blogging, Race, Childhood on NPR

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:29:00 GMT

If you're looking for a great perspective on dads and dad blogging, several of my favorite bloggers were featured on a roundtable chat with Michel Martin from NPR's "Tell Me More," offering a glimpse into how dads, too, find connections online. And also how they are helping to dispell a few myths about minority parenting.

Keith of African American Dad, for instance, says he wanted to start his blog to help contribute to the idea that black fathers are also involve. Odd that even today there'd be a need for that, but you've got to hear what some asshole left on his site and how he rose above.

Jason from Rice Daddies started blogging as a way to "reach out and meet people" as a stay-at-home dad in California, and now, years later, he makes a nice living as a blogger. While Jeff at DC Urban Moms and Dads, along with the help of his wife, offers parenting advice. With Father's Day on the mind lately, it's an interesting perspective and well worth your drive time for a listen.

Top 5 Cheap Kid Dates

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:31:00 GMT

There are plenty of great reasons to have kids... and despite what some companies would like you to believe, they really aren't that expensive. Who else do you know whose day is made by a piece of jelly toast with butter?

With a long weekend ahead and summer looming, here are 5 cheap kid dates to help you enjoy some quality time with your progeny:

1. Take a Walk - Kids of any age enjoy fresh air and a nice walk with the folks. If you employ enough adjectives (magic! fairy! adventure!), even the most television-addicted kid, will easily be lured out of doors. My kids and I go on "nature walks" which is really just a slow meander around a small forested area near our house.

2. Count Clouds - When I was a girl, my grandmother used to sit with me in the backyard and ask me how many clouds I saw, including which animals they looked like. It's unbelievably relaxing and you can do it in a park or a backyard anywhere (providing it's not raining).

3. Whiffle Ball in the Park - Is there anything more adorable than a teeny kid whacking away at a white plastic ball with a big yellow bat? Get the whole family or the neighbor kids in on the game. And hit one out of the park for housebound parents everywhere.

4. Picnic - The joys of eating outside cannot be overstated. And what better audience to appreciate a hotdog under a tree than your favorite toddler? Even if all you do is bring sandwiches and eat them on a blanket in your back yard, it's an excuse to get some fresh air and avoid a huge messy post-meal kitchen. Throw in some music and a board game, and you have a fun day for the whole family, all for the cost of food and gas.

5. Kids Choice Dinner - Want to have some fun? Let your very young kids pick out and prepare what is for dinner. Last night we gave this a whirl and ended up enjoying carrots, cereal, and toast. Not bad for a couple of 6 year old girls who usually complain about dinner incessantly. They were so very proud of themselves and I didn't have to lift a finger (well maybe one or two).

There are also wonderful on-line resources, such as Dancing Meatballs -- a city listing of free /low-cost activities for families in search of some fun.

It's easy to believe that in order to do a good job as parents, our kids need to attend language classes, highly stimulating play spaces, and baby Mozart concerts. Truthfully, especially when young, kids mostly benefit from our time. And when else will someone be satisfied with us just as we are?

For more activities that are free or low-cost, go here.

Controversy: Feuding in the Internet Age

Amy S.F. Lutz — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:03:00 GMT

Probably the most surprising thing about writing for Strollerderby was when I found out that, in some cases, the people I wrote about were reading, and sometimes commenting on, my posts about them. Honestly, it never occurred to me that these figures in the news would care about - or even find out about - whatever snarky observations I had to make about their situations.

It has been really interesting this past week, following the debates on two of my posts, as relatives and friends of the posts' subjects jumped in to argue opposite points of view. "Teen Fakes Pregnancy," is a post about a high school student, Danica Esau, who pretended to be pregnant to raise awareness about the plight of pregnant teens. Classmates of Danica's were quick to post comments accusing her of staging the pregnancy just for the attention; one reader claimed, "she doesn't care about pregnant teens, and their unborn children she believes that they should all be aborted." Another, obviously adult reader (and acquaintance, at the very least, of Danica's) jumped to her defense, explaining, "She was asked to this by an organization and to write about it for a study . . . She does care about pregnant teens."

But the more uncomfortable debate accompanied the post, "Is Your Surgeon An Addict?", which talked about confidential rehab programs for drug and alcohol-addicted doctors. In the comment section, two readers - who identified one another as the wife of one of the addicted doctors named in the post and the sister of a patient of that doctor, who had recently died due (the family claimed) to his malpractice - exchanged hostile accusations. The former called the latter and her supporters, "all truly evil and incredibly unhappy people." The sister responded, "If you believe everything [the doctor] says, that is expected, I guess . . . You ignore evidence . . . not accusations, evidence."

I guess it's healthy that people embroiled in these kind of controversial situations have sounding boards where they can safely vent, with no risk of an argument escalating into violence. And it certainly reminds me that there are real people at the center of the endless amount of blog postings I write, and might help to increase sensitivity and awareness on the part of all bloggers and commenters.

One reader of the doctor post made an interesting point: "The truth is very easy to see in these forums, and that is what matters." I'm not sure if truth is revealed, but certainly the complexity of the situations is made abundantly clear, and how passionately people are invested in them.

Strollerderby Playdate: The Awful Blog I Can't Stop Reading

Madeline Holler — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 12:32:00 GMT

How can it be that I am a regular reader of this blog? I mean, you could hardly call it a blog -- she posts only once or twice a month, it's not terribly interesting, it's surrounded by ads for gentle yet overpriced baby laundry detergent that you don't even need.

And it's her! Her! I don't even like her! I am not interested in her! I do nothing but criticize and disagree with her. I didn't watch her on TV before and, now that she's back, I still don't. I won't! Yet, I read her blog. I check it for updates, feel let down when there are none. I find myself identifying with her truly mundane stories and smiling at -- and I mean this in the rudest ways -- the very unfunny funny things she strains to write. Please, what is wrong with me?

Somehow, I have let Elisabeth Hasselbeck get under my skin and into the heart of my web browser. Bafflingly, I don't consider the three minutes I put in each month checking out her posts -- she doesn't even have links or games or a photo album to look through! -- wasted time. How could I? I love reading it! But shouldn't I hate myself a little more for loving it? Shouldn't I want to soak in a tub of scalding hot water and gentle Dreft soap bubbles?

It's like the playgroup I go to again and again. The membership is dwindling, the only mom who shows up is the one you have nothing in common with. Nothing! But I keep going -- once or twice a month -- to not connect, to not agree, to not enjoy. Why go? Why not.

Some Things Hit Close to Home

Karen Murphy — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:54:00 GMT

When we think of "charity", often it's with a distance that belies the humanity of what is truly going on. And, if you stop and think about it, there are a zillion reasons, a zillion opportunities, for helping someone out who's in need.

Last week it rained and rained in western Washington state and Oregon, and just as with the California fires in October and Hurricane Katrina two years ago and countless events worldwide in between, there are people there who are hurting and in need.

There are many ways to help: the Salvation Army, the Red Cross. But want to give to someone who is passing along 100% of donations directly to Washington flood victims, and is herself a mom who's helping other families by ripping down walls and hauling out sodden belongings, now trash? Meet Kathryn from Daring Young Mom, who I found via Finslippy. Here's a video about what's happening in the area. I live near the Delaware River and these images reminded me so much of what we saw several times here in the past several years. Families can be devastated.

Also, Oh the Joys was in Biloxi, Mississippi last week, helping with damages sustained in that area two years ago from Katrina.

The bloggng world is powerful. Last week I read a story about a brother who hasn't stopped blogging and networking through blogging, trying desperately to find his sister who disappeared somewhere in Syria. I apologize I no longer have the link. But the fact is, we can make a difference.

And we can be the change we wish to see in the world.

Photo: daringyoungmom.com

Kid Blogs Rock

Karen Murphy — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 17:35:00 GMT

Recently I decided that what my 11-year old really needs is a blog. Of his own. Which is a far cry from the Waldorfian "no screens" mantra I have been embracing, but I think it would serve not only to foster his creativity but also to allow him to connect with the wider world in ways he can't do simply by hanging out with neighborhood kids.

I found the perfect inspiration for my son today, through Maggie Mason at Mighty Girl: His name is Matthew, he's 9, and his mission is to interview 100 people.

In the Air seems to have touched quite a few other people as well. I haven't read many real-kid blogs (there are so many written-by-parents fake ones to choose from), but what I like about Matthew's writing is that he seems unconcerned that he's dealing mainly with adults. He's just him. Which tells me that some barriers can be successfully crossed here, and maybe that in some ways, in some situations, the internet is a great equalizer.

Plus he conducts some pretty decent interviews (here's Maggie's).

I'm so fascinated by the idea of kid blogs; please post your kid's blog in the comments!

Blogging's Dirty Little Secret

Karen Murphy — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 18:22:00 GMT

Bloggers are a goldmine to advertisers. Think about it: if you, as an advertiser, could get someone to advertise your product for you, and for practically FREE, wouldn't you? All you'd have to do is maybe send out a sample. That's it! And then you're golden, because you've got all these influential people talking up your product to their buds on the blogosphere! Perfect!

Of course, the PR people for the advertisers are smart. Hey, they have to be! So they try to target bloggers that 1. have readership and therefore influence, and 2. blog about things that sort of relate to the product (or not; I've had some wacky pitches).

Oh, and I should mention #3: that AREN'T people of color.

What??!

Yes. True. Our own CityMama Stefania wrote a revealing and scathing piece about this very practice. Frankly, after reading it I felt sick. Stefania receives pitches from PR people daily for her personal blog CityMama, but her group blog Kimchi Mamas, a Korean identity and culture parenting blog, receives nothing. Zip. Zilch. Zero.

Why? "Because we don't pitch to people of color," says the PR guy Stefania questioned.

It's because Asian people are invisible in the media. Discrimination by invisibility. Which is the worst kind of bigotry because everybody pretends it isn't happening. But think about it: other than as a stereotype, when was the last time you saw Asian people on TV, say, just doing what people do? I was struck during my recent visit to Vancouver, a very multi-cultural city, because it was clear that people of all sorts weren't regarded as being part of one group or another. They were just ... people.

Why isn't it like that in the media? And what can we do about it?

Strollerderby Finishline: Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 21:07:00 GMT

I'm posting this at 2:07 p.m. pacific time -- the exact moment Dana and I are getting in the car and ~~never looking back~~ going on our first weekend trip sans the baby. So you'll have to forgive me if I'm a little distracted. There's been a lot of things to check off my list before leaving.

Such as ice cream. I'm packing a lot of it. Patti lets me know the best kind.

And movies -- Karen fills me in on the deeper side of "Knocked Up."

And then, of course, reading material. Fantastic parenting reading material that only the SD can provide.

Rachael is keeping the kids out of the fast lane. For now.

Alisyn lets her kids learn on their own that she's not watching them. But don't we all?

Jessica performs a personal competi-mommy intervention. And she can see all the way to space. (And good luck with potty training this weekend -- what a Father's Day treat!)

Melissa feels for dads with ripped vaginas. I think. Or maybe that was sarcasm? It hurts my uterus to think too hard.

Sarah sticks up for adopters, no matter their orientation. Let's hope Arkansas does the same.

Kelly knows that the best way to find a great gift for a guy is to read Women's Day Magazine. And also to stack up on bathrobes. And pimp fedoras.

And, of course, I'm bringing drinks. The Car Seat seems appropriate.

Happy Father's Day! (But not you. You know who I'm talking about. In the third row.)

Strollerderby Finishline: Hell in a Handbasket Edition

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 20:46:00 GMT

And god looked down and saw upon the land a derby of strollers, and he said it was good. And just. And wise. And slightly alcoholic. And then the derby started questioning things, and it all pretty much went down hill from there.

Mom strippers. Zoloft snorters. Creation Museums? What the hell has become of us this week? We're all going to hell, but thankfully a few of you fine commenters are coming with us. And offering rides. So, so kind.

First, I go and open my big mouth and say that a "museum" dedicated to Creationism is full of more than just audio guides.

Alisyn tries her best to take the heat from the inferno of hell off my shoulders, but, alas, I think she'll just make more enemies. Oh well, at least Harry Potter will be close to Disneyworld -- the other heathen bastion.

Jessica should really know better. Those anonymous moms really know what they're talking about. And they've always got the best sense of humor.

Kelly proves that when your mom-stripper name is Cuddles, and even Ann Curry thinks you're a moron, you're just trying too damn hard.

Stefania writes about Tom Brady's impending fatherhood ~~just so she can google all his pictures~~ so we can all see that even football players care about children. (And she can do math. Thankfully.)

Pierre finds a family with six generations of girls. Ain't that sweet. Except for the idea it must feel odd to be a 37-year-old grandma. Maybe not. Catherine Keener worked it.

Patti wants us to dig through the trash to find used wine corks for this cool crafty stamp idea, and I'm thinking -- trash? Try the crib.

Rachael breaks the bad news to all: Moms aren't happy all the time. But thank god for Zoloft! Fuggin' A sister.

Sarah gets mad, mad props (is that even a phrase anymore or have I finally become a parent?) for hauling out the "Vacation" theme song in this Stroller Derby Playdate.

And to end it all, I think I'm in love with Karen. She redeems us all. Not only does she break out the wicked delicious Hitting the Bottle of the week, she consistently breaks out the best of Stroller Derby prose. If you don't do anything else this weekend, read this. And this is pretty friggin funny.

Strollerderby Playdate: Ex-Pats Are My Idols

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Wed, 23 May 2007 11:01:00 GMT

Ever since reading Babble's foolproof guide to Tuscany with the kids, I've been travel sick. I'm just dying to hop on a plane, uncork a bottle of Robitussin and suddenly find myself somewhere exotic, like Tumecula. (Oh please, you try coping with a 15-hour plane ride and a 1-year-old.)

But because stay-at-home parenting doesn't come with vacation days, I have to settle for the next best thing: bloggers.

There are some fantastic parents out there blogging without borders and making me daydream about China, Italy, Sweden and more.

First up, there's my brother. He lives in Beijing with his 16-year-old daughter and will probably be really pissed that I gave out his blog. But again, he's in China, writes some fantastic, insightful posts and is frequently blocked from various sites, so he'll never know. (But just to be safe ... down with Mao!)

I think I've already written about Adventure Dad, but just in case -- check him out.

Jennifer at Italian Trivia offers a great perspective on life in Northern Italy -- complete with evil sneak thieves. A must-read.

Leslie at Squid in India posts some perfect photos of her adventures in Bangalore. Mangos, mmmm.

And of course, representing the UK, Moobs. Just awesome.

Dads Are Bloggers, Too

JasonAvant — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 15:39:00 GMT

When I first started blogging, shortly after the birth of my son, I was sure I’d find a legion of fellow dads, sharing their experiences with the rest of the Internet. My reasoning seemed logical; since the print publishing world pretty much ignores the other half of the parenting equation, there must be some other source of great writing on fatherhood. Well, I didn’t find anything close to the sheer volume of mommybloggers – in fact, for a while there were only a handful of blogging dads out there, the few, the proud. These days, I’m happy to say that there are quite a few of us, and many of them are producing some excellent writing. Many of them are also very well known, and while I was mulling over who I should include in this list, it seemed to me that this would be a good opportunity to put the spotlight on some of my favorite bloggers who are flying under the radar. A dad’s world is just as compelling as a mom’s; perhaps more so, as one is not likely to find our stories on the bookshelves or the magazine racks. So I give you four of my favorite sites, in no particular order. Each brings a unique take on fatherhood to the virtual table, and each is definitely worth your time.

Flailing My Arms: Jonathon Morgan is a twentysomething Austin dad; he deserves a medal for raising a toddler without a dishwasher. His posts are what you'd expect from an Austinite: down to earth, cool, with a heart as big as Texas itself. And you know you’re in good hands when Cleveland seems like a magical place.

Velcrometer: You may know him as M. Giant; in real life Televison Without Pity's master recapper is known as Jeff Alexander. He brings the same razor-sharp wit to his tales of fatherhood, and provides the occasion bit of good advice. For instance, here's his take on why you should not go see the movie Take The Lead: "Take every ballroom dancing movie and every teacher-makes-a-difference-in-the-lives-of-inner-city-kids-who-in-real-life-would-have-knifed-him-in-the-first-reel movie, scan them all into Final Draft, print it out, throw the whole thing off a freeway overpass and pay homeless guys a buck each to recover as many pages as they can, cast Antonio Banderas, and there you go."

The Blue Sloth: This one sneaks up on you, with quiet, subtle prose that pulls you in. No surprise that the author is a soccer player; the payoff here is not necessarily the goal, but the passing, the footwork, the movement off the ball. The anonymous author shows us the difference between mere blogging and honest-to-God writing.

Mother-Woman: Wait a sec, you say. That doesn't sound like a daddy blog. Ah, but it is. Mo-Wo and her husband P-Man are the co-parents; they divvy up the blogging chores. I'd say it's high time for some parity in the title - this is 2007, after all, and dads are more involved in raising their kids then ever before - but that doesn't keep me from making this very smart and very quirky site a regular stop.

So there's my Four To Watch in '07. What daddyblogs are you reading?

Valentine's Day Around the Blogosphere

Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 12:01:00 GMT

Happy Valentine's Day, Strollerderby readers! Whether you are spending the day dealing with kids coming down off their school party candy highs or hiding in kitchen eating chocolate-covered marshmallow hearts...um...anyway, let's take a look at how parents around the internet are spending their Heart Day.

Mary Tsao's daughter went to school in a "blazer" of glory to collect her loot. Keyoot. San Francisco Mom of One discusses "Valentine's Equity." The Other Mother celebrates a V-Day twofer; it's her beloved partner Marcia's birthday. (Happy Birthday, Marcia!) Two Peas No Pod is baking cute, pink cupcakes. Jen writes " in praise of the heart." And Parent Hacks shares a tip for making a quick 'n cute last minute Valentine's Day t-shirt.

Happy Valentine's Day!

[photo credit: Parent Hacks]

Grups, Hipsters, Trendsters, Xers: Label Me, Label You, Uh Huh

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 16:17:00 GMT

Z Recommends has a thoughtful post about Lisa Carver's review of Neal Pollack's Alternadad (you can read Neal's response here), in which he points out that blogs with an edgy, cynical, or ironic take on parenting seem to dominate the mommy and daddy blogosphere. Reading the sniping comments on the Pollack and Carver pieces, you'd have to conclude that parents today -- at least those who are blogging and commenting -- are a bunch of angry, labeling, cliquish malcontents.

The labels thrown around with the most vitriol seem to be those associated with the likes of Babble, including "hipster," "grup," and "trendy." Some of those labels are well-deserved, but as with all labels they tend to over-generalize and foreshorten real dialogue and debate.

In her piece summing up the Pollack/Carver debate, Babble editor Ada Calhoun concludes wisely that "the irony label (like "grup") is dismissive and cheap...and the rush to cry "hipster" undermines the opportunity to talk about what's thrilling and funny and lonely and scary about having kids."

I've been overwhelmed at times by pressure to be cool and clever while writing for Stroller Derby, but when I succumb to that, I miss the point. Babble contributors are everyday people experiencing parenting. If we swear and drink more than the average bear, than so be it. But if we could all drop the labels and get along, wouldn't this just be one hell of a lot more fun?

Linklove: The Good Ol' Days, Well, They Kinda Sucked

JasonAvant — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 03:24:00 GMT

I hate "Forwards". You know what I'm talking about - those obnoxious forwarded messages that encourage you to be kind to a stranger, tell you that "You Know You Went To High School In The 80's If...", or explain why everything's Bill Clinton's fault. No good can ever come of these pieces of tripe; in fact, I've discovered their source, the Necronomicon of Tacky Emails.

New York blogger Panthergirl clearly has no use for this dreck. She does a nifty dissection of one particular forward that's been in circulation for a few years, and makes the point that the Good Ol' Days were clearly the product of deluded minds. According to the Good Ol' Days forward, everything back then was swell, Pleasantville was a real place, and life was a conservative's wet dream. Not so much, says Panthergirl; go read her pointed and pretty funny reality check.

Is Your Computer Ruining Your Marriage?

JasonAvant — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:06:00 GMT

jasona is typing...

jasona: hey - what r u doing

betha is typing...

betha: nothing - looking at blogs - what r u doing

betha is typing...

jasona: i'm on itunes downloading thom yorke's celebrity playlist. turns out he's a big bo bice fan. who knew?

jasona: did you see this article: http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_5075438

betha is typing...

betha: no - whats it about

jasona is typing...

jasona: apparently, this survey says that 65 percent of americans spend more time with their computers than with their spouse

betha is typing...

betha: really? well, that makes sense, since I'd bet that a large percent of those 65 percent of americans have a job that requires the use of a computer

jasona is typing...

jasona: and if the survey question read "computer", instead of "personal computer" or "home computer", that would skew the data - it also says that 80 percent of americans are more dependant on their computer than they were three years ago - also makes sense, since teh internets provide all of the services that used to be exclusive to print sources - phone numbers, directions, weather reports, movie listings, medical advice, recipes, photos of Lindsay Lohan sans underwear, etc.

betha is typing...

betha: well, its interesting - does the survey take laptops into account? wouldn't that throw the survey off as well? you could be spending time with your spouse AND be on the computer

jasona is typing...

jasona: hmm - doesn't say. can you hand me the remote? its on your side of the couch

betha is typing...

betha: sure, if you toss me a pillow

Parent Blogosphere Focus: Meet the GLBT Parents (Part 1)

thezeroboss — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 15:34:00 GMT

Here at Strollerderby, we strive to highlight the great writing done by parenting bloggers far and wide. As a bisexual dad myself, I have a special interest in calling out my peeps in the GLBT community, who face the burden of parenting in a culture that is often hostile to their family's very existence. In the following series of posts, I'll point out some of the best blogs written by gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered parents that you may or may not be reading. Many of these blogs are about parenting, but some aren't; the key factor is that they discuss some facet of the world from a GLBT parent's perspective.

By way of Pirate Papa I found Guy Dads, two gay fathers who are raising six kids. (I would say "HOLY SHIT!" with as many exclamation points as my text editor allows, but having six kids total myself, I'm in no position to talk.) Check out this post from author Another Gay Dad about the War on Christmas, and how he feels about "coming out" to others during the Christian high holidays as a convert to Reformed Judaism.

One blog that everybody insisted I must read is The Other Mother, written by Robin Reagler, which subtitles itself "letters from the outposts of lesbian parenting". Robin and her partner have two girls who are the definition of "adorable". Here's Robin talking about how glad she and her partner are to know that their child didn't inherit Kelsey Grammar's hair line. For a mile-high view of what Other Mother and her family are all about, check out her review of 2006, culled by copying the first paragraph from the beginning of each month of her archives.

Finally (for now), The Hygiene Chronicles is a must read. The author Steve lives in the Washington D.C. area with his partner of 15 years and their 4 year old son. How good is Steve? He has me thinking that I should moisturize my face. Plus, his top 10 albums from 1985 to 1989 show he has, if not impeccable, then at least excusable taste in music.

Needless to say, I haven't even sucked the tip of the iceberg with this roundup. Stay tuned for more!

Tips For Successful Parentblogging

Karen Murphy — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 13:01:00 GMT

In my ~~time wasting~~ serious Internet research of blogs, parent-blogs specifically, I've noticed that the best of them seem to have some things in common:

1. Long posts, with dialog.

2. Use of caps.

3. Use of that word that rhymes with "duck".

4. Poop.

Case in point: This post of Mr. Nice Guy's (can you go wrong with a title like "daddypoopy"? Instantly, you know where you are with this one). Here's a small snack from the post: mr and mrs nice guy are asleep, dead to the world in their connubial chamber. it is, unfailingly, somewhere between 6 and 6:30. out of nowhere a child starts yelling. "MOMMY? moooooooooooommy! poopy! DADDY POOPY mommypoopymommypoopy! poopydaddy!" then whoever's turn it is to take the morning shift drags his/her sorry ass out of bed and goes into the baby's room. let's say it's me. i walk into her room and the child lights up with glee: "DADDY! IT'S A POOPY!"

Daddybloggers, take note! We mommybloggers have it somewhat easier, as all we have to do is talk about how big our asses are getting, what footwear our spouses have on, the new eyerolling capabilities of our tweens, or what we drank at playgroup yesterday, and we have a post! Daddybloggers, on the other hand, seem to need to balance humor with sensitivity without actually being Sensitive.

A much harder job, if you ask me.