Strollerderby : mommy bloggers

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

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Scholastic: Honoring the Mommy Bloggers

JeanneSager — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:29:00 GMT

We - and I do mean we - have become one of those easily mocked groups on the 'net. The mommy bloggers. Hehe.

But blogging about our daily trials and tribulations and our favorite products, throwing out tips and writing out rants, is what makes mom blogs so eminently readable to so many others who are riding the same storms.

Now Scholastic Parent & Child magazine has stood up to take notice. The printed parenting mag has launched its first tribute to its online counterparts with the first Best Mommy Bloggers award.

"There's been an explosion in the number of mommy blogs recently, and we want to increase awareness among our readers about the trend," says Scholastic's editor-in-chief Nick Friedman. "We believe that what mommy bloggers have to say is so relevant to our readers that it's only natural to make a stronger connection."

So what makes them relevant? We talk about what you're thinking about - and we give you a place to have your say on the matter. We wax poetic - at times - about nonsense. But we make up for it with good giveaways (warning, warning, self-promotion alert: check out Mike's rockin' owl or a the kick-butt kool-kid-legs up on my blog), even better recipes (Bakerella, you're the reason my hind end is the size it is), and thoughtful commentary on whatever is bothering us today - and one day might be bothering you.

We are you.

We are parents, living the same situations and the same frustrations, and through the beauty of today's technology, we don't have to do it alone. Sure, there are things that might better be left untyped and photos best left unposted, but real life doesn't have a delete button - and maybe it's appropriate that these things get through to the Internet too.

The mommy blogs and - as Mike and countless others have proven - the daddy blogs have as much of a right to be here and are as deserving as recognition as a HuffPo or an I Can Has Cheezburger.

"Anytime we can help our readers engage with other moms - in this case, moms who experience the universal joys and tribulations of child rearing and live to write about them - we've done a great community service," says Friedman. "We want to draw attention to some mommy blogs that our readers may not be aware of by asking them to nominate their favorites and to vote on the ones like they like best. That's empowering."

So get over to Scholastic Parent & Child. Nominate - by February 13 - your top three, and head back later in the month to vote on the finalists for inclusion in a future issue of the magazine. Need some ideas? Browse around the Web (or check out your favorite SD bloggers home sites - they're listed in our bios at the bottom right) and get nominating.

Because, as Friedman so kindly points out, "Mommy blogs are just plain fun to read."

In Defense of Judgmental Mothers

Madeline Holler — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:26:00 GMT

She takes a lot of crap, Judgmental Mother. Or maybe you know her as Sanctimommy or, more generically, “that asshole who offered unsolicited parenting advice.”

Andi over at “Poot and Cubby” (would it be judgmental to say that blog name makes me shudder?), calls Judgmental Mother “HOB” -- Hateful, Opinionated Bitch or, alternately, Horribly Obnoxious Bitch. And Andi runs in to HOB everywhere. Understandably, Andi thinks she's a real menace.

Not only does HOB judge Andi for dressing her child too warmly (typical HOB), she thinks the baby is going to fall out of the sling (typical aging HOB). I don’t need to recount the details, because you have your own experiences with the gal (or, sometimes, guy). We all do.

For me, she told me my baby would suffocate in a sling, while I strolled through the airport; he said that my 1-year-old needed shoes (didn’t notice the double-layer of socks) one cold spring day in D.C. She proclaimed my 2-year-old ready to use the potty (I was changing her diaper at the science center), and that I shouldn’t highlight a 4-year-old’s hair (we don’t. Good genes.)

I seethed about these incidents loooooong after they happened. (And for any of you who had to hear my rant – real sorry. I must have seemed a tad defensive.) But that was then. I’m sure I’ve been HOBed loads since, but somewhere along the line, it stopped bothering me. And I actually think – from a much broader perspective – is kind of cool if not a little misdirected.

Recently, a parent at my daughter’s preschool cried, “oh, aren’t you chilly!” to my toddler, who was wearing a skirt without tights and quite possibly a short-sleeved shirt. In December, sure, but it’s Los Angeles County. She’s a cold-weather kid by heritage, so 67 degrees doesn’t merit the parka and multiple layers of her native peers. Anyway, the morning shirt battle is one we stopped waging months ago so if it's February and you see spaghetti straps, you'll understand. In any case, I smiled at the lady and signed my daughter in.

I’m pretty sure I would have been savagely pissed off at the self-badged sweater cop had this happened early in my mothering career. But I gotta tell you. Right now? Nearly 7 years and two kids into it? I could give a shit less. In fact, I’m oddly comforted.

So the lady had never seen a bare-legged kid withstand Southern California's punishing winter weather. She spoke up! I kind of like that. Maybe she’ll speak up too if she sees something shitty going on at that preschool (which, except for drop-off hours and monthly tuition, I know soooo little about). Maybe she’ll look out for my kid in other situations, not just wardrobe ones, like if a teacher is mean to her or if she’s pissed herself and not immediately changed.

A person who butts into someone’s business regarding socks or slings or snowsuits – or breastfeeding or immunizations or signs of autism -- would certainly say something to a parent slapping around kids at the mall. It takes a loud-mouthed, judgmental, butting-in type to want to call someone out on a perceived danger with the big stuff. Sometimes (often?), they’re going to cross a line in the smaller, none-of-their-business stuff too.

I’d rather cheer on the one and just smile ignore the other. I'm not saying we should usher them in as True American Heroes. I'm just saying there is something good below all that undermining. So I won't let it get to me. I've got enough to make me angry. You know, like my kids.

Strollerderby Playdate: A Little Appreciation

Kelly Mills — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 12:02:00 GMT

You know what's missing from my life? A little gratitude. I mean, I make the kid's lunch every day and listen to her neverending stories, I try not to yell, I do grocery shopping, I eke out not-quite-a-living writing so I can put day-old bread on the table, I smile cheerfully when I really wanna snarl...

Oh, yeah, I guess there's more than one kind of gratitude. While I'd like to get some appreciation for all the stuff I do, I suppose I could also be glad I have my health and people who say they love me and a good Prince CD in my car stereo.

So maybe my monogamous playdate today will be with Not That I Don't Love My Kids. Cuz she's harried and sarcastic and funny and yet finds things to be grateful for, like getting a poo offering from her kid. And it's perfect timing, because I find a torrid blog affair is just the thing when I feel unappreciated. Two birds right there, baby.

Strollerderby Playdate: Agony of De-Feet

Kelly Mills — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:02:00 GMT

Usually for the playdate I try and throw out a couple of links to smarty-smart parents who wrote something great this week. But today, I wanna share with you my very own True Mom Confession. I... am creeped out by feet. I can tolerate nice feet okay, as long as they don't touch me or get too close to my face or anything. But skeezy feet? Bleeeugh. I have considered lobbying for laws about who can wear sandals and who can't (and incidentally, most men can't.) Because if I see gnarly feet I'll flash back to it all day, and get the chills all over again. This photo here will haunt my dreams.

Then I read this on Mommybloggers by Sweatpants Mom. And you know what? It made me laugh so hard, I swear to you I'd snuggle her feet. Scout's honor. Cozy up to them and everything. Pre-pedicure. It's that funny.

And when I read her interview, I died all over again. I'm now stocking up on peppermint foot balm and pumice and practicing my sole acupressure points. Though I have heard Sweatpants Mom (who you can also find here, BTW) gets the heebie jeebies when adoring blog-moms throw themselves at her feet.

Strollerderby Playdate: You WILL Be Jessica's Friend.

Jessica Ashley (Sassafrass) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:56:00 GMT

I've known a lot of women in my tribe for a long time. I danced with some of them on platforms of all-ages clubs with some of them, shared my first wine cooler with some of them, walked across the Quad on the first day of my college classes with one of them, sang camp songs at flagpole with some of them. But then there are the bloggers. Sure, I have bloggy friends, some of them I've even squealed over and drooled on -- I mean, MET CORDIALLY and politely handed my business card whilst conferencing in a business manner -- and some of them I've even stolen ashtrays and portable hard drives from -- or really, just post ideas and Bunco winnings. And then there are the bloggers who I don't necessarily know but think would fit perfectly into my life and my tribe. So, darlings, here are the bloggers I absolutely must get a dose of every single day and swear it is not just in a lame old attempt to make them like me and be one of my new BFFs:

CityMama: OK, this is technically cheating because she is actually a friend of mine but I am fully and unabashedly lobbying for her to take over the role of that one friend in high school that seemed like an A student to my parents but secretly persuaded me to sneak out. Not only is her writing right on every single day, she speaks to my inner Sa-sa-samantha Foxx like no other.

State of Grace: I decide, just by reading faithfully, that Grace is that smarty pants friend who just breaks it down to the raw truth. You know, the one who says yes, you should leave that ass monkey of boyfriend and no, you do not need that Bugaboo before the first playgroup meeting.

Amalah: Is fekking hilarious. Good Lord, I wish this woman lived next door. Or even in the next block. Hell, I'd just like to wave at her from across the blogosphere (hiiii, funny lady). Amy, I nominate you to get tipsy on my back porch with me on a Tuesday night, if only on talking about the co-op mommies.

I Am Bossy: With her photoshop wizardry and dry sense of hilarity, Bossy makes me laugh out loud every morning. I bet Bossy was a kick-ass college roommate who could work a word processor with four pages of stored memory like a freaking genius. I want her to take the place of my one roommate who's booty-length hair I had to hold back every Thursday night, also known as the rent payer with the pro-life signs and complete disregard of contraception and basic common sense. Please, Bossy. Take her away from my memory.

Friday Style: Suuuuuuuuuuuusan, please. Be that friend who comes over and absofreakinglutely cannot look at the flecks of sandbox sand and fishy crackers in my carpet and must vacuum now. Or better yet, gives me many props for the designer bag I found on clearance at TJ Maxx ans suggests I pair it with that diaper bag instead of this one. Or better even better than that, the one who asks what Jesus would do if he saw my bedroom closet, clearly the headquarters of a very disorganized and untidy Satan.

I've purposely set aside my narcissistic tendencies and have not included all the blogs of my esteemed Strollerderbycolleagues that I do read daily. But I am sure you know by now that you can hunt them down on the interwebs by clicking the profiles to the right.

Now, enough about us: What are the five blogs you must read every day?

Famed MommyBloggers Teaming Up for New Book!

Alisyn — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:31:00 GMT

Rita, the talented writer and mom behind Surrender, Dorothy just found a publisher for the book she's been working on for the last two years - an anthology of mommyblogging (look for a Fall 2008 release). Rita describes the fruit of her labors as "an anthology of great mommyblogging, grouped by subject and perfect for anyone who does not have time to sort through the archives of the women (and one man) below to find the absolute gems of each." Contributors include Amalah, Birdie Jaworski, CityMama, Finslippy, Laid Off Dad, Mom-101, Mommytrack'd, Motherhood Uncensored, Sweetney, Woulda Coulda Shoulda, and many, many more!

I don't know about you, but I still prefer to do the vast majority of my reading the ol' fashioned way - by book. I love me some blogs, but I'd take a book over my laptop any day. A blogger anthology is the best of both worlds! Thanks, Rita - and congratulations!