Strollerderby : parent bloggers

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.

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: Favorite Things

Kelly Mills — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 11:36:00 GMT

Jess shared her favorite parent bloggers with y'all, and I was set to do the same. There's totally people out there I love and posts that make me laugh, like this one on noisy toys. I have a huge crush on Cheeky Lotus. Rockstar Mama is totally that. Her Bad Mother is so dang smart it thrills me.

Thing is, I'm sure there's other people out there I just haven't found yet. Funny, smart parents who don't take shit too seriously, or when they do, they write about it with grace and self-deprecation. I mean, I spend hours clicking on this link and that link, but I can't cover the whole internet. It's a biiiig place. So maybe you can help. Lemme tell you: I like dark and funny. Know anyone like that you haven't seen here lately?

Okay, in the meantime, this mama is going to check out with my three favorite things...um, besides my child, of course. My trifecta: Cupcakes. Exercise. Porn. I'll let you know when I've gotten sufficient quantities of each.

Strollerderby Playdate: Just Say No

Kelly Mills — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 11:05:00 GMT

Because everyone in my family has an obsessive, addictive personality--generations of us, folks--I fully expected the kid to be sniffing magic markers and sneaking chocolate by this point. So far, however, her natural fickleness appears to have saved her from being the kind of person who shouldn't touch heroin and who takes down an entire cake in two days. The blogosphere? Not so. Some people clearly have kids like me. Perhaps there was some mix-up at the hospital.

At Blonde Mom Blog, there's a little trouble with strawberry milk. Rehab was mentioned. Gawd, I love an intervention. We had 'em as often as Christmases.

Rockstar Mommy's angel may be drawn to bad men. Join the club, honey.

A Homer book is causing some drama at the Institutional Mouthpiece of Kjel. There's suspicions that bigger issues may be contributing. At least the li'l one still loves his bro.

Not That I Don't Love My Kids is taking a good, hard, funny look at some codependency. One day at a time, sister! I've been there too.

Strollerderby Playdate: Spring Cleaning

Kelly Mills — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 11:02:00 GMT

Uh, yeah, it's actually summer, but you know, we parents are generally running a little bit behind schedule. So July seems to be the month of spring cleaning, of purging and packing and reusing all kinds of crap. If you are so inclined to say "out with the old, in with the new," find solidarity amongst the bloggers.

If you are all for a big cleanse, join Tied Down With Battleship Chains for a full overhaul in Glad bags.

Or hit the closet with Mom to the Screaming Masses and get yourself some replacement clothes too.

Suburban Turmoil is staying with the in-laws, who need to replace old pillows with the new, or by god, they'll be forcibly replaced.

The Cheeky Lotus has new uses for old stuff, making Mom Camp rival Grandma Camp.

Cooking During a Kitchen Remodel: How Do You Do It?

Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 21:59:00 GMT

ParentHacks has a great post up today about how to cook for your family while your kitchen is being remodeled.

This post hit close to home for me because I had to get creative about cooking for my family of four while our kitchen was taken down to studs and rebuilt again. We relied on our toaster and microwave ovens as well as our backyard barbecue, but when four weeks turned into two months, drastic measures were taken. "Drastic measures" being inviting ourselves over to dinner at our friends' houses. (We have no shame, obviously.)

The ParentHacks commenters have lots of great tips to share including using a Crock-Pot, something I never thought to do. How about you? Are you in this situation right now? What are you doing to keep your family fed while your kitchen is out of commission?

Strollerderby Playdate: Easter Around the Blogosphere

Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 11:01:00 GMT

Strollerderby Playdate is a new daily feature which covers the latest happenings in the parent blog world. Got a mom or dad blog you'd like us to know about? Holla at us in the comments.

As I sit on the couch with my laptop in food coma caused by eating too many pig-related products in one sitting (followed by pink cake), I thought I'd check in to see how parents around the blogosphere spent their Easter Sunday.

In the Easter Egg Hunt category we have cute photos from Quick Serve Kids, Here and There, and (from Hawaii) Wireless Lanai.
Freitas Family shares her family's egg-coloring adventures.
Tanyetta, whose husband just returned from Iraq, shares a touching Easter sentiment.
Bad Bad Ivy shares tips to slow the sugar rush. (I don't know about you but there's way too much candy up in this piece.)
Chris from Notes From the Trenches realizes too late that the "Easter Bunny" effed up the Easter baskets this year. At least as far as her three-year-old is concerned.

Sounds like a wonderful (and typical) Easter was had by all. And I'd just like to add that potato gratin and savory bread pudding have no business being in the same meal...but, man, it was worth every bite.

Poop In The Tub? No Problem, says DadLabs

JasonAvant — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:15:00 GMT

If you haven't dropped by DadLabs, do it. Now. I'll wait.

See? The site's great, a consistant source of helpful and humorous hints for dads (and moms), and among the best features are the video vignettes starring the site's founders, Brad and Clay. This week, they offer up a doody - er, doozy. The boys talk about Tub Time, and offer up some great advice on the do's and don'ts of giving your baby a bath (I had no idea that the rubber ducky and his ilk posed a potential health risk; now I get to marinate in some top vintage Parenting Guilt). The highlight of the segment is a primer on how to deal with the dreaded bathtub dump. I won't spoil anything, but fans of canned chili may lose their enthusiasm for Dennison's and Hormel after watching.

We were lucky; Lucas never actually pooped in the tub. I'd like to think that if he had, we'd approach the crisis with the same calm and collected demeanor exhibited in that clip. Because we've all seen what can happen when poop and bathers mix, and it ain't pretty.

Dirty Diaper Diaries Vlog: Homemade Vids Teach About Parenting

Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 15:05:00 GMT

Susanne Carvin has started something brilliant: Dirty Diaper Diaries, a vlog which aims to teach about parenthood "one video at a time." Carvin says the purpose of Dirty Diaper Diaries is "to chronicle the lessons we're learning as first-time parents, and encourage other parents to chime in with their own ideas and suggestions."

The first videos on the vlog include breastfeeding in public and diaper bag essentials. The vlog is just in its "infancy," but I can't wait for more. And, I sure wish Dirty Diaper Diaries was around when I was a flailing first-time parent.

Angsty is the New Happy: Parents Eschew Therapy for Blogging

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 12:17:00 GMT

Her Bad Mother is a wonderful writer who has an impressive ~~Google ranking~~ following for someone who has only been blogging since January of last year (could be all those references to "sore nipples.") She is a professor who lives in Toronto and is part of an excellent group of writers at UrbanMoms. She writes today (and quite frequently) about the angst and worry she feels about parenting her darling daughter, Wonder Baby. As Wonder Baby gets older and more active, the trouble seems to get deeper. The adorable giblet pictured at right is now a wild and challenging toddler.

Like many parent bloggers she uses her blog as therapy. And while her style has often been derided (as popularized by the now defunct TrainWrecks), reading her blog, one is keenly aware of the difference between solipsism and soulfulness. Blogs like hers are honest and vulnerable and true. Like all things of this nature, they inspire awe and gentleness rather than snark and sarcasm. And in their own way, they make the world better.