Strollerderby : CrankMama

Get Your Crank On: "Man Candy" Style

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 21:48:00 GMT

As much as I enjoy people mocking my tender, plump man boobs, this is a contest I think I'll sit out, because Man Candy I am not. But that doesn't mean I won't be judging and drooling over the photos every other day.

Our very own Crank Mama Rachael is hosting quite possibly the best. web. contest. ever -- an ode to Man Candy, sweet, delicious daddy goodness. Go here for the rules, but it's really quite simple. Get a very cool T-shirt, put it on your man and submit the photo. Twelve of the web's best looking dads will receive special prizes, besides, of course, the ego-inflating ability to say "I am one of the web's hottest dozen dads."

You have until Labor Day to get it done. And if I can find the time to work my man boobs down to an A-cup, I may just change my mind and enter.

Strollerderby Playdate: Outside the Office

Jessica Ashley (Sassafrass) — Tue, 22 May 2007 11:07:00 GMT

Just in case you're not sick of us yet, I thought it might be fun to peek in and see what the Strollerderby folks are analyzing, investigating and yammering on about when they're not talking your ear off here (or is it an eye off, considering you're reading it? perhaps ear off does apply when the voice is conversational? anyway...). Consider it one part blatant self-promotion, one part sitting at the ~~theatre geek~~ cool kids' table, one part shout-out to the people you think, breathe and live parenting news commentary (and honestly, some of us do).

Here are a few of the things SDers are posting about outside the cubicle:

Karen is talking about Truth and Beauty and putting me to complete shame for continuing to blog incessantly about puke and poop.

Sarah's making her body business yours.

In other body news, Melissa's all fired up over scabs, toenail removal and suntans. If that doesn't peak your interest, you have something seriously wrong with you.

Kelly's also talking effed-up toes. And sleeping with Gabrielle Reece. Nothing about scabs, though (oh well).

MetroDad's OK. No really, he's fine. Stop fretting. Send scotch and flowers, but stop fretting.

Mike's done shedding tears for Lorelai and Rory and has moved on to wax poetic over the Princess Bride. The man loves him some modern day fairy tellin'.

CrankMama's 'fessing up in a veritable NaughtyMommyPodcastyPallooza.

And since all that blog-hopping probably worked up your appetite real good, make a last stop to see Stefania, who is whipping up tropical smoothies, kid-prep friendly cupcakes and Korean BBQ beef ribs. Mmmm....ribs.

Did I miss anyone? I hope not. Because that would be totally awkward on cigarette breaks. Joking. We only stop working to drink and bet on reality TV shows around here.

Finish Line: Drunken Parents Rule the World

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 15:26:00 GMT

Bear with me -- or is it bare? I can't never remember -- but I am two "choking hazards" into Strollerderby's latest and best creation, so this post may be a little more unintelligible than all my others. (Didn't think that was possible!) The point is, there is reason to celebrate. Strollerderby rocked the sandbox this week -- and I feel like sharing.

First, and sticking with the vein of parents who like a stiff drink, Sarah puts the smackdown on the most ridiculous anti-teen drinking campaign ever. What won't work for teens, she says, will cause a laugh riot for their parents.

And when we're not smacking down stupid campaigns, we're smacking down bullies. Karen provides some excellent tips for beating bullies -- even when your school doesn't do a damn thing to help.

CityMama Stefania warns parents about a looming storm this summer ... when the new Apple iPhone debuts. Turns out kids are already gabbing about the thing and parents are about to be hit up for $500 big ones. Get a job, she says. Agreed.

Alisyn provides the big ideas this week with a touching post on gender and identity and how, sometimes, one doesn't determine the other. A must read. So get crackin'!

SD newcomer Jessica Ashley starts out strong with a scathing report on rampant child abuse. Everywhere, it seems, children are being forced to wash their hands! The humanity of it all!

When she's not using your favorite kid names for her car, Patti comes to the conclusion that you just can win in the name game: "Just pick a name you like, and don't tell anyone so you won't have to listen to them try to talk you out of it." Again, agreed. 100 fuggin percent.

And CrankMama Rachael again very astutely -- and very hotly, I might add -- gets at the crux of the hipster parenting phenom and finds there is, gasp, other shit to worry about than $800 strollers and lame-ass TV shows.

My oh my, it was nice knowing you Pierre aka MetroDad -- but mocking Scientology? I just don't have the, um, guts -- even if the idea of a desperate Katie Holmes using her daughter's birthday party to send for help is kind of funny. OK, really, really funny.

And finally, I tell the world that a kidless, college-age know-nothing is, well, a kidless college-age know nothing. Except I do it with panache ... and a "choking hazard!" Mmmmm. That's good parenting.

Top 100 Mom Blog Awards Announced

MetroDad — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 16:02:00 GMT

According to technorati, there are almost 7,000 "mommy blogs" on the internet right now. In reality, the numbers are probably actually much higher than that. It seems that everywhere you look these days, mothers are using blogs to not only document their journeys into parenthood but also to form a uniquely supportive community.

Personally, I love reading mommy blogs. I find many of them to be smart, funny, honest, and intelligent. Furthermore, I've found many of the women writing them to be great writers. The sheer diversity of them is also compelling. Look closely and you'll find that mommy blogs are covering a wide array of subjects related to mothering: sex, humor, single parenting, home schooling, GLBT parenting, food, fashion, and religion.

This week, Mother's Day Central* awarded the Top 100 Mom Blogs Awards*, honoring the best mommy blogs (based on excellence in areas including originality, passion, humor, personality, and creativity.) Congrats to all the award winners! After dealing with the trials and tribulations of modern-day parenting, it's nice to see these mommy bloggers get some much-deserved recongition.

Special congrats to Strollerderby's very own, Rachael Brownell, whose personal blog Crank Mama made the list. Rock on, Rachael!

*De-linked in light of comments below. Scammers suck.

Interview with James Poniewozik, Time Magazine Reporter: "Hipster Parents" WANT Him to Judge Them

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 21:14:00 GMT

James Poniewozik, author of the much Babbled about "Too Cool for Preschool" piece in this week's Time Magazine, kindly agreed to answer some of our questions about his problem with hip parent bloggers and writers.

Strollerderby: You seem concerned that Gen X parents are so busy being cool and inserting themselves into the story of their kid's lives that they aren't putting their kids first as they should. Is this based only on the books and the blogs or also on your observations of parents in action?

James P: I'm responding to the books and the blogs. In fact, this is the most important point I want to make: my article was about--to use the hated term--"hipster parent" *writing*, not about hipster *parenting*. I'm not trying to judge anyone's parenting.

I feel like the Babble bloggers, et al., kind of want me to be judging their parenting, because that allows them to frame the debate as though they're being socially oppressed: Time magazine is trying to force us conform to their parenting norms! We're just too free-thinking for them! We're too threatening to The Man! I would argue if, anything, there's an implicit tone of judgment that suffuses Babble--if you're not on board with them, you're some kid of brainwashed Stepford robot.

My objections are to the writing. Or specifically, to a set of attitudes I see in the writing (which is not to say this applies equally, or at all, to every parent-blogger-author-etc. in the world). This notion that I have just experienced this thing that a hundred billion people in history have, but because I am so offbeat, because I am so distinctive, because I feel so deeply, my experience of it is different. And terribly interesting. And look what it says about me that I made this and this choice with my child.

The idea of one's child, a distinct, separate person, as proof of one's uniqueness and alterity. It's not about failing to put your child first in private life--I'm sure all these writers take fine care of their kids, feed them well, look out for their interests. (The other knock on Gen X urban parents is that we dote too much and parent obsessively, right?) It's using a child as a sort of third-person vehicle through which to write one's autobiography.

Part 2 of our conversation with James coming soon...