Strollerderby : mom blogs

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."

Strollerderby Playdate: A One-Stop Irreverence Bonanza

Madeline Holler — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:17:00 GMT

Some playdates are all about the kids. And that's no fun. Playdates need some grown-up drama, gossip, intrigue, or else why bother showing up week after week?

Which is why I loved today's playdate with The Irreverent Homemaker. Plenty of her friends showed up. They know how to dish. Not a single well-mannered, conventionally polite, minced word in the hours we spent together.

Let's see ... there's the freshly married woman who's obsessed with her ex-boyfriend. (Awkward!) And the one who fell for a trucker. (So sweet -- she knows truckers have a really high rate of hemorrhoids, right?). Also, a kind of preachy piece on politics (there's one in every crowd).

Those are just the added irreverent voices. The Irreverent Homemaker holds her own too. So we get recipes (typical homemaker!), a treatise on giving up the well-manicured lawn (Amen!) and lots of random but relatable ramblings (coffee's almost ready, T.I. Homemaker, hang in there).

The irreverence gets a bit extreme in the blog section, as it's been nearly a year since that's been updated. Come on, TIH, we know you're not beholden to convention, but how's about an update when we meet back at your place next week?

Photo: The Irreverent Homemaker

Strollerderby Playdate: She's Leaving the Group

Madeline Holler — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 20:32:00 GMT

So this is it. It's over. One of my guilty pleasures is to be no more. My conflicted feelings over loving to read Elisabeth Hasselbeck's parenting journal, curiously over on the Dreft laundry detergent website, is to be no more.

She has written her final entry. And she has bid the blogger playgroup in my mind farewell. Dammit, Elisabeth. I was just starting to like you.

Her final entry is a whirlwind of ideas and activities and subtle clues about the woman who we know so well from Survivor, and that one E! show where she went shopping for cheap clothes, and now as the guardian of all ideas red, right and conservative on ABC's The View. Before she waves good-bye, she confesses that she doesn't easily say "no," bites off more than she can chew, and hasn't written thank-you notes to those who sent her newborn gifts (he's now 3 months old). She tells us she is overwhelmed with preschool applications for her unpotty-trained, binky-loving 3-year-old. Human, are we? I KNEW it!

You're going to miss Elisabeth too, right? It's not just me? I know I could start watching her on The View, but it won't be the same. I've accepted that we'll now only see each other when she's made a gaffe at work. But we had some good times, me and Elisabeth. Some good times.

Strollerderby Playdate: She's a Beauty

Madeline Holler — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:18:00 GMT

Here’s what every playgroup needs: a good photographer. Someone who shows up – unbidden – with a camera and a strollerload of talent. She takes pictures, shrinks, crops and uploads only the gorgeous ones – she’s got plenty to choose from -- making sure to load your Inbox only with those shots that star your own child. God, I love that playgroup mom.

Which is why I’m excited about today’s playdate with Chookooloonks. Just thumb through her daily photos. I mean, just a few days ago, she took an absolutely stunning shot of – are you ready? – a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese’s.

I know, it can’t be. But it's true. Great shot. She takes pictures of flowers, her daughter, herself, stuff from her house (am I making her sound boring? It's not.) Just look at that picture of her coffee mug above. A mug!

Sure, Chookooloonks doesn’t feature any pictures of my kids – that would be weird, because I don’t actually know the blogger. But I’d be glad to meet her, especially if she promises to bring her camera.

Chuck E. Cheese’s! Get out!

Photo: Karen Walrond via chookooloonks

Mommy Myth Thang Raises Usual Ire

Kelly Mills — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 23:30:00 GMT

Okay, now I thought the whole mom-bloggin' empire was built on the idea that motherhood isn't all soft-lit tender moments and rosy outlook, but I guess this continues to be a newsflash. Winifred Robinson wrote an essay basically saying, "Hey, sometimes I don't like being a mom cuz it sucks at times" she included the usual "I wouldn't trade it for anything" but yes, she was clear that it can be brutal hard work too. And she also said something I think gets neglected: For some of us, motherhood is a bucket of cold water in the face because we were used to feeling capable and good at life, and that feeling often gets sucked right out of you with the first nursing, and doesn't come back for a loooong time.

But of course her post drew some criticism, along with the gratitude of other moms. There's the whole crowd that says, "If you hate being a mom so much, why have babies?" Lemme tell you, if complaining about something being hard meant you shouldn't do it, I basically would not be able to function in the world. And then there's this whackadoo group that criticizes people for having children at all. They often appear on blogs devoted to parenting and slam the folks there for having children as accessories, blah blah blah. Now, I don't think anyone should feel obligated to spawn, and I appreciate the environmental impact and so on. But going onto parenting essays and blogs and such and critiqueing people for making babies feels so weirdly righteous and, let's face it, if you want to sway people, telling parents not to procreate is catching the whole thing a little late.

Strollerderby Playdate: Endless Love For Ms. Pants

Kelly Mills — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 12:01:00 GMT

Thanksgiving is over, I think I have gout, everyone and their cousin is stampeding to the stores, I'm working all day, and I'm trying not to make myself ill on chocolate pecan pie again (which is basically sugar crack.) You know what I need, besides a consensual, mostly non-sexual backrub and a good Calgon bath? A really, really funny playdate to take me away. Not just a guffaw or two: I require a laugh riot.

Luckily, I happened upon one in another blogroll, and she's so great she can play all day and I'd never check my watch and say, "My, just look at the time..." In fact, this could be (dare I say it?) Endless Love. The real thing. Shoot that poison arrow through my heaaart. I love this especially: There are also many comedy advantages to the wine cube...When the Target checkout kid asks if you want the wine cube in a bag, you get to say, "Nah, I'll just drink it in the car" and witness his reaction.

Her name is Mimi Smartypants and her pants are smart as hell. And super duper stream-of-consciousness funny, all the way through the premature pregnancy of her fish, which slayed me. She made me laugh more than any blog has made me laugh in a long time. I love her. Yep, endlessly. I don't just wanna playdate, I wanna be roommates. BFF. I just hope our kids get along. I'm sharing her here, but I want you to know that she's mine, all mine. 4-ever. So back off.

Strollerderby Playdate: One-On-One

Kelly Mills — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:00:00 GMT

Generally for these little gatherings I try and assemble a group of bloggers who amuse me and seem like fun people. But I have a confession: it might be square, but I'm generally a monogamist. In real life, I prefer the mom-date or dad-date to the group hug. I like the intimacy of yakking with one person, and it's also far easier to keep an eye on the kid when I don't have to talk to seven people at once about kindergarten and allergies and crap like that.

So I thought I'd select one bloggger who I wanna play with. Now, since this is the internet, I have no idea if they wanna play with me, so I'm just extending the invitation. Maybe they'll think I'm not the right kind of mom because I cage-sleep my kid or because my mom-jeans are too tight or whatever. Maybe I'll just come off as a stalker. All of the sudden this is starting to feel more like real life, and it's making me anxious.

'Kay, today's flavor is Mrs. Flinger. She won me over completely with her takedown of the Bumbo recall. She uses the f-word alot, AND in a funny way--double bonus. Note to future dates: f-word use is mandatory. I have my standards.

Anyway, I loooove you Mrs. Flinger, and I hope you wanna be my friend, even though I'm needy and you probably won't. Sniff. I love you. Love. You.

Love you. Call me?

Strollerderby Playdate: Attack

Kelly Mills — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:03:00 GMT

Visiting parent blogs is kind of like any social situation...um, well, only in the sense that there's people I click with instantly and people that grow on me over time. But lots of them are completely dull to me, and I probably am to them--I write a fitness blog, and that topic alone maybe makes some of you start drooling with boredom already. However, I've noticed that in general, the blog posts l like involve ranting or bitching or taking apart something or just bone-dry humor, and that probably tells you alot about my social life as well. If I wrote about tube socks for a living I'd probably gravitate towards the angry, snarky, grinning tube socks bloggers.

So my big love right now is Southern Mom, and her post on her life flashing before her...Oh, it is good and funny. Lots of caps.

And I enjoy a rant list, like this one from Notes From the Minivan.

Mommy Needs Coffee wasn't mean about it, but she points out how the "I'm a bad mom" thing pretty much traps us all. I've said it, maybe you've said it, but let's give it a little perspective. Because if these things qualify, I'm completely hosed.

And I just love Vodkarella's thing on the gym, and not just because it's fitness-related. And she might look familiar to some of you.

Strollerderby Playdate: The Weekly Playgroup You Love and Hate

Madeline Holler — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:38:00 GMT

When I first became immersed in modern parenting culture, I shuddered at the notion of "playdates" and "playgroups." Why the rotating schedule? Why the detailed organization? Why all the hugging and muffins? Why bother?

I learned quickly, though, that the house becomes a prison, the park gets old and it’s easy to overspend at Target when you’re going there three times a week just to kill time.

I have embraced the playgroup ever since.

Still, I find them to be an imperfect solution, these weekly playgroups. In the same way you can’t choose your own family, playgroups are a crapshoot. You take what you can get. And what you get, I realized (after belonging to thousands in three different cities with two different kids), is pretty much the same. In blog format, I present you with the playgroup prototype:

This is the mom behind every playgroup. She’s the one who reaches out, invites you in, and reminds everyone of the details -- this week’s location, theme and snack provider. She’s awfully busy and not always interesting. But she’s where you start.

Then there’s this mom: the attention hog. Her voice is a little louder than everyone else’s, and there’s a good chance she won’t talk to you. She believes she’s very funny, and she sometimes is. You feel immediately exhausted whenever she shows up and a little let down when she doesn't.

There’s also this mom, the most popular. You don’t know what the big deal is – she looks normal, she sounds normal. Still, you watch her too. You feel the fizzy bubbles of jealousy surface now and again when you see everyone huddled around her, looking after her kid, listening to her vacation stories. You’re relieved each time she mentions her medications. You notice right away when she's gone.

Around this mom, you just feel dumb. Big, stupid, oafish, offensive and dumb. You replay the conversations you have with her over and over in your mind, looking for anything that might have been misconstrued as racist or insensitive or, god forbid, a small-minded display of your white privilege. You kick yourself for mentioning your daughter’s straight, blond hair.

Here’s the mom who talks endlessly about fertility issues. You love the gory details, you nod sympathetically at the masked pain. You feel a little shitty for being pregnant and hope that you'll move again before it becomes obvious.

Of course, there's the one you have a mom crush on. Her stories are tied up nicely in big, tight, raffia bows. But you read between the lines, and you see the rage, the impatience, the lack of control, the self-loathing. She's writing your life, pretty much. But your kids don't come across nearly as deep.

And don’t forget about the dad, the token guy. He shows up once, sits in the corner with his daughter and her juice box and never, ever comes back. Was it the fertility mom's ease in discussing cervical mucus? Maybe the anti-racist's bit about white male domination. Who knows. But you come back, again and again, dreading it before, bitching about it after, scrolling down your bookmarks week after week, getting out, checking in, staying connected.

Strollerderby Playdate: Telling It Like It Is

Kelly Mills — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 11:03:00 GMT

One of the things I adore about blogs is the willingness of folks to talk about taboo subjects. And of course, my favorite taboo subjects are bodily functions and genitalia. Like, you just can't go wrong with that (says Beavis.) So here's what the parental bloggy types have to say on the stuff we can't say in front of our moms.

I Got Two, Babe has this completely awesome story. Period.

Her Bad Mother's li'l one is learning to explore everything. And perhaps developing a new respect for Dora.

Suburban Turmoil--I shit you not--can tell you about the bathroom habits of country superstars.

I am doing the best that I can has a little Secret, and so far, it smells better.

Surprise! It's Baby Number Three!

Kelly Mills — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 16:29:00 GMT

Blogger Mothergoosemouse tells a nice story about boyfriends that has to do with expectations and fantasy versus reality, and how it's better not to set yourself up for disappointment. Then she goes on to say, "I much prefer to be unsure about an idea, and then be pleasantly surprised by the reality of it. And that’s how I feel about the baby in my tummy right now." In other words, her family is expanding. And even though it wasn't at all intended, she's ready for it.

Congrats to her, and I love the idea that surprises sometimes bring the most to our lives because we can't load 'em up with dreams that may not match the reality. She's also very upfront about the fact that this pregnancy happened while she was using birth control, and that she may tell her little addition about the surprise factor in her arrival to mothergoosemouse clan. I can say as one half of Irish twins, knowing you (and your sis) weren't planned for is just fine, as long as everyone is glad when you get there.

Blue Moms Can Get Happy

Kelly Mills — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:01:00 GMT

I make no secret of being a big ol' whiner. But when one mom found herself driving over the complain-y cliff, she opted to have a DHD: a Determinedly Happy Day. While the idea gave me the heebie jeebies at first, I read on and saw how she basically wrote out a nice little list of good things, called a "gratitude list" in some circles. Stuff like, "My pediatrician recently switched genders and apparently didn’t lose any customers because of it." She also reveled in the critical mass of local Harry Potter parties, and coming up with a kickass quilt design. I like, I like.

I suppose if I made such a list, it would include stuff like the joy that is "Flight of the Conchords," the mom I know who is going to surf with her family after being taken out a couple years ago by double knee surgeries, and the blue mules I'll buy later today. (Royal blue, and to die for.) Although my one other advice for overcoming the whines: make your troubles funny. When good writers do this, it brings me and people like me so much joy.

Mom Bets Self Esteem ... Loses

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:31:00 GMT

One of our bloggers, Kelly, made a bet a while ago that she wouldn't eat sugar more than once a week -- a huge challenge for her, considering she eats cake like the rest of us eat Cheerios off the floor. Which is to say, a lot.

The point is, she lost. Big time. Her punishment? To dress like Jane Fonda or any of your run-of-the-mill Jazzercise aficionados and teach one of her fitness classes.

Leotards. Leg warmers. Wrist bands. You've got to give it to moms -- they keep their word. Even if the rest of us are lauging our asses off. Well done, Kelly. Well done.

Strollerderby Playdate: Naughtiness

Kelly Mills — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 11:02:00 GMT

My kid has been gone at Grandma Camp for a whole darn week, and every once in a while she calls and leaves messages: "Hi mama, I'm having fun, if you get sad because you miss me too much just hug that teddy bear I left you." Of course that just makes it so much worse. So to console myself I went blog-hopping to see why any of us ever need a break from our kids in the first place. Behold the naughtiness.

The institutional mouthpiece of Kjel.org reminds us that kids do some underhanded things.

Radioactive girl's kid coins a new sass phrase. Would be dangerous if it wasn't so cute.

Niiihaus gets revenge for the porn.

A Little Chaos discovered the trouble a shovel can cause.

Strollerderby Playdate: Group Hug

Kelly Mills — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 11:02:00 GMT

I'm a big fan of the many-author blog, because I love hearing from a whole range of funny-ass people in one convenient location. The collective hilarity. The group effort. The cornucopia of diverse voices. It's a small world, after all. Yeah. Okay, so here's some of my very favorite locales. Maybe you'll even see some familiar folks.

The Imperfect Parent is actually a perfect place to laugh so loud your kids say, "Quiet mom, I'm trying to watch Elmo."

Dadcentric is a little peek into the great and twisted minds of dads. Like spying in the locker room. But without any nakedness.

The Poop hits all the crucial points: great parenting stories, snarky commentary, and a little nostalgia for the things that matter to me.

Geekdad is practically a how-to manual for raising a kid who will one day rule the world. Much love for the geeks!

Strollerderby Playdate: Survival of the Fittest

Kelly Mills — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 11:02:00 GMT

In my non-parent-blogging life, I do things related to exercise and fitness and crap like that. Dark, sweaty, mysterious things. Many of the people I work with are moms and dads who are trying hard to find the time to work out in the midst of parenting, and we all know that's no easy feat. So today I thought we could play with some fitness blogs, just in case you have any interest in the sporting life.

Fitsugar recommends jogging with yer partner to keep the old marriage fires lit and the calories burning.

Elastic Waist takes us back to our own childhood with a return to Schoolhouse Rock nutrition ditties.

The Diet Pulpit gets motivated because she wants to be around for her daughter.

60 in 3 helps us get some perspective on guilt. I think you could also apply this to making parenting mistakes.

That's Fit has thoughts on taking a break from sugar. Hmmm, Jessica... where have I heard that name before?

Honor Thy Mother: Mother's Day Blog Round-Up

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Sun, 13 May 2007 14:37:00 GMT

Happy Mother's Day!! The blogosphere is honoring mamas today with many fabulous outpourings and ruminations on the condition and experience of motherhood.

Her Bad Mother honors her mother with a touching remembrance of a time when her mama helped her overcome a terrible mistake and sorrow.

Sweetney is happy to have an entire weekend to celebrate herself and her loved ones.

Kristen's Real Mom Truths contest wraps up today (to see the winner go here) with a fabulous line-up of women being honest about motherhood.

Troll Baby comes clean about feeling motherless.

Redneck Mommy offers her usual blend of tenderness and humorous reflection

Stroller Derby's own Jessica Ashley with a sweet Sassafrass Mother's Day tribute

May each of you find peace and love today.

[Photo Credit: Her Bad Mother]