Foodbuzz
09 Mar
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why moms blog, or why this one does

I’ve heard rumblings lately. Not from my stomach. Okay, from there too. But mostly from folks about my blog and why I write it. I’ve heard several speculations: that I’m bored, that I’m lonely, that my kid drives me crazy and it’s my escape. That I’m nuts, want to make money, or want to be like Pioneer Woman and Orangette.

I’ve gotten a few laughs out of these speculations. A few tears. A few swallows of pride. And a few swallows of wine.

But more than that, it really got me thinking: do all mom bloggers have to hear this sort of thing? Do our gainfully employed friends read our posts and then gossip about us at the water cooler, not about our content but about our sanity? Do our neighbors think, “oh god, she has to get out of the house more often”? Is the supermarket check-out guy secretly judging me when he rings up my bananas at 10 am on a tuesday?

Probably. But frankly my dears, I don’t give a damn. I can’t clear up the rumors about all of the stay-at-home mom bloggers out there, but I can start with myself. So here goes:

Did I start blogging on that blustery fall day because I was bored? No. I hope people don’t tackle a project like this out of sheer boredom. Am I a lonely, desperate housewife just looking to communicate with the outside world? Um, I hate to break it to you, but I’ve got a kick-ass husband, friends, family and a life outside of four walls and a laptop. Does being a stay-at-home mom drive me so crazy that I reach for the computer at every chance I get? Nope. It’s the best job in the world. And having the time (well, sometimes having the time—usually late at night after Lu goes to bed) to blog is certainly a nice bonus.

Am I nuts? Well, that’s debatable. I did just make cookies with potato chips in them. Do I want to make money? If you’ve got some lying around that you want to give me, I wouldn’t turn it down, but that’s not the goal of this blog. Do I envy P-Dub and Orangette so much that I’m being a copycat? If my blog were ever as beautiful and well-written as theirs I would be one friggin happy gal, but I’d like to think that I’m somewhat original.

With all the flack I’ve taken for writing this teeny tiny blog that gets read by a total of 5 people (and HUGE thanks to those dear readers—I love ya), I can’t help but wonder: do all mom bloggers have a bad rep? Are we painted as lonely women, destitute of adult contact, reaching out into the interwebs in hopes of communicating with somebody, anybody who can speak in complete English sentences and doesn’t throw Cheerios at us? Do people write off our blogs as memoirs of an old-fashioned, antiquated lifestyle? Do they think that we should dump the blog, stick the kids in daycare, grab ourselves a cubicle and fall in the new modern line? Is blogging perceived as the new “mother’s little helper”?

Personally, I feel incredibly lucky to be able to stay home. As I should—very few women have this choice. But with all of the flak that I’ve taken, it makes me feel like there is something wrong with just wanting to be at home with the kids. I’ve been asked several times, “so, going crazy yet?” “Want a job?” “How can you do that?” But I have the feeling that if I did go out and get a job, the questions would be reversed: “How do you spend any time with your kids?” “Don’t you wish you could just quit and stay home?” “Doesn’t this job just drive you crazy?”

Whew. I’m going to stop my crazy ramblings now, or else you will all think that I have gone off the deep end. And thank you for letting me have my Carrie Bradshaw moment :)

To all of you mom-bloggers out there: mad props. Keep up the good work, no matter why or how or when you do it.

For all of you speculators, I’ve got a new water cooler topic for you: Snooki’s boobs. Discuss.

To all of my dear readers, thank you so much for your continued support. It makes me happier than you will ever know. And if you’ve ever met me, you can attest that I’m not crazy, bored or lonely—just a writer with a camera and a kid.

-RDG

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