Blogging About Momhood

"Mommy blogs" (I hate that term) are nothing new. Every few months the media runs a story on the wondrous "new world" of mom blogs. By now almost every mom I know has her own blog. But it is still cool to see the difference blogs make in the lives of women who write them and women who read them.

Mom Guilt

Is there any other kind? We're either giving it or experiencing it. This columnist captures the gut churning guilt that can only come from feeling less than a perfect mother. And I have to share her horror at not completing a baby book for her child. I even received one as a gift that was pre-made and all I had to do was fill in the dates and descriptions. And I didn't even do that. I hope my youngest can forgive me. I figure if I do a really good job for the next 20 years she'll overlook that bump in the road.

Super Mom

Everyone knows the mom who has to make homemade cards for holidays and birthdays, who never uses artificial anything and would die if her children preferred McDonald's over risotto, who needs to get a life. Being involved with your children is one thing. Being invested in them is another. This opinion piece deals with the overachievers of the mom world. I myself don't have that problem. Which I suppose is another sort of awful. Maybe I do need to take a hint from supermom and start running my home like a Fortune 500 company. First step, a big raise for the CEO (me).

Damned If You Do...

This article from The New York Times (I love, love, love The Times and I must say I feel smarter since I've started reading the headlines every morning and afternoon) talks about Sarah Palin and the struggle to be a working mom. Now no matter your personal feelings about Ms. Palin (maybe the "Ms." gives mine away) I am perplexed as to the double bind women are in. First there's the stay at home versus working mom debate but now there's the "You should stay at home and not work if you have five kids or one special needs baby." Who gets to decide? What about all of the male senators and representatives with young kids? Don't they need their dads too?

Oh Great, Now I Have More Stress

According to this article, a mother's stress level can make her children overweight. It doesn't really mention the mother's weight and if the additional food intake is shared in the household. Oh, and just to be fair they're going to measure the effects of dad's stress level next. That's big of them.

OMG I'm Turning into My Mother

At some point every woman thinks this. It usually comes after children when the words,"Because I said so," slip out. Turning into your mother can be a good or bad thing depending on the quality. It seems like we fight against it when we're younger and embrace it when we're older. Maybe we realize the value of their wisdom and experience as we gain perspective.

You Don't Say

This comes as a total surprise.