What’s with All the Hate?

It’s been an interesting few weeks in the blogosphere and while I enjoy a good controversy just as much as the next gal (did I just refer to myself as a gal???) I gotta ask…what’s with all the hate? Mommy bloggers vs. parent bloggers/other bloggers, working moms vs. at-home moms, breastfeeding moms vs. bottlefeeding moms, moms-with-housekeepers vs. moms-who-don’t have-help and of course, women vs. the universe (or the university, if you’re my daughter) in the “false advertising” controversy. I’m not even going to dignify these arguments and/or insults to womanhood and motherhood with a link unless it’s to something terribly positive and uniting.

Since this is my blog, however, I would like to say that I have always called myself a “mommy blogger” in a manner meant to flip off people that feel the need to put down those they believe to be in the category. In all honesty, while I am a mom and I have a blog, I don’t think I fit the stereotypical definition of a “mommy blogger” but I SO dislike that people want to both separate and denigrate moms in one fell swoop that I WILL call myself a “mommy blogger” as an act of defiance. A big FUCK YOU, if you will, to anyone who wants to put a sister down for writing about her children or blogging in a way that they think is uncool or a waste of bandwidth. Why does anyone care how another person chooses to use their blog anyway? It’s not like actual real estate where the resources are finite. There’s enough for everyone. Live and let live.

Now if anyone has any more POSITIVE posts on any of the aforementioned topics, please let me know about them (because I don’t always remember all the good stuff I’ve come across) so I can “waste” some internet bandwidth on the sharing the love!

And of course, dissenting opinions are okay because I respect your right to disagree. But please BE KIND.

I have to give a shout out to Chag from Cynical Dad because he likes Blow Out (and his blog is cool, too).

Also be sure to check out my new renter, Anne Marie, of A Mama’s Rant. She’s cool. She rocks. She writes about good stuff. Check it!

Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Beautiful (aka The Camera Doesn’t Lie)

That title? It’s sarcasm, folks. Pure sarcasm. Everyone tells you that it’s a lot harder to bounce back after the second baby but I never paid any attention. Dry skin, zits, baby fat, cellulite, eye bags, jowls, saggy boobs…I got the whole enchilada (that stupid new camera refuses to lie). But somehow, I don’t think this is what they meant when they coined the phrase “having it all”

Hubz, on the other hand, is exactly the same except for a few more gray hairs. It’s SO unfair! There is an upside, though. Two really cute ones, actually. See for yourself. New photos have finally been added to my Flickr box…

ADDENDUM: You guys are way too nice. Perhaps it’s because you can’t see the GIANT hi-resolution fill-the-whole-monitor version of these photos but I look terrible. You can SEE my eye wrinkles in a few of them and I’m fatter than I’ve ever been. I’m only sharing them because I feel like I need to make peace with reality. Seriously, these are NOT good photos. Only Hubz and the kids look good. I should post some of the REALLY bad ones…the DOUBLE CHIN shots. I’m working up to it. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Skank Dolls Redux

I’ve been so busy this week doing blog graphics and a total blog re-design for Fidget that I haven’t had time to write all that much. Of course, I’m still doing the blog-composing thing in the shower and before I fall asleep (Shut up. I know you do it, too) and I have all sorts of thoughts that don’t involve sexual predators or baby clothes blues but just no time to put them together thus far.

That said, I’ve decided to dig through the archives to some of my grossly underappreciated posts from those early days when I got none to very few comments. Remember those days? Or was that just me that wrote to imaginary readers, fancying myself a scribe for the anonymous masses?

Anyway, I dug up a short but sweet post about something that seems to chafe a lot of mommy ass. (That’s right. I called you a MOMMY) Actually, I’ve also read a few blog posts from Dads on this topic so I guess it chafes some daddy ass, too.

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Someone gave my daughter a “My Scene” doll for her birthday. They’re kind of like the Barbie version of Bratz dolls, which I detest. I’m just not interested in those weird, giant-eyed, hoochie mama dolls as toys for my five yr old daughter. Maybe when she’s thirty. Or when George Bush learns to pronounce “nuclear.”

Seriously…I don’t know if I’m just twisted or what but I’m telling you, this doll looks like a hooker or possibly a drag queen. So naturally, my daughter finds her far more interesting than any of her eight million Barbies. Her platform stripper shoes are also of keen interest. I don’t know… I’m fairly open-minded but I think “Madison” just might have to have a garbage disposal accident or something.

And forget all that unsexy diaper business… Baby Bratz Dolls now come with their Very Own Thong. Phew! I was wondering where I was going to get a tiny doll-sized thong. Thank God someone is considering parents for a change.
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Now wasn’t that worth recycling? It just doesn’t make sense to let perfectly good posts go to waste. There are kids in China that have never even HAD a good post about hoochie dolls and their thong-wearing siblings. Please. Think of the children.

And now, according to CitySlickerMom , it’s “Hump Day Link Share/Link Where?” and never one to pass on the fun, I’ve decided to play along so in addition to all the fine blogs in my bookmarks, Blogroll and Bloglines, here are a few I’ve been digging.

Check ‘em:
Supafine, Life O’ Pie and Hipster Mom.

Bye Bye Baby Stuff (Hello Melancholy)

(Sorry for that interruption. I now bring you the post that was SUPPOSED to be up before a freak started coveting my child)

I’m feeling a little sad today. In an effort to rid my very small house of all space-sucking baby gear, I’ve been gathering everything up and slowly getting it out of here.

Last week it was the Boppy pillow, the bottle sterilizer and the baby bathtub. The week before that the swing, the Babynest, the co-sleeper and the tummytime baby Boppy pillow were evicted. Today I took the floor gym, and six bags of baby clothes to the consignment store. (Yes, even after the tap shoe debacle, they still like me and my stuff. Nice people, they are)

Today’s run encompasses the last of my daughter and son’s tiniest infant clothes. It represents a turning point in all of our lives but mostly, it represents my babies growing up. I can hardly think of this without tears welling up in my eyes and a lump forming in my throat.

We wish so much for the hardest parts to be over but when they are, our babies have become toddlers and then preschoolers and then kindergarteners. I know growing up is what they’re meant to do but it still breaks my heart. I just keep telling myself that we will love having all the extra space. But I’m not really buying it…

***Be sure to vist Fidget, my renter this week. Her site is great and her most recent post, a tribute to a friend, was both bittersweet and deeply touching.

Oh. My. God.

I feel physically ill. I don’t know what to do.

We just got home a little while ago. My neighbor two doors down came over and asked me if I had seen the white work van (no name or identifiers) that had passed by when we were checking the mail after arriving home. Yes, I did see it but paid little attention to it. She informed me that she SAW the guy driving lower his sunglasses as he slowed down and looked right at my daughter, who was standing at the front door as my son and I stood at the mailbox. He was CHECKING OUT MY 5 YEAR OLD. I want to vomit. I hope I’m not coming off like a drama queen. I’m genuinely upset and freaked out.

I thanked my neighbor profusely (she’s about 22, married without kids and VERY sharp), I keep thinking what if she hadn’t noticed? Not that my daughter ever goes anywhere unsupervised but if you watched the news at all, you may recall the Jessica Lunsford case where the girl was taken right from her bedroom, raped and then buried alive. I also recall that the man who abducted Shasta Groene and her brother (who was murdered) “found” them while driving past their house and seeing them outside. He later went back and abducted them after killing everyone else in the house. I’m not trying to scare anyone but these things are real. They happen, thus my strong reaction to such disturbing information.

I put a hold on the previous post because I had to vent and collect myself before I call my husband.

Please always be aware of what’s going on around you.