Monthly Archives: January 2010

Remember the refugees?

After I finish writing this post, I’m going to bed. Upstairs, in a bed which rests above the carpet and under the roof. I am a recipient of The American Dream.

The refugee dream is simpler. A tent.

A tent keeps a family safe, a tent is $200. Not very much, really, but a little more than what I can do on my own.

The guys over at the UN introduced me to Clare, and she did this.

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Last week when I was in the desert with the kids I took Alexander to the book store. My husband and I both want the kids to love to read, so we’ve flooded them with everything from comic books to hardcovers. We don’t care what they read, we just want them to enjoy it. Unfortunately, Alexander has been negative about book stores lately. As we pulled up in front of the store he moaned, “Barnes & Noble, I hate Barnes & Noble”.

I told my son I wouldn’t buy him a new watch unless he found a book to read, and then I set him loose. Testing me, he asked for a bundle of Judy Blume books. Five of them in all, it’s the Fudge Series. He expected me to say no because it was five books. I said yes, we bought them all.

Alexander zipped through the first book in about a day. It was Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, he loved it. It’s about a boy, and his family along with his younger brother named Fudge.

Today Alexander was deeply involved with the second book Otherwise Known As Sheila The Great. This book, in addition to having a girl’s name in the title, sports a pink cover. When my beloved husband came home from work today he got a glimpse at the book, his son and he promptly sent Alexander out of the room and whisper-yelled at me.

You’re familiar with the whisper-yell. You scrunch your face up like you’re really angry and you yell at your spouse in a whisper so the kids can’t hear. Some of what what whisper-yelled at me tonight is:

You’re trying to turn him into a girl. Again (I snorted)

He’s going to get beat up. (I giggled)

That’s a book for girls. (I laughed like I was living in a comedy club)

I tried to keep a straight face, but it was impossible. My standard reply is:

You’re the sexiest neanderthal I know.

Then I called Alexander into the room so he could enjoy his book a little more. Kids know whisper-talking is usually about them, so he asked what Daddy and I were talking about.

I told Alexander about the time that I was nine and sent Judy Blume a letter telling her that I wanted to be just like her. About six weeks later she replied to me, and everything about her note was pleasing, from the pastel stationery to her loopy girlish writing.

My husband’s eyes grew larger and he was gnashing his teeth. Finally he couldn’t hold it in any more.

So blog about it. See if I care. Ask your readers and I know they’ll agree with me. This isn’t for boys.

Uh, either are Mommy Blogs, but more than half of y’all are men.

Lastworditis. I have a bad case of it, I know.

Mom bloggers and Publicists have a strange and necessary unnecessary parallel relationship. We both have stories to tell, and we both have a distinct point of view.

Publicists would love to reach you, my readers, my community, and at times I like to share products with you all. Where we differ, is that I’m typically letting folks know there’s a recall, a reason to not buy an item or their hotel has “lost” my car, and is too busy catering to prostitutes and drug dealers to care about my lost BMW.

In any event, I continue to receive some of the worst pitches on the web, and in my move towards adulthood, I simply delete them. I also get some of the best pitches on the web, most recently PUR, and I’ve got a Jewelery Giveaway coming up a little later today. Really, quite wonderful.

The issue becomes this. What is a Mom Blogger’s relationship with PR. How much is too much, and who does it benefit?

Is there any benefit to a blog that regurgitates press releases?

Is there any benefit to a blog that features products that the blogger hasn’t purchased on their own?

I have two new cars to buy. I spent part of Saturday test driving cars that didn’t dazzle me, but should have. Is that information worth sharing? If so, how do I share it? Do I just say:

Listen, the BMW 650i is rocketlike, but at $85,000 base price, and $101,000 the way I drove it, there should be enough of a back seat for my 8 year old to be somewhat comfortable and the roof should be quieter.

Or is there a car review post everyone is waiting for?

Does anyone know of another brand that also offers all service included? Because really, I buy my cars with safety and service in mind, speed and luxury are next, but they’re all just rubber and metal.

I’m thinking more about the dance that public relations and bloggers do. Mostly, I’m left with questions, and no real answers. I’m grateful that anyone knows how to spell my name so I won’t be too prickly on the bad pitches. For now I’m trying to keep the product reviews at Whrrl and Amazon.

I had a wax today, and she was angry. The waxing hurt too.

She grimaced at me, saying she didn’t have all day. “Drop trou, and put your feet on this end,” was how it began.

Then she told me about her sister who feeds her four children fast food every day, and has neither an oven nor a job. I had to agree that the sister sounded not very good.

She mercilessly ripped hair from my nether regions while telling me about working in television, and D listers didn’t have the courtesy to remember her name. “That’s just awful,” I echoed.

And then she told me about her miscarriage, the relationship that ended with it, and the new path she was going down.

As waxing goes, it was awful, but everyone has a story to tell, and I hope hers has a happy ending. She was a nice lady.

Being a blogger is weird. I don’t call myself anything other than a Mommy Blogger. I’m not a social media consultant, I’m not a social media expert, an explorer or a writer. I’m a Mommy Blogger. I’m a Mommy with a Blog, and frankly the blog could go on any given day. The Mommy part, that’s forever.

I just came home from a really nice evening at Kim Prince’s house. I met some new folks, connected with some who I’d met before, and had a really awkward moment where someone said, “oh are you a blogger?” I kinda froze, avoiding the question.

I cringe when my real life friends are reading my blog. I know, it’s about the strangest thing in the world, but I love that most of my friends don’t actually read this.

I’m starting to have folks recognize me from twitter, Dr. Phil, and Momversation too, and while I stand behind everything I’ve said, and all that I’ve written, it’s weird to not get to introduce yourself to people at the moment that you’re meeting them.

I met some new folks today, and it was really fun to not talk about blogging.

Really?

It’s 2010? I’m exhausted from last night’s party, but not too tired to go to tonight’s chili party.

It’s been a glorious year, and I look forward to another wonderful year with all of you.

Recently Babble named the top 50 Mom Bloggers, Take a look at the other 49, they’ll probably have resolutions and things on their pages. I’m just lucky I can string a sentence together today.