If you’re like me and on Mother’s Day you seek ways to escape your children (because isn’t Mother’s Day supposed to be about the MOTHER not about the kids, hello!?) you might like to pick up this little ditty of a book I managed to get my hands on at the Mom 2.0 conference last week – Sh*tty Mom. I mean, seriously, the title alone was enough for me to put down 50 Shades of  Porn Grey. That’s saying a lot. My husband was not pleased.

Girlfriends, this sh*t is funny. Almost as funny as how bad the writing is in 50 Shades of Porn Grey is.

Sh*tty Mom, written by the ever-fabulous TODAY Moms team and comediennes and writers Laurie Kilmartin and Karen Moline, is the perfect anti- “Are You Mom Enough?” – brouhaha book. These ladies certainly didn’t carry their babies around in a sling breastfeeding until they were wearing braces.

Cool by me. Sh*tty Mom is the perfect book if you’ve texted excessively at the playground, left your kids in the car while you went into get the dry cleaning because it’s too big of a pain the ass to get them in an out for a 5 min errand – GEEZ! and all around lazy-ass parenting moves that we probably all do once in awhile and just don’t admit it. Yes, I beg to have the kids sleep out and tomorrow I plan on taking the afternoon to be by MYSELF doing something non-kid related, and possibly with alcohol. I can drink while shopping, right?

Favorite chapter title of the preview copy I got – “Organized Sports May Be Great for the Kids but They Suck for You” – because in honor of Mother’s Day tomorrow is the ONLY day in the foreseeable future where I won’t have to adjust teeny jock straps and smelly soccer shin guards and cleats.

Because I love my kids, I do. I just don’t like them when they smell.

Yes, I can be sh*tty, and you probably are too, so read the book when it comes out, k? Let me know what you think – you can even pre-order the book for next Mother’s Day – it’s totally not a sh*tty gift.

 

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Mom 2.0 2012 Recap: The Year of Calm

by selfmademom on May 6, 2012 · 7 comments

This Mom 2.0 must have been the best blog conference I’ve been to in my nearly six years of blogging. Maybe not for the content I learned (a little more on that later), but for the comfortableness I felt amongst my peers. I think it’s taken a long time to get here, but finally I think I’ve found my place in the world of don’t-call-them-mommy bloggers.

When I started blogging I didn’t struggle with what to write or who my target audience was – it was the working moms I felt solidarity with – we were banded by our guilt (or lack thereof) and of our purpose balancing young kids and life.

Then, when I left the big agency, I went adrift. I never wanted to blog personal, any attempt at me blogging about being frugal was an all-out farce, (have you met me?) and I felt adrift in an ocean of popular mom blogs.

But this time around, Mom 2.0 2012 I think I figured it all out. I’m now my own business owner with a plan and a purpose. I have a role professionally and felt that would benefit from the energy of my longtime blogging peers and new friends.

And that’s why I enjoyed Mom 2.0 so much this year. I had a room filled with fun and laughs (and loud hilarious partying from the boys next door) and meaningful conversations that pushed me beyond worrying about page views and site progress.

Not all the discussions had purpose – I personally felt there were too many inspirational keynotes (I’m not one for motivational talks, shoot me now) and not enough break out learning sessions, but overall I got the gist of what the intention and purpose of the conference was and I got something more for myself. The confidence again that I make sense in the mix. That I have a renewed purpose for my blog. That I belong. Maybe it was the Jew thing. But I’m thinking not. I’m thinking it’s because I’ve found some peace between the struggle I’ve always had with my blog and work. No more. My blog has led me to many interesting places with interesting people and I continue to be grateful for its presence.

Just don’t expect me to start blogging every day or anything now.

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Seeing that I’m leaving for Mom 2.0 tomorrow, I thought I should actually update my blog before I go, right?

A few random thoughts before I head out the door and leave the whirlwind of a recent stomach flu attack at our house behind. Wish me luck.

I’m going to this conference with my PR hat on for real for the first time. And, it makes me nervous a bit. I’ve been blogging for a long time now, but now I think of myself as a PR professional first and blogger second. I wonder how that will make attendees feel? I hope the brands vs. PR vs. blogger discussions are productive and not duplicative of the same old issues over money.

I’m going to this conference excited as ever to meet new faces, see old and new friends and relax in the sun. I loved New Orleans, but there’s something about the Florida sun and sand… ah…. (I mean can you believe that pool scene?)

I’m going to this conference because I’m excited to learn what’s hot. I’ve been stuck in my media relations hole, which pays the bills, but I need a good dose of tech trends and I look forward to interesting industry conversations. I’m thinking Stephanie should be able to help with that.

And, as I promised to from last week’s post (sorry for the massive delay, again, blame the stomach flu), I have a new hope for blogging.  I loved chatting with new, local bloggers looking for advice as they start in the space. And, they actually read my blog! It gives me hope that our voices will continue on and I love the new blogger excitement and enthusiasm. It’s good for me.

I promise to report as much as I can from Florida. Please send me any questions or thoughts you might have!

 

 

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I’m thrilled to be speaking tonight at  JUF discussion about blogging – specifically on the topic of food, family fun, and parenting (can you guess what topic I’ll be covering?).  They asked me to prepare a short speech (12 minutes, yikes!) about why I started my blog (the guilt!), and maybe what to tell young, unsuspecting women about how to start a blog (use WordPress!).

With me in the discussion are the lovely Beth from Mommy on a Shoestring (love her) and Jaclyn Kolber who I look forward to meeting.

I’m looking forward to a lively discussion and I’ll try to post my thoughts about it here tomorrow.

 

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Friends with blogs

by selfmademom on April 15, 2012 · 2 comments

Some people have friends with benefits. Since I’m so unfortunately beyond that point in my life, all I can say is that I have friends that blog. Oh yes, I do. Are you jealous? And I don’t mean the friends that I met through blogging, I mean old-school-before-there-was-that-twitter-thing friends. IRL friends who have started awesome blogs.

Meet Monica! Of course you’ve probably heard by now as her blog has totally taken off in the year or so that she launched it. She actually had a blog before me, but it was called Kitty Time, and it was on the old Blogger platform, so we are all trying to forget about that. But her new, fabulous site, Wired Momma is a true inspiration. Monica writes “a daily jolt of parenting from the nation’s capital” and is now a contributor to the Huffington Post DC, DC Moms, organizes some amazing local blogger events and so much more.

I was lucky enough to meet Monica back in 2002 while we were sweating it out in grad school working on what we thought were the most important assignments in the world for a foreign car company, dressing up silly for Halloween parties and celebrating engagements. Now, we laugh about the silly things our kids do, wallow about our lives before kids and make each other laugh online. Well, she clearly makes me laugh more because I never update my blog. Monica, I’m so proud of you!

 

 

 

Now you have to meet Mandy. Mandy is my daily, go-to BFF who I speak to every day about every nonsensical thing from what yoga class we might be doing to when we are scheduling our next play date. She’s my mom-in-the-trenches rock, who used to be my friend-before-kids-rock. So you get the point. You also might get why I was so excited to hear that Mandy decided to write a cookbook and blog of her fabulous healthy and recipes that she makes with her kids all week long – Healthfull Ever After. She just started it a few weeks ago and is already blogging away like a pro. I feel like a proud mama of a third child that I didn’t birth, but love. She’s like my blogging prodigy.

I don’t know how she does it, but her recipes are beautiful and delicious. I can’t wait to try this granola recipe. Go Mandy go!

 

 

Do you all have “friends who blog” or did you meet your blog friends through your sites?  

(Revision)

I did, sadly forget one of my IRL BFFs here and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I think of this particular person as the super-volunteer-extraordinaire, freelance writer superstar and overall enthusiastic about everything person. In the back of my head she’s a blogger, but she’s also so much more than that. Meet Jo!! a.k.a. Mommy Brain – don’t you love it? Jo and I are connected by the most important thing in the world – our husbands, who became friends so so long ago, and I’m so fortunate and lucky to have made a dear friend through that connection. And one that’s damn funny too. You can read her work on Nickelodeon Parent’s Connect (I told you she’s rad!) and her dish on celebs will make you pee your pants (especially after childbirth, it’s a lot easier to pee your pants now, *wink wink*). I love Jo and I’m so sorry she didn’t make the first iteration of this post. For that I’m going to some sort of blogging purgatory or something.

 

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I don’t even think I’ve announced it yet here, but after four years of writing for Chicago Parent, I finally got a column in the monthly magazine! It’s a “Best of the city” column called “Best in Chi” and I’m having SO much fun writing it.

This month, I’m really proud of my story on best bites for busy moms. Because how often do we find ourselves on the go with nothing good or healthy to eat? Story of my life, especially now with my wacky new diet.

Hope you enjoy the story. Would love any ideas or thoughts you all might have!

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Nana’s famous matzah kugel recipe

April 1, 2012

I don’t cook much, but I have dabbled in holiday cooking occasionally and some of my recipes aren’t so bad. Herewith, my next recipe to share – my mom’s awesome sweet matzah kugel. I won’t be able to eat much of it this year (thinking of substituting all that butter with… uhm… something else) but for [...]

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High-end designer maternity and baby gear sale this weekend!

March 26, 2012

I rarely post about local happenings (or anything anymore, right? I’ve been so busy!), but I’ve been doing some outreach for this sale and well, I just think it’s genius so I had to write about it. This weekend in the new Sprout San Francisco space (another 2 Moms client) there will be an amazing pop-up [...]

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Confessions of a Flexitarian, Semi-Vegan

March 13, 2012

I have a huge confession to make right here in public on my blog. I’ve given up red meat, dairy and almost all animal protein all together. I’ve become what Caitlin is calling a flexitarian, and what Mark Bittman says is “semi-vegan.” Whatever you call it, since it’s been over three months since I started [...]

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JoJo Maman Bébé sale launches on Totsy (hint if you have a bébé you’ll want to read on)…

March 8, 2012

As a mom ambassador to Totsy, I’m privvy to lots of cool things, like that rad stroller I gave away last month, and access to checking out cool products with foreign names that sound so much more elegant than Carters. JoJo Maman Bébé is an acclaimed brand in London founded by a mom, Laura Tenison. JoJo is [...]

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