Mo-om! When The Stars of Mommy Blogs Grow Up
Chances are if you stumbled upon my post, this ain’t your first time to the mommy blog rodeo. It’s estimated that 3.9 million American moms today are writing about their kids and motherhood. That’s enough poop stories, pregnancy woes, and cute kindergarten musings to last a lifetime. Now, there is a increasing concern that the stories we disclose could have a negative impact on our growing offspring. The spectrum of sharing details of our children’s lives range from minimal anecdotes with ambiguous names and strategically taken photos, to reporting nearly every play date, physical change, or terrible tantrum you can conceive of. Before there were mom bloggers a small amount of mothers used their daily lives to relate to the broader picture of parenting through newspaper and magazine columns. Today those children are adults, and apparently dealing with the emotional aftermath of articles like 'My daughter is fat; what can we do to make her less fat?' written by current New York Time Magazine contributor Robin Marantz Henig. Most recently, a post titled ‘My son is gay’ caught national attention when a mid-western mom of three shared a story and photo about her son dressing as Daphne, from the cartoon Scooby-Doo. I can see how that might one day cause the 5 year-old boy issues if it turns out he is indeed not gay. On the other hand, the courageous way in which this mom dealt with her son’s unconventional Halloween costume (and the bitchy school moms who thought it was their business to judge) could be the loving catapult that allows this boy to one day express who he is freely and proudly. I, myself, have to monitor how much I share about my own children, especially with one knocking on puberty’s door. Should I really use my son’s emergence into adolescence as way to connect with parents in similar situations? Or will I inevitably scar my 4 year old for life if I tell one too many stories about how foul his bodily gases truly are? There is definitely a fine line…unfortunately some parents have no problem crossing it.
Speaking of TMI, have you ever read a Facebook status update about a friend’s kid that was either so self-indulgent or mindlessly trite you wanted to publically tell that person “No one gives a shit!”? No, well then feast your eyes on the ever popular Tumblr site that gives new meaning to the term “over-sharing”. Now I know this isn’t necessarily “news”, but I think it should be. With the invention of instantly tweeting every inane thought to your “closest” friends and updating everyone (including your 3rd cousin in Alabama) with how awesome your child is, giving people too much insight into our private lives has become an epidemic. Do I LOVE my friend’s kids and want to relish in their amazing achievements or cute pictures, yes! Do I want to hear their entire feeding/sleeping schedule, or how well your tyke is doing with his potty training, not so much. (I would’ve have attached examples from my own FB page but I fear a tirade like the one posted below). ‘STFU (Shut the F**K Up) Parents’ brings this verbal diarrhea to a whole nutha level (says the woman who blogs about every pregnancy milestone and the aforementioned kid farts!) If you are prepared for an onslaught of newborn placenta pictures or egotistical rants then please check it out. The woman in the post below is one of the many moms who seriously needs to get a life and quit whining about her “hardships”, we really don’t care! As Chris puts it, "get off Facebook" if you've got so much shit to do!
My favorite anonymous entry, comes from a mom who chooses to virtually bitch-slap a fellow mom for complaining about her daughter AND removing her comment from her wall. It's like the timeless bathroom stall has been replaced by a giant full-page ad in the NY Times spewing spineless insults and promoting adult bullying. Honestly it's kinda lame, but on the same note funny as hell! Take a gander at this doozy, this mom is straight GANGSTA!
The lesson of the day: think before you click it could mean avoiding a lifetime of therapy for your kids, or the embarrassment of internet infamy.
What do you consider “TMI” when it comes to your online posts about your kids?
Self Editing From Boyland,
2 COMMENTS:
lol, great post. I know my son will probably wonder what was wrong with me when he gets older. He stuck a tiny yogurt ball up his nose one day and wouldn't let me fish in there to get it out, then I realized it's yogurt it will melt with the help of water, so I made him cry and while his tears and nose ran water the yogurt ball began to melt. Ofcourse what kind of mother would I be had I not taken a pic, so with pink snot running out of his nose I snapped a pic and posted it on FB. He's only 3 aren't they supposed to do things like that. I will however stop mentioning him in embrassing ways when he's older, especially if at one point we both have a FB together.
I think every situation is diff. parents ripping into other parents over child issues probably crosses the line. Bully parents make bully kids.
No worries Stephanie, tiny yogurt balls in the nose are totally worth a FB upload, LOL! Hopefully when he's older he'll see the humor in it. Parents do say some crazy stuff, and you're right, kids just follow their lead. Thanks for reading and commenting!
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