If you are a “mommy blogger,” a SITS girl, or peruse the New York Times then you have undoubtedly seen this article.
“Honey, Don’t Bother Mommy. I’m Too Busy Building My Brand.”
My response? EFF YES, I AM. Mixed in with DON’T GO THERE, JENNIFER MENDELSOHN.
I could go into the actual article itself, which to be honest, I didn’t find all that degrading. Certainly not worthy of the backlash received, although I am always Team SITS Girls 4evah. ::fist pump to tiffany & heather:: nah, we won’t go into Ms. Mendelsohn’s journalism, which is always up for debate & opinions like any piece of writing. There is no need to delve that deep.
What I find degrading about the article is the mere TITLE. Honey, don’t bother Mommy. I’m too busy building my brand.
It is degrading. It paints “mommy bloggers” as opportunistic wastelands, willing to exploit their lives & children for little more than “latte money” in hopes of becoming the next Dooce. The title alone suggests that Mommy sits at her computer all day & night, shooing away requests for band aids, peanut butter sandwiches, or mere attention all to garnish website hits. It implies that her husband goes to bed alone while she taps out the details of her child’s dirty diaper night after night, leaving him a eunuch in a cold marriage bed.
How many times have I been told in a comment or email, especially as of late, to “sign off the computer” and pay attention to my family? To set my priorities? To get healthy by walking away from my blog? I am accused of putting my blog before my child, my profession, my husband, my sanity. To that, I laugh.
I am a Mommy Blogger. I wear that title with pride. I am a Mommy Blogger that knows the power of “Save Draft” when her child cries as he wakes up from his nap, despite being mid-post. I schedule conference calls with companies on my lunch break, between conference calls with clients off my break. I implement the trick of writing on the weekends as Nate & I snuggle on the couch over a movie, then setting it to publish throughout the week. I know that my 200,000 readers won’t go anywhere at 9pm while I slip on lingerie & seduce my husband. & I know that my dose of sanity in the day is that one hour at night where I sit alone with my Mac, cup of tea, & either write, Twitter, or answer emails.
MY TIME. My time to be Blair, to reflect on my life, to emotionally vomit to the interwebs. With the blessing of my psychiatrist. & I am criticized for maintaining that aspect of self?
It is also my second job, & I wear that badge with pride as well. I do earn money. I am building my brand. & you know what? I AM PROUD AS HELL OF IT. I work 40+ hours per week in a profession that I love. I am a mother. A wife. & then after I help put my son to bed, I put on my SuperMom cape & tap it out on the internet. For what? Maybe to stay home one day. Potentially to build Harrison’s college fund. Or maybe on a whim, to purchase a pair of absolutelytodiefor J. Crew shoes like these. & I am criticized, degraded, mocked for being brave & savvy enough to become an entrepreneur?
Maybe some “mommy bloggers” are not like me. They put their readerships above their relationships. Maybe they need to step off from the computer & get laid, or give further attention to the details outside of the internet. But maybe Mrs. Mendelsohn should do the same.
