Mommin' It Up!

April 13, 2012April 13, 2012

Find something real to worry about.

As I perused MSNBC this morning, it was clear to me that Jenny is not the only one getting worked up about things with little or no consequence.

Evidently things are going along SO SWIMMINGLY in our country that real actual news sources – not just Perez – have nothing better to do than report on utterly meaningless controversies.

For example.

Here’s what’s making headline news in our country today.

Crawling helmets: Have over-protective parents finally gone too far?

I have no words for this. Actually, I have a lot of (four letter) words for this based on the fact that my husband and I deal with kids ages 14-22 on a daily basis, but for the sake of our livelihoods I will refrain.

Bat on a plane! Rabies scare prompts health warning
Here’s how this vitally important article starts out: On an August morning last year, 53 people aboard a commercial airplane from Wisconsin were potentially exposed to the rabies virus when a bat flew through the cabin soon after takeoff, according to a government report of the incident released today.
Ok let’s review. The bat flew out of the plane before it could bite anyone AND this happened last August. Correct me if I’m wrong but if any of the 53 passengers who were in mortal danger had actually contracted rabies from the bat who didn’t bite anyone and probably wasn’t rabid in the first place, they would be long dead by now. Let me give you another quote from the article. Simply seeing a bat doesn’t put a person at risk of rabies. OH MY GOD are we seriously this stupid? UGH.

Also, in case you were worried about it, let me clear something up for you. Freeman isn’t marrying his step-granddaughter. It’s time to put the rumors to rest: Morgan Freeman isn’t planning to tie the knot with his step-granddaughter E’Dena Hines, who is 47 years his junior. I am so relieved to hear this, I had totally lost sleep over it. Actually now that I think of it, I DON’T CARE. I wouldn’t even care if Morgan Freeman was planning to marry his step-grandson, but that is a conversation for another time.

BLT potato chip and more crazy flavors. Someone clue me in on how to get a job in which I get paid to come up with life-changing concepts like Australian BBQ Kangaroo-flavored potato chips. I don’t know what a kangaroo tastes like, nor do I care to find out. The article then goes on to describe this:

Doritos Late Night All-Nighter Cheeseburger-Flavored Tortilla Chips pack all the flavors of cheese, ketchup, onions, pickles, beef, and buns into individual tortilla chips. OMG I am going to throw up. Don’t even get me started on the seaweed-flavored Pringles. I think I’d rather eat pink slime.

Let’s keep our eyes on the prize here, America. We have more important things to deal with. Like the fact that 17 million children in our country don’t know where their next meal will come from. The fact that the U.S. infant mortality rate is one of the highest among all developed countries. Or maybe that the Army diagnosed 76,176 soldiers with PTSD between 2000 and 2011. No worries, though. I’m sure they’ll be all fixed up as soon as they get a bag of Spanish Chicken Paella-flavored Lays.

I need a drink.

April 12, 2012

I’m not a woman anymore, I’m a MOM!

Excuse me if I’m a bit ranty, but, well…I’m a bit ranty.

I keep seeing something around the blogosphere, links on Facebook and twitter, etc. that is really disturbing to me. And no, it’s not politics, or child soldiers, or anything of any actual consequence that has me riled up.

It is the over-targeting, from a marketing standpoint, of women who have children. It’s the heavy, ridiculous, almost comical marketing to “MOMS”. Sure, there are many products and services (such as diapers!) that only a mom would have a need for. But there are also many things that should be marketed to women in general that are now pointedly being marketed with ” a twist” FOR MOMS.

Because apparently, once you give birth to or adopt a child, you are no longer just a woman. And you need to be told SPECIFICALLY what to wear, and how to wear it. You need to be told what meals to make your family, and how to make them. And you need to only read blog posts and articles that have the word “mom” in the title.

Let me urge you to no longer read blog posts with the word “mom” in the title unless it is a post or article about parenting.

I am tired of reading about fashion FOR MOMS, cooking FOR MOMS, products FOR MOMS.

I’m a woman. If I read an article about how to wear the latest fashion trend, I am going to be reading about WOMEN’S FASHION, not MOM FASHION.

I recently saw a post titled something to the effect of “How to wear skinny jeans if you’re a mom” – that is not the exact title because I don’t want to be a total jerkwad, after all this rant is completely impersonal – there are dozens if not more bloggers and writers using the word “mom” to get search engine traffic (plenty of whom I think are super-great people). I was immediately incensed when I read the title. Because really, if you’re a mom, why would you wear skinny jeans any differently from any other woman? If that’s the case, shouldn’t women who delivered vaginally wear their jeans differently from c-section moms? OH MY GOSH WHAT IF YOU’VE HAD BOTH TYPES OF DELIVERIES??? Then HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU KNOW HOW TO WEAR YOUR SKINNY JEANS? Oh! Or what if you’re a mom by ADOPTION!!?? Or a STEPMOM? Ohmagah I am hyperventilating just thinking about the crisis I would have over skinny jeans if I were a MOM OF MULTIPLES! Or a mom with biological, adopted, AND stepkids. That type of mom probably shouldn’t even wear clothes at all. Too difficult!

{Are you picking up my sarcasm? I hope so because I am laying it on pretttttty thickly.}

It’s not mom fashion, it’s fashion. And females who have children should not have separate rules for wearing clothing. There should be fashion difference for women of different ages, perhaps, but not rules, articles, tips, or tricks based on being a mom. The reason these articles and post exists is because the word “mom” brings in good search engine traffic. That is the bottom line.

To give you another example of this ridiculousness, I saw another post the other day, the title of which began with “Mom Fashion:” – then the rest of the title was about the appropriateness of teen clothing for prom or something like that. You see, the article was not about mom fashion at all. It was about whether you should let your daughters wear slutty clothes to the school dance. Sure, moms were the article’s intended audience, but the title was written just for search engine optimization (SEO), not to, you know, MAKE ACTUAL SENSE.

So if you see those posts, don’t click on them. Go to a fashion website instead.

Because you are a woman. Even if you have a child. You are a woman.

Don’t you guys love it when I get pissed off??

Let me say in closing, that I realize this is what some feel they have to do to be successful in business, if their business is a blog or website. Perhaps this is just a game you have to play these days. But I am 100% uninterested in participating in it as blogger or a reader of blogs. (Or a WOMAN).

As much as it pains me to say this, however, I know my opinion is not the only valid one on the subject? Anyone care to add theirs? Just please be nice and respectful in your comments.

April 11, 2012April 11, 2012

Pin for the Wednesdays: HAIR!

Well hello there, Wednesday! It’s time to show off some pins! I’m actually a little peeved at Pinterest these days because it’s making me think that I can do things that I don’t actually have the skills to do. Hmm. So my pin this week is a win-in-progress. You see, I have a love-hate relationship with my hair. Sort of. I used to love it, or at least like it, when it was straight. But after I quit breastfeeding Sophie three-and-a-half years ago, my hair got WAVY! It’s totally weird, and I still don’t know what to do with it. Also, it’s very thick and heavy and it takes me fifteen years to blow it out or flatiron it. Both of these processes usually leave me angry and sweaty, and generally I end up just letting my hair air dry. Sooooooo, I decided to see if Pinterest had any tutorials that could show me some styles for my thick, wavy hair.

Pinterest has WAY TOO MANY ideas and tutorials for my wavy hair woes, many of which I could NEVER do. But, I did find one pin with a whole bunch of tutorials and I’ve tried a few. It’s this pin from the Small Things blog. She has tons and tons of ideas and tutorials, some of which I’ve spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME on this week! But I’ve gotten a few results I feel ok about!

hair1 — Double twist w/ ornament bobby pin & messy ponytail

hair2 — Teased my hair all over and finger-combed it out

I’ve had a few failures as well, but I am going to keep trying. I am tired of wearing my hair the same way every day. Who knows, maybe I’ll even get “good” at doing my hair. Doubtful, but you never know! I want to have it looking super-swanky when Emily and I take Miami by storm in a couple of weeks.

Allright, I wanna see what you got! What pins have you been working on that you’ve loved? Link up below, or if you don’t have a blog, leave a comment. Just pretty please follow our rules:

1) In your post, please link to your original source – the pin you got the idea from.

2) Make sure and link back to our original Pin For the Wednesdays Post here at Mommin’ It Up! (please!)

3) In the Mr. Linky below, leave a direct link to your Pin FTWednesdays post, not to your main website.

4) Totally optional – grab our cute #PinFTW button! The code box is over there in our sidebar.

Can’t wait to see your WINS!!