Dear Internet,

I need your help.
How do you define “mommy blog”?
Is it simply a blog written by a woman who happens to be a mom?
Or is it a mom who writes about her kids most of the time?
Or is it something else?
Also, do you consider this blog a “mommy blog”?
I have had a post swirling around inside of my brain for a while now and I’d love to hear the answers to those questions before I write it.
Thank you.

61 thoughts on “Dear Internet,

  1. Jackie

    That’s a really good question. I think I do think of you as a “mommy blogger” because you are a mom who blogs, but not because you talk about your kids all the time. As a SAHM, myself I think one of the reasons I love you and your blog so much is because you are not all about the kids all the time. You are proof that there is life outside of your kids and I appreciate that. But you do throw in the kids sometimes, too, and I can relate to that part of your life too.
    So, yes, “mommy blogger.” But, no, definitely not because you talk about your kids all the time. Hope this helps?

  2. Jackie

    That’s a really good question. I do think of you as a “mommy blogger” because you are a mom who blogs, but not because you talk about your kids all the time. As a SAHM, myself I think one of the reasons I love you and your blog so much is because you are not all about the kids all the time. You are proof that there is life outside of your kids and I appreciate that. But you do throw in the kids sometimes, too, and I can relate to that part of your life too.
    So, yes, “mommy blogger.” But, no, definitely not because you talk about your kids all the time. Hope this helps?

  3. -R-

    I think of a mommy blog as a blog written by a mom who talks about her kids most of the time.
    I don’t consider this a mommy blog, even though you are a mom that blogs.

  4. jadedju

    There are no “mommy” blogs. There are blogs that are written by women who have children, whose writing has been trivialized by calling it mommy blogging. Even the women who write soley about being a mother are being trivialized by the term, IMHOl.
    Men write BLOGS (apparently), while women’s words need that qualifying word “mommy.” It’s all of a piece with not valuing what women do–if you raise your kids, that’s a full time job. Why not call your blog a “Work Blog”?

  5. jaime

    I categorized your blog as a “mommy-blog” in my feed reader when I first started reading you you talked mostly about your kids. Now, I’m just too lazy to move the feed to another category.
    For the record, I also have a “daddy-blog” category.

  6. Dianne

    I have no clue what a mommy blog is but whatever it is I don’t think you have one!
    Your smart…witty…and ummm you do the worm dance!
    Your awesome..and not someone who sits and blawwwgs about her kids day in and day out..you talk about real life stuff…I think your funny! (we live pretty damn close too)
    ~Keep doing what your doing…cause your great at it 🙂

  7. Brandi

    I have to agree with Jadedju.
    And no, I don’t consider you a mommy blogger. I consider you the source of my comic relief and much needed (not to mention) free therapy.

  8. xtx

    I define a mommy blog as a blog written by a mom who writes about her kids and the plight of being a mom about 75% of the time.

  9. steen

    I always think of mommyblogs as being resources for other moms or, in the case group blogs, a bunch of moms who get together and share products, reviews, stories, etc relating to children.
    You write about your kids a lot but I don’t think I’d consider this a mommyblog. You OR RSM, for that matter.

  10. Kerry

    A personal blog maybe? As opposed to a political blog, sports blog, or whatever. With occasional parenting themes? Yeah I don’t know.

  11. Undercover Angel

    I think a mommy blog is a blog that’s written by a woman who happens to be a mother. Some mommy blogs have tons of posts about their kids and others don’t. I consider myself to be a mommy blogger even though I don’t constantly post about my kids…

  12. jayne d'Arcy

    I don’t consider your blog a mommmy blog. To me, it’s an Yvonne blog. It’s about you. Your children, pighunter, yucky kitchen cabinets are all you.
    To me, a mommy blog is strictly about the kids, raising them, etc.

  13. KTP

    I don’t consider “mommy blog” a bad term. Even though it started out that way. I’m proud to have one of my own, considering the event of becoming a mom is what prompted me to blog in the first place.
    So, to answer, yes I do consider it that. But I get so much more from it. There’s another one I read that I enjoy getting shopping tips from, even though hers is a mommy blog, too.
    For the record, every time I come here, I sigh “I’m SO glad I met her.”

  14. Susan

    I don’t consider the term “mommy blog” to have negative connotations; however, I still don’t consider THIS a mommy blog.
    Yes, you have children, and you do post about them frequently, but you talk about lots of other stuff, too — everyday issues that most women, mothers or not, can relate to.

  15. april

    But Jadedu, why does the term mommy blog have to be a trivializing one? I just consider it more of a way to categorize blogs.

  16. Heather

    In general, I think “mommy blog” is a bit negative and implies someone who always talks about only her kids, and not in an entertaining way. If that is true, this is NOT a mommy blog.

  17. Danielle

    I don’t feel that Mommy Blog is a negitive thing. I do consider this a Mommy Blog BUT the reason that I love this blog and you so much is that isn’t not all about you being a Mom. You are a Mom and it’s a big part of your life but you are also a woman with lots of other interesting things happening in your life. I love your sense of humor and the way you see the world.

  18. margalit

    I wouldn’t categorize you (or me, for that matter) as mommy bloggers. You write much more about your life, your background, your parents, your home, and your aerobic dance class than you do about your kids.
    I think mommy blogging has changed a lot in the past couple of years. Many people started blogging when their kids were infants and there were many things to talk about, but when children grow older, they do a lot less adorable stuff on a daily basis and your time with them tends to be less intense. So there’s less to blog about, and you branch out to different topics. That makes you a ‘woman blogger’ or just a freaking blogger.
    There are still are plenty of mommy bloggers who are fixated on their kids, but I don’t think of you in that category. More, I think you’re a humorist.

  19. Denise

    Personally, I think it’s a blog written by a mom, obviously, but specifically a mom who owns her motherhood…if that makes sense. I just mean that who she is at this time in her life is mostly defined by her role as a mother. So even if she is not writing about her kids, she is writing from the perspective of a mother. She views the world and all that happens through the lenses of motherhood, and her main priority is her children. You are SO a mommy blogger. Wear it proud! 🙂 Denise PS I didn’t read the other comments so I hope I’m not copying someone else’s response

  20. Jenny

    Yeah, well… as co-founder of Mommybloggers.com, I feel obligated to chime in here. But I’ve got nothing. I know that the label can be used as a negative. Just like calling ugly pants “mom jeans” or full-coverage swimsuits “mom suits” or minivans “mom-mobiles.”
    Personally, I call myself a mommyblogger, because I hope that if enough mother-writers stand up and take the title, the negative meaning will be lost.
    There is a huge backlash – why is that “mommyblogger” talking about politics? Why is that “mommyblogger” talking about anything other than her kids and her laundry? She should shut up and get back to “mommyblogging.” As if having children and talking about them somehow negates any other thoughts you might have. Pisses me off.

  21. Kristin

    Hell, if you have kids and blog, you are a Mommy-blogger… but, as the kids give us so much material, who are we to complain? 😉

  22. Sheryl

    I don’t consider you a “mommy blogger” because, honey…there is no label that can contain you! Or…anyone for that matter…unless they want to be contained…or constrained. I consider you an intelligent open person who chooses to write about her life experiences.

  23. demondoll

    I mostly think of you as a humorist (like the poster above). On the other hand, it’s humor from your family life… I don’t know… I’m so glad I could be of help. We should do this again soon!

  24. jadedju

    The term “mommy blogger” isn’t inherently negative, I just believe that it is used in a way that has negative consequences. Yeah, I think mommies should be proud! Proud of being a mommy, proud of being a mommy who finds the freakin’ time to blog, proud of surviving, period. But that’s not really what I think the categorizing of women who write about the job of mothering is about. I’m just saying–Think about it! Who created the category, and why?

  25. Helen

    SO glad to read a few positives about the word mommy. Why would anyone think a mommy blog tag would be a negative thing? The answer to your question, for me is a blog written by a woman about her children. Yours isn’t, in my opinion a mommy blog because you write about so many other things.

  26. girlplease

    well, honestly? mommy blogs are annoying. yours is not annoying. it’s funny, smart, and you don’t talk about your kids the way the mommy bloggers do.

  27. culotte

    I think with the thousands of blogs on the Internet, there is an inherent need to categorize them.
    Who created the “mommy blog” category? Clubmom, Alphamom…
    The media or whoever gave it a negative connotation.

  28. kim

    a mommy blog to me is one that’s only/mainly about the kid/s. yours is obviously a professional-aerobic-dancing-blog. mommy blogs can be annoying *, which is why there’s really none on my reading-list. yours is (on my reading-list) so, there you go 🙂
    * i might be a bit overly sensitive to the whole topic though with five (as in FIVE) of my best friends being pregnant AT THE SAME TIME!!!

  29. Annie

    Hmmmm, I don’t think of you as a ‘mommy blogger’. I think you are a blogger who also happens to be a mom. If you were a ‘mommy blogger’, and spoke about your kids all the time, I don’t think I could read (I don’t have kids myself). But your blog is something different – you talk about so many things, things I can relate to – weight loss, horny husbands, etc. It just so happens that you also write about your kids.

  30. Dee

    After reading all those comments, the word “mommy” is starting to look weird.
    My sense is that “Mommy Blog” is a derogatory term for the blogs of women who write about practically nothing else but their children.
    Yours is not a “Mommy Blog”, because you address a rainbow of issues. I can come here and read about a women that once covered her head in church and strummed the guitar, but now is more occupied with obsessing over her crack-head neighbors and her faulty cabinets, when she’s not dazzling people at weddings with the Worm or dreaming of fearless enchilada stuffage. Yaay for the snip!
    So, no, you don’t fit the “Mommy Blog” description. You have children and you write about them, but you also write about many other things showing yourself to be a well-rounded individual.
    And. Oh Snap! You’re a fabulous aerobic dancer! Bonus!

  31. geeky

    i consider a “mommy blog” a blog written about being a mom. i guess your blog could be considered a “mommy blog”, because you do write about being a mom, but you also write about yourself outside of the context being a mom too. i guess that makes your blog a “mommy blog” plus 🙂

  32. Danielle

    Ok, I’ve been thinking about this all day. I wrote earily that I do think of you as a Mommy blogger but the more I think of it I don’t actually think of your blog that way. I just think of it as a really good blog and it happens to be that you are also someones Mom.
    It just happens that most of the blogs that I read everyday are by woman that are also moms. Probably because I relate to these people more than others because we are experiencing similar things. But I do read one blog that is written by a man that has no children. I just enjoy reading good writing that deals with things that I’m interested in. I’m sure that there are many other blogs out there that are well writen but have no iterest to me because of the subject.
    I enjoy reading about other people’s lives and you seem to have a similar personality to mine. Hello, farts ARE funny. I don’t care what those other pretend adults think. It’s funny.
    So, do I think of you as a Mommy blogger. No, not really. You are just a really great writer that blgos about things that I’m interested in and we share a similar point of view and both happen to have short people in our house that we are in charge of. How’s that for a catagory?
    And for the record, you offically suck for making me think about this so much.

  33. teachbroeck

    I ready everyday…twice a day sometimes =) I don’t consider you a mommybog… I consider you a freakin funny woman who has kids. I can’t stand blogs that are ONLY about kids, diaper choices and the breast feeding war. I love the pics and stories about your kids, but I love FART STORIES, AEROBIC DANCING STORIES, WEIGHT STORIES, STUGGLE STORIES, MEMORY STORIES they make you who are!!! Just my thoughts of course =)

  34. Bethany

    I love jadedju’s answer.
    I think of your blog as “Y’s blog”. I don’t even think of my own blog as a mommy blog (I even have Mama in my title) it’s just my blog.

  35. Dawn

    My personal definition of “mommybloggers” are those women who write almost 100% about their kids and how BRILLIANT and ADVANCED they are for their age, when really all their “adorable” little story examples only highlight what spoiled, obnoxious little brats their kids are.
    And honestly, I can only think of 2 bloggers off the top of my head that I categorize in that way. You’re NOT one of them! Like others have said, I just think of this as “Y’s Blog.” Even using a more generic definition of “mommyblogging” than my own (highly biased) definition, I still wouldn’t put you in that category.

  36. jonniker

    You know, I read this yesterday and didn’t think anything of it, except that you are not a mommyblogger to me. Personally, I really despise the term, and in fact, I do find it trivializing. I am not a fan of “owning” labels you don’t like to take the power away from them – if nothing else, it gives it more credence/power.
    I agree that women get the shaft here, because dads who blog only get the label if they specifically ask for it by their own label. But just because it’s assigned to us doesn’t mean we have to take it. In fact, I think the whole “mommyblogging” label has done very little in terms of showing that moms are people too. If nothing else, it’s made it so that a mom with kids has to be a mommyblogger. God forbid, she just be a BLOGGER who has kids. Sheesh.

  37. Carrie

    Well, I have you catergorized under Funny in my blog listings. Um, because you are so freaking funny. Although I despise the Mommy Blog term, I do have some other blogs categorized under that so I know where to go when I am in the mood for parenting stuff. Just parenting stuff. I read you daily though because you are funny and witty and strong AND a Mommy who I admire and want to read about. While I am proud to be a Mommy, I would hate to think of myself as a Mommy Blogger because I blogged long before I adopted my lovely Bella and because it’s not all about her. Although I talk about her so much that people probably sigh. Crap. I guess I don’t know. Lots of rambling confused me.

  38. Amy

    my kids call me mommy. I don’t consider it an insult. Nor would I consider it an insult if my blog were called a mommy blog–EVEN IF it was intended that way. It’s just a label, and I refuse to acknowledge the veiled insult. I’m proud of being a mom. And you should be too. I read tons of blogs, most of them are written by mothers. ANd that’s where the categorization ends.
    xoxo

  39. sally

    To me a “mommy blog” is a blog where a mom only talks about her kids. “Brittany made poo poo today and it was the prettiest poo poo EVER!” “Justin is studying the Montessori method of drooling!” So I don’t consider this a mommy blog. You are a mommy who blogs. I read you because you are a funny blogger. The fact that you share your mommy stories is just part of your material. Being a mommy is the awesome. But I don’t call this a mommy blog.
    And no I am not a mommy. Apparently I am trying to see how many times I can use the word “Mommy” in a comment.

  40. KAy

    I think of you as a Mommy blogger but in my world that is not a negative thing!
    The title is eluding to your daughter, right? And you are such a good bragging Mom.
    I just think of you as a blogger Mom with extra SASS!
    LOL

  41. Rachael

    I’ve always considered this a Y blog. It’s about a woman, who is a mother and a wife. Your blog is all that and a bag of chips. 😉

  42. nila

    I think any mother who blogs is pretty much a mommy blogger. And that’s not a bad thing. What’s so wrong with being a mommy blogger? How can anything with the word mommy have so many negative connotations?
    It’s just another stupid label, and shouldn’t mean so much. No matter how hard you try, if you’re a mom and a blogger, you can’t get away from that label. Especially from non-parent type bloggers.
    As for your blog, you are a bad ass mother blogger!

  43. Mom101

    I’ve been pretty outspoken about hating the term mommyblog…but let’s just substitute in momblog/parenting blog for shits and giggles, as they say.
    I think it’s any sort of blog where you self-identify as a mother first, regardless of what you write about/how you write it. While it’s used to often refer to pee/poop blogs, that sort of day to day journaling of the minutia of parenting–see Sally’s comment above for support on that–I think it’s evolved beyond that to women discussing issues, their lives, pop culture…you name it. I’m apparently a “mom(my) blogger” and I can’t even think of a time that I ever talked about Thalia’s poop, let alone describing it as pretty.

  44. Izzy

    In my mind, I include your blog in a category with a whole host of other blogs written by people with children. Is it because you worship your children’s poop? Certainly not! It’s because you write from a place that I, as a fellow parent, can relate to.
    Is that category called “mommy bloggers”? Perhaps. I don’t really think of people or their blogs by specific labels but I guess if I had to choose one, it could just as easily be “mommy blogger” but it encompasses a lot more than some people seem to think.

  45. dana michelle

    As someone who is not a parent, if this were a true “mommy blog” I doubt I’d be reading it.
    You’re just a great blogger who also shares her family experiences in a way that everyone can enjoy them.
    I vote for NOT a mommy blog!! 🙂

  46. metalia

    Let’s get one thing straight–you are, first and foremost, THE preeminent bonerblogger of Blogvillle.
    Ahem.
    Now to actually answer your question, which is a great one:
    I really don’t love the phrase “mommy blogger.” I think it oversimplifies and in a weird way, sort of belittles moms who, yes, happen to have blogs. You may be a mom who has a blog, but it’s wholly attendant to what you do here– write things that make your readers pee their pants laughing, and sometimes, things that are incredibly thought-provoking and intense.
    I think the desire to classify and compartmentalize each and every blog into a neat little category doesn’t do anyone any favors; it’s unnecessarily polarizing. When I think of you, Y, I just think of you as someone who writes good shit. Period. (Hmm…how does the category of “Goodshitblogger” strike you? ;))

  47. justme

    LOL. No I don’t think of you as a “Mommy Blog”. There are times I am hesitant to click on your blog while the kids are in the room lol. One just never knows what they are going to have pop up on the screen when they do LOL. And I mean that in a good funny way btw!

  48. cassie

    So, I’ll admit, I think of you as a mommy blogger. I don’t think mommy bloggers have to write about their kids all the time, but their kids are a big part of their lives so there are posts that involve them. I mean, the cheese the other day about your daughter and the laundry and the laughter, yes… that was a mommy blog post.
    I love you, and don’t worry about the categories. Shit, I don’t think my blog fits into any category, unless you count “20 – something who doesn’t have much of a life and has lots of men troubles” as a category.
    Whee.

  49. L.A. Daddy

    I’ve never been a big fan of labels.
    Most arguments seem to be over labels and definitions and not something of substance.
    You are who you say you are and what you do. Simple as that. Doesn’t matter what label anyone else uses.
    If you’re a mommy blogger — to you — then you are.
    What do you think you are?

  50. Heather B.

    Now, you know that I say this with a massive amount of love, but yes, I do consider this a parent blog. Not “mommyblog” because that’s a really dumb phrase and whoever coined that term isn’t brilliant but perhaps fell on his or her head once or twice as a child. But yes, a parent blog. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, it just is what it is. You’re a parent blogger who blogs about her children in addition to other things of course.
    You’re also a great and hilrarious blogger who makes me think and all that good shit. If that is any consolation to my answer.
    Again, please don’t hate me.

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