I am in the unfortunate position of being in “blog limbo”.
Despite vowing many moons ago never to become a mommy blogger, it became obvious roughly, oooh, 18 months ago that I was a big fat hypocrite and soon to break my one blogging rule. And, while I like to think I put my own unique spin on parenting, boobs and poo, nothing I write here hasn’t already been covered before. In fact, I’ve even talked about this deviation from geekery before!
Anyway, the problem with this general mummy persona is that I still find most mummy bloggers boring, so while I try to find my “place” within this section of the blogosphere (ick) I end up going out and commenting on the old blog haunts … blogs of people who don’t have children, who like geeky things, who read and write code.
And thus, we have a problem. I can leave as many comments as I like on old friend’s blogs, but while I’m talking poop said old friends won’t/don’t really want to know. And while I continue to refer to mom bloggers as boring and mediocre I’m not exactly doing myself any favours on t’other side of the fence. My lentil-weaving views don’t make me any friends with the mainstreamers, but I’m not crunchy enough to dance with the hippies. I don’t post enough pictures or recipes or crafty tutorials to be considered useful, but am not totally useless either.
Woe. Blog limbo. Or blog identity-crisis. Whatever. :(
23 May at 8:07 pm
blogging identity crisis? OH NO!
I just swear through parenting style blogs. Leaves me feeling a degree of credibility :/
23 May at 8:11 pm
yeah. i try to slog through and pay my dues commenting on “other” parenting blogs when i can, but mostly… they’re boring. hell, maybe i’m boring. whatever!
23 May at 8:13 pm
Don’t worry, I fear the same thing happening to me when I have kids. Not straight arrow enough for either side of the fence, and neither side like a fence sitter. Your either too crunchy or not crunchy enough.
23 May at 8:15 pm
Maybe I should just post more pictures of the cats. Everyone likes cat pictures.
23 May at 9:09 pm
Kitty pics work. Thats how I broke my blogging drought the other day. Cause seriously, newborn kittens? Who won’t melt at that :P.
23 May at 9:43 pm
I was about to suggest the same thing.
23 May at 8:24 pm
Jem, you are you. If we (your old & new friends) didn’t like what you were talking about then we wouldn’t be visiting & commenting on your blog. You are a mother now, things will change & continue to change. Personally, I enjoy your post & support the fact that you don’t post pics of Izzy. I have never liked (though feel it is the parent’s choice) seeing baby pics online. To many “bad” people in the world. I would just keep doing what you are doing, Jem.
23 May at 8:31 pm
KITTY PICS!! That always make me go squish!
But I’ve kinda shifted to momma mode myself. It wasn’t on purpose, but I guess what it is is…well…it’s your first child, you wanna share milestones and the like, regardless of how boring it might be.
23 May at 8:34 pm
pants!
23 May at 9:15 pm
Katy knows what’s up, y’all. We need more pants.
23 May at 9:43 pm
+1
23 May at 9:54 pm
+1000000000000! Bring back the pants?
23 May at 9:18 pm
Yeah, you’re boring. But what can you do? You’re an old woman, it’s only natural.
23 May at 9:23 pm
Heyyyy. Waiiiit. Threaded comments are just a clever ploy to get MORE comments. Because instead of writing one big response to everyone before me, I’m going to reply in smaller segments, directly to the person whose comment I want to address. D:
23 May at 9:24 pm
Lies. Bold faced lies!
23 May at 9:25 pm
Actually, it’s just so I can reply to people myself [properly]. I didn’t think anyone else would care enough to use the things.
23 May at 10:07 pm
Hev said exactly what I would have, had I been here earlier but I was far too busy having fun drinking tea at Donnas. Who cares if you mention Izz? Certainly not moi. Besides, if all you ever blogged about was work or work related stuff people would get bored and sod off.
Of course, you could always use your blogless state to do some more packing (ducks and runs for cover) or you could post more pics of the furries as they are always blogworthy (as many have already stated)
23 May at 11:21 pm
I don’t think you need to fit into either the mainstream geeks OR the hardcore mommy blogger. You are a good mix of both, and that makes you damn refreshing, IMO. Your blog may be leaning more towards the aspects of being a mom, but lemme tell you: that ThinkGeek post of yours last year was over-the-top awesome, and really? I’d love to see you tackle more stuff like that, even though I’m not a parent myself. Bringing technology, products, internet, and media into the realm of being a mom is not something everyone has the knowledge or ability to do. You could – and did – do that! I’d love to hear what you think about other internet/media ploys at babies and toddlers. Get the best of both worlds! ;)
As Hev said above, we wouldn’t be reading your blog via our Facebook, feed, etc subscriptions if we thought you were boring and inane. :P No, topics about kids aren’t for all of us…but there are a lot of folks – such as myself – that still do enjoy reading what you have to say because of your personality, the way you write, and everything you put into your entries in the first place. The boobs and poo is secondary. :D
But yeah…I think you’ll figure out a good balance. It’ll come to you when it’s ready. :)
23 May at 11:42 pm
If it’s any consolation, yours is the only “mommy blog” I pay any attention to. I like your more realistic take on the whole thing. I’m not in danger of spawning any time soon, but even at this point, I take to heart everything you say about breastfeeding and co-sleeping, and all the other essential bonding stuff. Pictures and recipes and crafty shit? Maybe that’s for the people who have nothing worthwhile to say. ;)
24 May at 4:21 am
I don’t mind the mom posts at all because 1) I adore you and I’m happy you’re happy and 2) I like the honest coverage about what I’d be in store for if I ever become a mom because I do *not* read “mommy blogs.” Anyway, I don’t think you need to change anything, follow your gut!
24 May at 4:33 am
You have your niche. It’s called the geeky mums who aren’t bragging about their kidlets, and can be honest about boobs and poo. I’m sorry, Jem, but there are so few bloggers like you. As a fellow mum, I hate most mommy bloggers – they’re too peachy and rosy and annoying, utterly boring with entries pages and pages long about darling johnny’s blankie. I like reading your blog, it’s real, it’s geeky sometimes, and it’s funny. :)
24 May at 8:26 am
Well, I’m not really interested in all the poo stuff as I’m not planning to have a kid in the next 3 years, but I still haven’t kicked you out of my RSS feed so that means something ;P
24 May at 8:45 am
Aw, I feel all snugglywuggly now ;D This wasn’t a plea for praise btw, just some introspection … but thank you all.
24 May at 12:38 pm
Ditto what Kenna said about the geeky mum niche – I like it! As as also previously mentioned, more cat pictures/ updates would also be awesome. :D
24 May at 4:12 pm
Your blog is a personal one, so you are falling into the personal blog niche.
You still get plenty of traffic sweets, and even though I’m not a mother of a human baby, I still find your spin on motherhood/breastfeeding/and poo enlightening, and you post enough reference material to make your baby posts both informative and useful to read even to those who do not have (and possibly do not want) children.
02 Jun at 2:13 pm
Yea but you’re like the most awesome mommy blogger of us all :P You have to at least give yourself credit for THAT! ♥