Thursday, May 05, 2005
Blogger Moms
Blog O' the Week: Phantom Scribbler
With the Mothers Day countdown at less than 72 hours, it seems only fitting that this week's Blog Of the Week honors go to Phantom Scribbler. Though her hands are full with two young children, she manages to free at least one of them to get to her keyboard (maybe she types really fast with one finger) and quote poetry, offer keen insight, and transcribe entertaining dialogue with toddling "L.G." Plus, she has an exceptionally cool blogroll, linking to some really offbeat bloggers, and she gets whacky and entertaining comments.
In celebrating Moms who blog, I would be remiss if I did not mention the following:
Allison
KAWyle
Mamawitch
The Other Side of the Ocean
The Tonya Show
and, of course, Althouse.
UPDATE: Nina picks up this thread and asks why the vast majority of blogging moms (Nina and Althouse being two notable exceptions) all have younger still-at-home kids. Could it just be a generational thing -- younger moms more highly correlated with computer-saviness? Or maybe just an misimpression from biased sampling?
***
With the Mothers Day countdown at less than 72 hours, it seems only fitting that this week's Blog Of the Week honors go to Phantom Scribbler. Though her hands are full with two young children, she manages to free at least one of them to get to her keyboard (maybe she types really fast with one finger) and quote poetry, offer keen insight, and transcribe entertaining dialogue with toddling "L.G." Plus, she has an exceptionally cool blogroll, linking to some really offbeat bloggers, and she gets whacky and entertaining comments.
In celebrating Moms who blog, I would be remiss if I did not mention the following:
Allison
KAWyle
Mamawitch
The Other Side of the Ocean
The Tonya Show
and, of course, Althouse.
UPDATE: Nina picks up this thread and asks why the vast majority of blogging moms (Nina and Althouse being two notable exceptions) all have younger still-at-home kids. Could it just be a generational thing -- younger moms more highly correlated with computer-saviness? Or maybe just an misimpression from biased sampling?
***
Comments:
<< Home
Thanks for linking. I feel giddy to receive more than 10 visits in an hour.
As to why the mommy-bloggers tend to be younger women, I would bet that it's because older women (and men) tend to be far less tech savvy on average, unless they're in a job that requires them to be. I know my parents and in-laws, all educated folks, have a hard time understanding what a blog is or why anyone would read one.
As to why the mommy-bloggers tend to be younger women, I would bet that it's because older women (and men) tend to be far less tech savvy on average, unless they're in a job that requires them to be. I know my parents and in-laws, all educated folks, have a hard time understanding what a blog is or why anyone would read one.
That is the obvious answer, but I think it does not tell the whole story. Is there something timid about our lot? Hell, we were the boomers, the trailblazers! We should be setting the tone right now! But we're not. We are conspicuously absent from the world of blogs. Our experiences are, therefore, muted (no one's fault but our own). It's kind of sad actually.
I agree with Allison. I'm going to say that the relevant age cutoff is late 30s up to 40, the oldest cohort who had personal computers in college. For folks older than that, the whole culture around computers is more of a learning effort rather than something ingrained.
Allison, I'm giddy to that someone who lives in Texas is reading my blog. BTW, if you are concerned that you might get an unwanted breakfast in bed on Sunday, send me the relevant email addresses and I'd be happy to drop a hint...
Allison, I'm giddy to that someone who lives in Texas is reading my blog. BTW, if you are concerned that you might get an unwanted breakfast in bed on Sunday, send me the relevant email addresses and I'd be happy to drop a hint...
Hey, I'm 40 and there are lots of 40-year-old bloggers, but we didn't have personal computers in college. During my first couple of years of college, I typed my papers on a manual typewriter. By senior year, we were going to the computer lab to type on PCs, but no one I knew owned their own computer. Even in law school, very few people owned their own computer. Btw, my age cohort is on the cusp between the boomers and Gen X.
Oh my goodness, thank you so much!
Here's my take on the younger moms with at-home kids issue: with two kids younger than school age, I sit around the house a lot, especially in bad weather. There's a laptop plugged in the playroom. The kids play; I blog. The truth is that moms at home all day with very young children can get a little, well, bored. Blogging is a way to keep our brain cells from atrophying utterly.
Some fearful day, when the kids are both in school, I will paradoxically have a lot less time to sit around the house and blog -- I'll probably be working part-time or some other such continued justification of my existence.
Familiarity with the technology may be an issue, but it doesn't correlate in my case. I'm not a technophile. In fact, though I'm younger than Tonya, I went to college with a typewriter. Too bad that I didn't know how to type....
Here's my take on the younger moms with at-home kids issue: with two kids younger than school age, I sit around the house a lot, especially in bad weather. There's a laptop plugged in the playroom. The kids play; I blog. The truth is that moms at home all day with very young children can get a little, well, bored. Blogging is a way to keep our brain cells from atrophying utterly.
Some fearful day, when the kids are both in school, I will paradoxically have a lot less time to sit around the house and blog -- I'll probably be working part-time or some other such continued justification of my existence.
Familiarity with the technology may be an issue, but it doesn't correlate in my case. I'm not a technophile. In fact, though I'm younger than Tonya, I went to college with a typewriter. Too bad that I didn't know how to type....
I would guess that at least part of it has to do with the fact that we moms of young kids have to find ways to get adult interaction when and where we can. Blogging and the "virtual world" are one way to have conversations with other adults and also to pursue interests outside of our kids and home without disrupting naptime. :)
For me, writing on my blog and finding other outlets helps keep me from going crazy or feeling trapped with the long days filled with potty training, finger-painting, and reading "Goodnight Moon" 53 times a week. It gives me a chance to keep my writing, research and analysis skills honed when my world doesn't require much really deep intellectual thinking.
Post a Comment
For me, writing on my blog and finding other outlets helps keep me from going crazy or feeling trapped with the long days filled with potty training, finger-painting, and reading "Goodnight Moon" 53 times a week. It gives me a chance to keep my writing, research and analysis skills honed when my world doesn't require much really deep intellectual thinking.
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
