Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The Devil in Miss Jones

It really irks Miss Missives when every woman who has had humans spring forth from her loins is called a mommyblogger. There's a difference between being a woman who among other things has children and likes to blog and a mommyblogger.

By and large, mommy bloggers are those women for whom the better part of their blog is dedicated to the things we typically associate with motherhood. When people tell Miss Missives that mommy blogs are all the same, I emphatically correct them. There are many distinct types of mommy blogs. Here are just a few:

1.The Family Time Capsule Mom

2.The I Am An Aspiring MILF Look How Wild I Am Even Though I Have Kids(usually found on myspace)

3.The I Write About Other Stuff and Am Only Vaguely Aware that Somewhere I Think I May Have Some Children

4.The Moms that Would Like to Sit and Check Email all Day and Get Paid For It(recognizable by bad content and a profusity of ads, pay per posts and reviews for free swag they got and reviews for stuff they'd like to get)

5.The I Seriously Need an Outlet Mom because Nobody is Being Honest About How Hard This Is and I Think Maybe I Need Medicine, Help

6.The I Need to Complain About My Mate and Get Validated by Strangers because it's Easier and More Rewarding than Fixing My Problems

7.The I'm Funny and I Like to Write, and Yes, I Have Kids, but I Also Have Sex, and Dreams that Don't Include My Kids or Even My Husband (Wife, Mate, Etc.) Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down but I'm honest and I'll write the way we all feel

8.The Snarky, Trashy, Loud(pick your adjective) Mom and Though I May Scare Off the Women in My Neighborhood, I'm Fun, and Interesting and Probably One of the Nicest People You'll Never Know

The Meanest Mom is most certainly a mommyblog but Jana is a delightful mix of the many forms that comprise the genre. There are plenty of stories about her four kids and yes, there are ads. Still, Jana is clearly a writer and therefore gets high marks in Miss Missives big book of good reads. She has brevity, wit and voice and given her kids names, it's clear Jana likes alliteration(more like alloteration).

She reminds me of some of my favorite atypical mommy bloggers. She is funny and irreverent and posts offbeat things that aren't found everywhere else. She manages to be snarky without being crass. Like many of my favorite mommy bloggers she loves her kids while mercilessly making fun of them. She also has her quiet sad moments; Jana, Miss Missives should give you a sharp fingernail in the eye for making her shed a tear.

The writing is top notch although because she focuses so heavily on the subject of parenthood, the Meanest Mom does lack broad appeal. Still, that's okay because there is way too much mediocrity in the province of mommy blogs and Miss Missives desperately wants more talented writers populating this realm.

Jana, I like your template, it's graphically vivid and speaks of your personality. The stripes are a little too reminiscent of television broadcast bars but I can see what you are going for. I don't dig the ads but they aren't overwhelming. I'm not a fan of the three column design in part because I really think you could benefit from a wider text area.

In general, it is clean, tidy and smart, just as I suspect you are.

22 comments:

  1. I lurk here daily... usually to see if you've reviewed my blog yet, but on repeated visits, have become hooked on the reviews themselves and checking out the blogs that have either been ripped apart or given standing ovations. I've added a couple of blogs to my regulars thanks to you people.

    This blog will be one of them. As a mommy blogger (who doesn't really fit into any of those categories that I can see), I appreciate this woman's wit and insight into motherhood. I laughed out loud several times and shed a tear as well - and to me, that's a great read.

    Thanks for introducing me to the Meanest Mommy (from the Scariest Thing in Our House).

    Sayre

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  2. Let me save you some lurking here time, Sayre.

    Your blog stinks.

    No need to thank me.

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  3. I just found your blog, and I think I am in love!

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  4. You're blog rocks, bobby. There's no link to your blog, so I can't read your blog, but if your wit there surpasses that of your comment here, look out.

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  5. ky...purr purr meow meow purr purr purrmeow

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  6. I still have no cat.

    But I did buy myself a door mat/alarm/warning system combo.

    No one's come to introduce themselves yet...so it's working.

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  7. I need to get one of those, gap.
    The days of wine and roses were a long time ago....

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  8. Bobby - I'd lurk anyway because I enjoy this site. I do notice that you have no link to YOUR blog. Chicken?

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  9. ky
    Mervyns' going out of biz sale - 10 dollars.

    Just a heads up about the climate of Mervyns. I had to stand in line for 20 minutes to buy the thing and then battle to get a spot on the elevator. I almost shoved some jerk off the elevator because the combined heat of 1000s of people in one place was overwhelming.

    Go there if you don't mind pushing shoving hoarding greedy little people scavenging to save that last red penny.

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  10. I don't write a blog. I knit.

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  11. Really??? That is SO cool! I wish I could knit, but arthritis keeps me from doing stuff like that.

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  12. The world doesn't need any more sac cozies.

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  13. Hey Bobby,

    When you finish lurking here why don't you go read my blog and leave a nasty comment. It's so much easier than just keeping your mouth shut.

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  14. Didn't mean to be nasty. Just having a little fun.

    You both have fine blogs.

    Now I feel bad about myself.

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  15. Bobby, perhaps you should just end it all?

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  16. Don't end it all, Bobby! Just knit me a scarf and we'll call it even...

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  17. "Let me save you some lurking here time, Sayre.

    Your blog stinks.

    No need to thank me."

    This what passes for wit these days?

    If you are going to bring it, Bobby, bring it.

    That was just lame.

    John

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  18. Hey thanks for the heads up on this blog. Damned good review and right on the money.

    She has got some damn funny stuff over there. I had no idea you could just grab any old piece of crap belonging to someone, wrap it up and give it back to them as a Christmas present. That alone is going to save me a ton of cash this year.

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  19. Thanks so much for the review! I feel fortunate to have scraped by. Your writing ain't so bad yourself. I smell an academic...

    Anyway, your time and attention to detail is most appreciated.

    The Meanest Mom

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  20. LOL, I love the list. I want to be a combo of #7 and #5.... aspire, aspire, aspire!

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Grow a pair.