I just came home from a weekend-long dance competition for my dancing darling daughter #4. Of course Jodie rocked it bringing home more golden trophies. But I’m not thinking about her dancing awesome-ness as I write this. I am thinking about this blog, this blog of  mine. Yet I can’t help but find myself humming along to Prince’s “It’s About That Walk” because it would seem that there is an unspoken code that at least  four or more dance studios will have a dance choreographed to that song at any given dance competition. This weekend I lost count after the sixth dance done to that song…so it’s about that blog.

You’re welcome for the ear worm!

A friend of mine this weekend made a comment to me that perhaps I could show her how to make six figures blogging.

Um, sure.

Actually I can’t. For the record, I. Do. Not. Make. Money. Blogging. I don’t. I never have. In the five years of blogging I have received a few books, tickets to the circus (once) and tickets to an ice show (once). There are no ads on my blog the generate revenue for me. There is no corporation underwriting my blogging about life with teenagers, an adult child planning a wedding on a shoestring, an incredibly gorgeous grandchild, an amazing son who manages to steal everyone’s heart with just a wink and a smile or any other thing going on in my life here under the Big Top. A local newspaper occasionally picks up my writing from here and a local moms’ forum but there is no money making from that. I am very fortunate to now be writing for SV Moms Group‘s 50-Something Moms Blog too…again, not making any money. Sorry, but no, I am not making my riches writing about my perceived rich life. I write here for the sake of writing and I write what I want to write here. It’s a love I had as a child that I re-discovered through blogging. I’m just fortunate, VERY fortunate that so many find what I have to write about so interesting…or perhaps not-so-interesting but rather something to mock. Nevertheless, I write Adventures In Juggling first and foremost for me.

An article appeared in Friday’s New York Times Fashion and Style that seems to perpetuate many of the misconceptions people have about women who happen to be mothers who happen to blog. On the surface it would seem that “mommy bloggers”  are in it in order to rake in the six figures and all the perks that come with creating their own brand which is why they would attend something like Bloggy Boot Camp. It’s all about the monetizing baby…at least that is what Jennifer Mendelsohn, herself a “mommy blogger” would suggest because we all seek to have the kind of blog that will generate 28,549 page views of our tutu-making prowess that you too can learn. Ms Mendelsohn did make some good, rare points but I’m afraid much of her article was cloaked in her own self-loathing as a mommy blogger and gross assumptions that were off the mark. Having had the good fortune to meet Tiffany Romero at another blogging event, SITScation, that was also her “brainchild”, I would have to say that there is so much more to events like these; and, sorry, but part of it is the enthusiasm, excitement and warmth that Tiffany brings.

The mommy bloggers who do make the six figures are a rare breed. The mommy bloggers who do monetize their blogs mostly make enough to feed their latte habit, pay for their domain or cover the groceries. Given that there are a helluva lot more families barely living paycheck to paycheck these days what is so wrong with a resourceful mom adding to the family income? How is that any different than the moms who sold Tupperware when I was a kid? Oh wait, Mendelsohn put them down too.

Moms are so much more than the sum of their parts whether they blog or don’t blog, work outside of the home or not, get their whites whiter or just toss them and buy some more gym socks and underwear at Target.  It’s long overdue that we recognize this rather than look for any angle to put down and poke fun at those who are mothers. Mothers are bright, articulate, creative, resourceful, industrious, talented and much, much, much more. We are all unique, amazing individuals just like our amazing children are.