Why I can't Stop Reading Mormon Mommy Blogs.

[Mormon Red Death]

In some instances that might be the case, but in the one I mentioned above it is not the case at all. MJ knows the person from childhood and she is not lazy. We were both perplexed when we found out she was a stay-at-home-wife (not mom since there were no kids) and her husband was going to school full time and working several jobs.

And yes, she was bored.

They may say its not laziness but most likely it ended up like this.

Her after working her crappy waitressing job:

"Honey I hate this, tips suck, customers are rude can I just quit? We can follow the counsel of the brethren for the wife to be at home. It will be better for us. We won't go out to eat because I will be home and can dinner and lunches and since I wont be spilling drinks or other stuff on me I won't need to buy any clothes. Plus gas we will save with me not driving to work. Not to mention how I don't really feel in the mood all that much. I will be more available"

[pellegrino]

It's funny you say this because I struggled with the correct term to use in my post. I settled on "some" but I first typed "many". I have no idea the percentage, but in my ward alone it seems that the % of women with degrees is higher than your average collection of women.

My main point though was that these women are educated and yet they still find enjoyment in bearing and raising children. They do other things to stimulate the mind (some write books, make crafts, read books, etc.), but going to a Phd program or being the executive at a large company is not something that would add more fulfillment to their lives.

Women's lives, more so than men's are lived in phases. If they choose to be a mother, that will be a phase in their lives. If they choose to have a career, that will be a phase in their lives. Depending on what choices they make they can be living those phases concurrently, or at different times in their lives. My wife has a degree, had a successful career as a financial analyst that continued after the birth of our first child. With the arrival of the second, she chose to take a break, but I have no doubt that when she feels it is right, she will resume her career and enter into a new phase of her life.

The point is that maybe (and I do mean maybe, because I won't pretend to understand a woman's desire to be a mother) they are fulfilled with their life now, knowing that they will enter into a new phase where they will not primarily be a mother, caring for small children all the time. In other words, it's not that the the crafts, blogging, etc. fulfills them completely and permanently, it's just what's fulfilling them (or what they've chosen to fulfill themselves with) for now.

[Tone Loc]

must have struck a nerve with a few of you. Even though the truth hurts, I really didnt mean to paint some of you in a corner. The theory doesnt apply to everyone, just most.

Plus, some of you have spent way too much time with prostitutes.

[Bjorn Turoque]

How real are any of these blogs?

I'm sure there's a spectrum, but it just seems like Mormon mommies get more satisfaction out of having people see the pictures of the perfect themed birthday party they threw for their kid than they do from actually throwing a perfect themed birthday party for their kid.

I guess I'm just asking why Moms -- and indeed anyone -- blogs at all. There's a fine line between sharing experiences and attempting to shape others' perceptions of you and your life.

[U-Ute]

Does this mean your wife was slightly a member at some point?

Growing up in Utah, you're always slightly a member since you're surrounded by it all the time. When she was a teenager, the girls in the ward would invite her to all of the campouts and other activities.

[U-Ute]

That [financial] and the desires and abilities of the mother. Perhaps I'm reading different things, but I don't think it's as much of a slam dunk as you make it. Are kids better off with a stay-at-home mother who doesn't want to be there? Or one who realizes that patience and nurturing are not their strongest characteristics? When others ask this question to my wife her response is always mothers will either work because of economic necessity or personal fulfillment. If they don't find their job enjoyable or fulfilling and can afford to quit - they will because it's not worth it. If their husband doesn't agree she will make his life miserable until "he sees the light". If the mother finds "motherhood" unfulfilling and miserable then she will find a job that's less so and tell her husband he was right all along about her working.

There are great daycare and pre-school options out there to help working mothers. In my area, some affluent LDS families with a stay-at-home mother actually enrolled their children in our pre-school when they saw the benefits with our children. My wife admits that the mother who cared for our children before they were old enough to attend pre-school was a much better mother than she could have ever been.

Oh, no doubt it is an over generalization at some level. I know a specific person who was not cut out to be a stay at home mom. She functioned much better in the work force.

Kids are better when they have a loving, caring parental figure at home. The majority of the time, that is a parent.

[Pheidippides]

How real are any of these blogs?

I'm sure there's a spectrum, but it just seems like Mormon mommies get more satisfaction out of having people see the pictures of the perfect themed birthday party they threw for their kid than they do from actually throwing a perfect themed birthday party for their kid.

I guess I'm just asking why Moms -- and indeed anyone -- blogs at all. There's a fine line between sharing experiences and attempting to shape others' perceptions of you and your life.

The real moms that blog don't do this at all. They are unfettered and fresh, posting pictures of crazy things and untidy quarters made so in fits of fun.

I can't speak to the why for everybody, but we have a blog to keep in touch with family and friends who live far away. That is most of them. Also, sometimes the only way I figure out what is going on at home is the blog. We kinda don't care what people thing and have been known to delete comments - from parents no less - than for no other reason than the bug us.

[U-Ute]

How real are any of these blogs?

I'm sure there's a spectrum, but it just seems like Mormon mommies get more satisfaction out of having people see the pictures of the perfect themed birthday party they threw for their kid than they do from actually throwing a perfect themed birthday party for their kid.

I guess I'm just asking why Moms -- and indeed anyone -- blogs at all. There's a fine line between sharing experiences and attempting to shape others' perceptions of you and your life.

I'm sure there are some that do as a way to proclaim Alpha Mom status, but the majority of the ones I know use it more as a social thing. Just like trading stories and pictures of events when they get together at social gatherings.

[Moliere]

I'm sure there's a spectrum, but it just seems like Mormon mommies get more satisfaction out of having people see the pictures of the perfect themed birthday party they threw for their kid than they do from actually throwing a perfect themed birthday party for their kid.

This exists everywhere. We all desire feedback. When we make a good presentation at work we want recognition. The only difference is recognition is much easier to come by at work than it is at home. In a sense these blogs are places for women to get praise or vindication for the many things they do that typically go unnoticed.

MJ loves commenting on and getting comments on FB posts. It's not much different than your 7 bosses saying "Nice job getting your TPS report in on time!"

[pellegrino]

You know what I love best about this thread? When you google "Why I can't Stop Reading Mormon Mommy Blogs" we're the number four or five link that shows up. Let your light shine CUF, the world is watching!

[TheBYUGuy]

MJ loves commenting on and getting comments on FB posts. It's not much different than your 7 bosses saying "Nice job getting your TPS report in on time!"

Attempted threadjack: nobody cares if I get my TPS reports in on time. Nobody will ever be appreciative of that. But, by gosh, if they don't have a cover sheet, I am going to hear about it with my office door closed. This happened two months in a row.

I guess on the bright side, there was no violence or outside help brought in to drill it into my brain.

[myboynoah]

You know what I love best about this thread? When you google "Why I can't Stop Reading Mormon Mommy Blogs" we're the number four or five link that shows up. Let your light shine CUF, the world is watching!

Great, mostly a bunch freaky-about-sports Mormon men discussing women's issues.

[Paperback Writer]

Great, mostly a bunch freaky-about-sports Mormon men discussing women's issues.

We need a cable show like the Mclaughlin Group.

[creekster]

You know what I love best about this thread? When you google "Why I can't Stop Reading Mormon Mommy Blogs" we're the number four or five link that shows up. Let your light shine CUF, the world is watching!

WHy were you googling that?

[pellegrino]

WHy were you googling that?

for the hell of it.

it's always fun to see if the world (or at least the googlebot) is recognizing our efforts here.