I was honored to make Babble’s list of top mommybloggers last week. Because it’s always nice when some writers I think are talented look at my writing and say Hey, we like your writing too! But the problem with lists is that they are, by definition, finite. And I hate when people feel left out.
I’m also not crazy about a format that actually ranks us (I’m evidently better than Chris Jordan but not quite as good as Rookie Moms) or requires me to ask readers to vote for me because frankly I bet that every one of us would just as well throw our support behind NieNie and call it a day.
After a silly Twitter chat about it with Mrs. Kennedy yesterday, an idea was born: A list to honor some of the crazy skills, big and small, of lesser known mom bloggers. Particularly mom bloggers you might not be familiar with if your reading is limited to those on lists. So I asked people, Hey! Who wants to be on a list! And looky here at all these cool and interesting people who did appear.
Hope you find some fun new reading along the way.
In no particular order (seriously, nooooo order):
1. A Mommy Story: Christina and I have been blogging about the same amount of time and she’s so consistently smart and insightful she needs to be on more lists, and her kids have cool Shakespearean names. Also, she is a walking compass. She can always find north, so feel free to get lost with her in a haunted forest any time.
2. The hilarious and effervescent Melissa Chapman writes the WCBS parenting blog, among others, and has become a delightful friend in recent months. She is also the only Jewish girl in NYC who married a doctor and wishes she married a plumber instead. Long story. Has to do with union benefits. The book’s coming out soon, don’t worry.
3. Jaelithe Judy can SEO the crap out of your blog, and she rivals Queen of Spain and Cynematic (#4) for the ability to never ever back down from a political brawl on Twitter.
5. Speaking of politics, Dana Loesch deserves serious props for influence. It was pointed out to me that she’s the only member of Momversation that didn’t get a Babble shout-out which is just stupid. If you’re a Republican, you need to be reading Dana. If you’re a Democrat, you probably should too. She’s a great writer, even if her politics are all turned around.
6. Did you know that Amy Turn Sharp is not just a blogger and mom and all around nice person, but she also makes some of the most gorgeous handmade wooden baby toys in the world? It’s true, I saw it on Cool Mom Picks.
7. Kelly Mocha Momma Wickham is the brilliant mind behind the Purse Drive. She also once famously asked at the BlogHer conference, yo, marketers, where are all the pitches to the bloggers of color? At which point everyone started sending pitches to Renee instead. Champagne manufacturers – send Kelly some samples for review. I hear she uses her mighty and powerful thighs to open them and is willing to share the photos.
8. I was reluctant to include Joanne Bamberger, aka Pundit Mom here, because she’s so famous now she’s made the CNN.com masthead or something like that. But she doesn’t make mommyblogger lists much because ooh, politics…skeery. (See also: Dana Loesch)
9. I really like Momtrol Freak since I first met her this summer at BlogHer. However she neglected to tell me then that she is certified in SCUBA, drives clutch in San Francisco, and can do eleven different accents not including a mosquito impression. Of course, I’m not impressed unless she does it with a 17th century Irish Brogue.
10. Jennifer Taggart, or The Smart Mama can tell you what may be toxic in any consumer product, which won’t surprise those of you who read her blog. She can also fold her tongue into shape of a clover, an odd side effect she acquired after licking one too many BPA-laden sippy cups as a kid.
11. Mamikaze calls herself a slacker, but I beg to differ. Evidently she can give “the look” that stops any kid dead in her tracks, which means I may need to borrow her to help me get through the next three years or so. Or at least this week.
12. Linsey K can remember vast amounts of useless information, so if any of you have any questions about pretty much anything at all, I suggest you look her up immediately and call her at home and she’ll be sure to help.
13. Deaf Mom is a bona fide deaf mom, raising three deaf or hard-of-hearing kids. I don’t know her well enough to make dark jokes at her expense and be sure that she won’t hate me, but I do admit I wonder what she says to her kids when they’re ignoring her because “What, are you deaf?” won’t work. She also can fake clean her house in ten minutes and if that means more than imagine it getting clean, that’s pretty darn good.
14. Jennster is the one chick who could make Dennis Rodman blush, and I’ve met them both so I know of which I speak. She also has this amazing ability to cut the bullshit, take an unpopular stance, and write what’s on her mind without being an asshole and making people hate her. Quite a few of us could take a lesson there. Me included.
15. Mommy Mae claims she can fall asleep standing up at a concert, although that doesn’t count if it was a John Tesch concert. Poison? Warrant? The Crüe? Yes. That would be a skill. I think we need more to this story…
16. Screwed Up Texan is double-jointed in more than one place, so invite her to your next bachelor party.
17. Laurie White of Laurie Writes is by all accounts, the first ever mommyblogger that is not a mom. (Although Elisa Camahort Page is a close second). Laurie is even on several Twitter lists of power moms because – eh, no kids. Minor technicality. She is so thoughtful and insightful, even in 140 characters, that she makes me want to be a better person. But I won’t be. Because I’m too busy.
18. Kami Lewis-Levin- is a great writer who takes on working mom issues on her blog; and on mine, she’s one of my favorite commenters. But you know, you think you know a gal and then you find out that she can reinterpret portions of Balanchine’s Nutcracker set to Beatles songs.
19. Laura Mayes is that name you know even while you don’t know how you know it. That’s because she flies under the radar of the press a lot, too busy writing amazing books, founding brilliant websites, running highly successful conferences and stealthily spreading good cheer. She can also tie a cherry stem in a knot with her tongue. I’d like to get her and Jennifer Taggart drunk together at a party just to see what happens.
20. Elizabeth of Adjunct Mom isn’t actually an adjunct mom. She’s a full-time mom, and an adjunct professor. Also a quilter. And knitter. And cross-stitcher. But that was all far too long for a Twitter handle so Adjunct Mom it is.
21. Kim Tracy Prince of House of Prince has been blogging since you had to chisel your thoughts into rocks that were just shaped like computers. That’s 2004, in case you’re wondering. She also does a killer Nancy Kerrigan impression and knows her way around a pool hall. Take that as you will.
22. Maternal Dementia has one of the best blog names ever, although she’s not demented enough to have lost her ability to sing all 50 US states in alphabetical order. I’m convinced she just memorized some arcane B52s song, but who knows. I love her tag cloud on her blog, with words like France, gratitude, memories, morning and mother, which I mention whenever I write about her. Which is now twice. She’s a cool lady and one day I’m going to buy her dinner at El Bulli.
23. The Weird Girl is in fact weird, because she really wanted me to know how great her homemade cranberry oatmeal cookies are. I hate fruit in my cookies. But I love the Weird Girl. And so I forgive her for not remembering some post I wrote three years ago about fruit in my cookies. And by that, I mean oh, I’m sure your cookies are just delish and if I were to like any cranberry cookies at all they would definitely be yours.
24. As long as the penis-owning Dutch of Sweet Juniper made the Babble mommyblogger list, I feel it’s only fair to include one more here. Penis owner, that is. Not that I can vouch for it, but I’d assume Laid Off Dad has one. Doug is a real life friend and member of the NYC blogging posse that kindly gets me out of the house for grown-up time every couple of months. He’s also ambidextrous, and has pretty much every Monty Python movie set to memory so if you start to quote Life of Brian together, you can be there all night together. Pack provisions.
25. Mrs. CPA claims “I can do a tax return so pretty and neat it would make you weep” which only sounds like a plug for her business. In fact, she’s not actually a CPA but a Tunisian circus clown, and that’s sort of their brand of humor. Down there. In Tunisia.
26. I admit I’m a bit envious of Not Ever Still Life With Girls, who has the enviable ability to speak fluent backwards English. David Lynch, are you reading? Make this woman a star!
27. Cecily Kellogg thinks in blog posts and 140 character blurbs, which is either a talent or a pathology. I’m going to go with talent because until health care is all fixed, I’d hate to saddle her with a documented pre-existing condition.
28. Susan Wagner is that blogger that everyone wants to be friends with and probably will be, because Susan is just that nice. She is also pretty. She’s kind. She’s a fantastic writer. She dresses well. And evidently she can tie a bow so perfectly, that if they had a Project Runway spinoff called Project I Can Tie the Best Bow, she would take it all. That may in fact be why they haven’t come out with the show just yet. Who could beat her? Nobody. Where’s the drama in that?
29. Speaking of TV, Marinka, a fellow New Yorker claims she can watch Snapped for hours guilt-free while the laundry is just sitting there. Now that’s a mother we can all take a lesson from.
30. Similarly, Miguelina can ignore her blog for months at a time and feel zero anxiety about it. That’s because pretty women can get away with that sort of thing. Plus she’s not lying awake at night worried that the free cleaning products from PR people will dry up. Smell that? That’s the smell of liberation. Or maybe Marinka’s dirty laundry. Hard to tell.
31. High-powered PR executive by day, Julia Beck of Forty Weeks has Gumby-esque powers of impressive flexibility by night. Surely that delighted all the boys back in high school and scared the crap out of their mothers. And now she’s a mother. Hm. Karma.
32. Carmen of Mom to the Screaming Masses is one of the first mom bloggers I ever found, and the one good thing about the south. (No! I kid! There are eight good things about the south, not counting Laura Mayes.) She could quite possibly kill me for saying that though, because she’s a purple tip in Muay Thai and a yellow belt in capoeira. I don’t know what those things mean, but they sound painful.
33. If you don’t read PHD in parenting, you should. Unless you like blogs filled with cute pictures of babies and paragraphs with no punctuation and canned bean dip giveaways. Then nah, she’s not for you. She’s polarizing, but rarely infuriating which sounds easier than it is.
34. Andria Stanley has the amazing gift of timing: After a ton of fertility treatments to conceive her son, she somehow manages to get pregnant again, on her own, only weeks before filing for divorce. Whoo! Being a single mom is talent enough in itself. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if she can do stuff with her tongue too.
35. Reasons you and I both should spend more time on Jenn Danielson’s blog, Quarter Rest: 1. She’s left-handed. 2. She can use the term slackassery properly in a sentence.
36. Brandi B has more than 13,000 tweets to her name which, well wow. She is also a walking IMDB, and can tell you who That Guy was and what movie you saw him in which comes in very handy when you’re about to run up to Paul Rudd on Bleecker Street and ask him if you went to college together. She also has twins and a four year-old and cancer. Ugh, stupid cancer. Can you just go away already and leave us all alone? You suck.
37. Devra and Aviva are the moms behind Parentopia, published authors, and benevolent advice dispensers. Devra has an unholy love of Top Chef finalist Richard Blais (seriously, ask Kristen Chase some time) and Aviva has some kind of Rain Man skill by which she can tell you when any type of meat will expire in the fridge. It’s all connected in some strange voodoo way. Not sure how yet but it will come together if you think about it.
38. Jennifer Mendelsohn of Clever Title TK has about the most fun blogroll in history. Instead of boring links to other bloggers (yawn), she’s got links to celebrities she interviewed when she was at People Magazine–and maybe slept with? Who knows! She can also tell what any food will taste like just from looking at it, which is a skill I could have desperately used in Spain a few times. I need to spend a whole lot more time on her blog. And I think the clever title is already there.
39. Karen of Karen Chatters downplays her cooking skills but dude? Salt-crusted beef tenderloin with cippolini onions in a balsamic glaze. Also she is fearless, this woman. She is totally willing to dress her child up like an elf on Christmas with no fear of repurcussion later in life.
40. Jill, aka Scary Mommy has such an avid fan base, every time one of those top mom blogger lists shows up, her readers flock there to write, “But what about Scary Mommy?” Either that, or she has 62 aliases. Who wouldn’t love a woman who’s not afraid to post a huge photo of her kid picking his nose. Plus? she runs this lovely Kitchen Shoppe where you should spend lots of cash, now. In fact, I’m not even sure why she’s a scary mommy. Maybe she will stab me with one of the butter knives if I don’t buy something from her.
41. Amber Strocel is your go-to source for info on global maternity leave, and growing cucumbers. Not necessarily together. Although if you’d like to leave your job in Greenland to have a baby and grow some cucumbers, check with her first. She’ll hook you up.
42. Candace Lindemann has far too many skills to mention. Also, I’m getting really tired typing and it’s late. But aside from starting Bloganthropy, she also makes balloon animals which is two ways she gives back to the moms of the world. (Although no one cries when their Bloganthropy pops and now the line is too long to get another.)
43. Blogging since 2002 (!!) Jen B of Jennui is one of the grand dames of the mom bloggers, doing it with grace, humor, and a Canadian accent, all while touching her tongue to her nose. Evidently that’s a marketable skill in some country. I’m not sure which but I think it has a Q in it and no vowels.
44. Jill Anne Berry is proof that you can have a 13 year-old daughter and live to tell the tale. Next year she will be 14. The year after that, 15. And Jill will still be there, plugging away. Really, I’m just impressed with the entire process.
45. HD Lewnberg of Live Green Mom is so new to blogging, that her about page currently reads This is an area on your website where you can add text. This will serve as an informative location on your website, where you can talk about your site. Look at it as a chance to discover a yet undiscovered new blogger that you will come to adore. And proof that you don’t have to be here 6 years to get on A LIST. Besides, she taught herself to ride a unicycle this summer. There is a clear dearth in the world of self-taught unicycle-riding mom bloggers and she’s just the gal to fill it.
46a and b Cagey, aka Kelli Oliver George, and Sara Lena of The Anvil Tree share my own useful skill for identifying famous people’s voices in commercials and animated films. So clearly they are a talented, and important pair of women, worth your time, energy and money. (Should you be sending money to random bloggers for some reason.)
47. Jennifer McNichols writes a very good consumer advocacy style review blog with her husband Jeremiah, called Z Recommends. So if you ever wonder where the parent bloggers are who are writing negative reviews – there they are. All two of them. In one blog. But that doesn’t make them negative people. Can someone who makes a good pumpkin cheesecake be negative? Nope, it’s a physical impossibility.
48. Momo Fali is another writer writer, so expect more of those annoying paragraphs and wacky punctuation marks. She can also do that spoon hanging on the nose thing which is one of the best party tricks ever. Especially if you’re ten. Or have a kid who is ten. Which she does.
49. Rita Arens of Surrender Dorothy is too modest to say she has any skills besides almost curling the bottom third of her tongue (what’s with all these tongue skills anyway?) but she did happen to get the first ever mom blogger compilation published. She is also kind and spiritually generous and principled and has that pretty blonde midwestern hair going for her. (Oh, and that’s a Cool Mom Picks amazon affiliate link so don’t report me to the FTC.)
50. Anissa Mayhew can come back from a coma. Top that.
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Oh yes I KNOW I left you out. And you, and you, and you. And your best friend. And your favorite blogger. These were just the 50 who contacted me. Feel free to leave your own mad skills, raging talents, and stupid blogger tricks in comments.
135 shards of brilliance… read them below or add one
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Only because I hadn't hit the I Like button obsessively this past hour
I completely agree with you on the whole ranking and voting thing. But you already knew that.
love this post Liz.
Oh and I am baffled by Babble calling me a psuedo-militaristic mother. I think I am one of the most laid back mothers I know. Oops time for morning formation here.
I contacted you, and still got left out of the list? THE STORY OF MY LIFE.
Butt hurt aside, this was awesome. You're the best,
(Kidding about the butt hurt. Not kidding about you being the best.)
it most certainly was NOT a john tesch concert! i would never disrespect john so much. it was a string cheese incident concert, thankyouverymuch.
and i didn't even know i was getting on a list. that's fancy.
Mmm, thanks for the chocolate tiara. It was delicious.
Aviva is a refrigerator/freezer savant. Who better to bring it to The People than you?
It's quite possible you've increased the liklihood of Richard Blais following me back on Twitter or provided him with documentation which may be useful in serving me with a restraining order.
It's probably a 50/50 shot either way.
Yay!!! What a list! I had some of those chicks on my 51-100 list too….
Now I'm gonna start a list of the top 50 moms WITHOUT blogs because they need to get on some lists too.
From Lee of Moms Without Blogs….
I love Scary Mommy. I have no idea why she wasn't on that Babble list, and I was. That girl can write circles around me.
I'm a hard core moderate, and Dana Loesch is just about my favorite poli-blogger ever. EVERYONE needs to be reading her.
I could go on. Wicked list, Liz.
I love that you take me seriously even when I don't. That is only one of the reasons why you, I love.
You know it's a damn farce when my talentless arse makes a list and none of these fierce writers do.
I'm glad you corrected this.
Well done.
Totally not a pitch for any business! But it's my most famous skill, besides a mean funeral corn recipe.
Thanks for including me.
Brilliant !!!
What a fantastic list! Thanks so much for putting this together. I read some of the great moms listed here, but will be sure to check out the rest.
Super funny too.
Karen
Unsurprising brilliance, Liz. And you've inspired me – I am adding to my life goals to be in the same league as Laurie and Elisa (two of my personal stalking victims, um let's make that heroes) as a list-worthy mommyblogger who just happens not to have any children. I'm far too haphazard and scattered a blogger to qualify for a spot in such brilliant company as these 50 but I can curl my tongue and raise a spock eyebrow so I'm halfway there!
Awesome. Love this!
Wow, what a list! Hopefully I can make it on these “top” lists someday!
What a fun list– so many new moms for me to connect with! And yeah, it's a real problem getting deaf kids to listen to me, especially when they close their eyes and turn their hearing aids off…
As for fake cleaning– all I can say is that the oven stores a lot of stuff and Rubbermaid boxes are a Mom's best friend.
I almost forgot what I wanted to say because I'm laughing at Heather B's comment!
Thanks for putting this together. I shouldn't add a single new blog to my reader, but, I'm weak.
I agree, I think this should become a tradition.
I'm so thrilled to have made your list . . although now I feel like a must actually write a post for the blog instead of taking a vacation from it. So I will do it, wearing a chocolate tiara of course.
Liz, You are funny and very sweet. Thanks for including me, the check is in the mail. KIDDING, FTC!
Hmmmm, great list, but you are missing jodifur and sweetney and goon squad Sarah and pretty much all the mamapop crew, who are my faves!
Agree Anon! Lots of my favorites there. But this was a totally democratic process – if you asked me to be on the list and you weren't already a so-called A lister…voila.
Super list! I will now be lost in many more links to come.
Hey, I know some of those ladies, and count them as friends. It's odd that I read so many of those blogs and some of them I have never heard of.
Love, love, love this list! Cannot wait to catch up on my blog reading now that I am returning to the land of the living and the land of bloggers! Superb list of bloggers here to re-engage with.
You're amazing!
I think I did make at least one list: The “WTH Happened to This Old School, Does She Even Blog Anymore, Has Been Blogger?!” I rocked that category!
Um. I hereby declare that you deserve to be on every list for eternity for your ability to come up with this list and make an accurate and hilarious description about each one.
Excellent list! One of the loveliest things about BlogHer is that I've met a surprising number of the women you've mentioned.
Whew, I always wanted to be on a list, and I'm just glad it wasn't a Top 50 Annoying Mommybloggers We Want To Leave Us Alone.
Actually, I'm proud to know several of the amazing women you wrote about, and can't wait to check out the ones I don't know. It's like a late holiday gift of new talent to read. Or a curse, if you knew that my bloglines needs an industrial-strength plunger to clear out the backlog there.
(And I'm totally going to corner Laid Off Dad at BlogHer this year to chat Monty Python.)
Congrats to you even though you dismissed it, I still think it's an honor for you and great list! I'm excited to check out some of the blogs on your list and find new favorites.
I want to be on a list, but I don't think they make a list for “Random life bloggers who don't fit neatly into any of the blogging categories and alternate between funny and heart-breaking on any given day.” But if they ever make that list, I hope I'm in the top 10. Or 20. Or just anywhere on the list really.
oh so many more to read!! thx
OK, so I'm not surprised I didn't make the list. I'm a virgin mommyblogger after all. But I swear I'll be here in 2010 or I'll … I'll … I'll … I'll mail you all my used vibrators. And I won't clean 'em first either. So there.
okay so I go on vacation, stop reading everything except the latest Stephen King novel (thus also toning my biceps–the sucker is huge) and miss my chance at being on a real actual list. Of writers. Whose work I admire and respect. Note to self: must never, ever, turn off internet access again. Seriously? A great list and a great idea and if I were ever to be included, I would totally fall over in shock and probably never write again.
in love with you as always…
I big bit of me sighed to see all the amazing women out there doin' their thing proudly for everyone to see.
what a wonderful world…
What Deborah said.
Except it was the Wheel of time series, not Stephen King
And this should be a tradition
Thank you SO MUCH for including me! I am honored to be included with these fabulous women. And, yeah, the rest of us have NOTHING on Anissa. And I know our thoughts and prayers are all with her and her family.
Yeah! What does Babble know, anyway? Thanks for the mention. My spoon trick with live in infamy!
I'd like to thank the academy…
No seriously, being included in this company (Hello? Anissa?!?) made my day. And I'm seriously humbled and delighted that you took the time not only to list us, (hell, all I did was tweet you back!) but to write such cogent, witty little blurbs about all 50 of us.
For the record, I did not sleep with any celebs I profiled for People. Except maybe Bob Denver.
And I'm going to spend the rest of my days on earth trying to make funeral corn better than Mrs. CPA's. Actually, I'm about to google to find out what funeral corn is.
Anyway, thank you so much.
Oh geez Jennifer, thanks – I thought I was the only one who had never heard of funeral corn.
MrsCPA gave me the skinny on the funeral corn (the eating of which, may create your own funeral, but oh so yummy getting there!!). Here goes:
corn, cream cheese and butter plus pepper to taste. She suggests I start making for Bris and Bar Mitzvah celebrations!
I have so many tabs open I can't count them. Looking forward to new blogs to read and people to follow, and I have high hopes of making the list next year
Loverly list – amazing women – thank you for taking the time to give them the props they deserve!
My people typically do deli for funerals. Not so much with the corn.
Yay for Kami for making your list! I actually found her blog through a comment she left on yours (or vice versa?!) Can't remember for sure, but either way, love her!
And MarinkaNYC, too!
What a list! There are some great bloggers here!
I DID forget that you didn't like fruit in your cookies. But I love you too so I promise not to send you any. How do you feel about fudge?
Ironic, that I found you from the babble list and now thrilled you put your list together, Loved your comments about each.
I just started blogging in Jan 2009 after I lost my job and I love it. I aspire to write as well as the bloggers on your list
Needless to say, thank god for lists because I would never have discovered you.
http://www.newyorkcitysinglemom.com
Holy crap! The PRESSURE! I want to read them ALL! Can you come by and babysit my 4 kids for the day so I can catch up on some awesome blogs? No? Damn. I guess I'll have to bookmark this and make my way down the list. Can you at least drop off a couple cases of Mountain Dew at my house? I'll need the caffeine to assist me while I read into the weeeeee hours of the night.
I LOVE you. LOVE you.
I can't say any more than that. You are amazing.
And I still owe you a drink.
I SO do not belong on the same list as some of the other people here. But thank you kindly for the mention.
I don't think ANY of us can beat Anissa Mayhew's talents. Anissa Mayhew may in fact be superwoman.
Holy swimming in a pool of great bloggers, Batman!
Looks like I've got some reading to catch up on…
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