To despise 'mummy blogs'

[Kirstsworld]

I am pretty new to mumsnet and through reading comments on other posts I have become aware of these 'blogs' and decided to read a couple. My mistake!. I don't understand why they exist. I understand the pressures and difficulties of being a mother, and get the need to vent. For info I am SAHM also(still struggling with pnd through 9 months in nicu, death of both my parents, another 9 month stint in hospital and a diagnosis of asd and dyspraxia) but I am aghast reading some of the 'lighthearted' blogs. They honestly seem so bitter and twisted and just nothing more than an excuse to complain about being a mother.
I get that they are supposed to be funny but I can't help thinking of how the children will feel reading them when they are older.
There is no respect for the children's privacy, have seen pictures and videos shared, or any thought given to their feelings in the future... just seems to me a never ending list of 'mummies' who don't want to do anything their kids enjoy or want to do and who's only joy in life is drinking copious amounts of wine at 4pm after being pissed off at their kids all day...
Anyone able to explain the allure of these blogs??

Has anyone mentioned Lil G's mummy's blog yet? A fine example of the absolute worst out there. Dross.

Well, I have a blog, but I get nervous if over ten people read a post and frequently make it private. For me it is just an outlet for my thoughts about something which sometimes overwhelms me and I have met a couple of nice people through doing so. Mine isn't really about my kids and what they do and there are no photos, but more the stuff I struggle with as a parent. It us quite a big thing and women have always written about it, blogging is just another medium. I have been reading them on and off for about ten years and they have helped in moments of loneliness. Lots of bloggers are actually introverts like me, not Marian Keyes wannabes, and I agree with the advice not to read them if you dont want to!

I have unfollowed some of the blogs mentioned above because I prefer non-ad ones that maybe aren't well known and for some reason they sometimes make me feel a bit shit. Having said that I love Hurrah for Gin and Peter and Jane.

I have found this thread really interesting. I am a blogger, who blogs primarily about family (username is a clue to the blog!). I would say mine is more similar to PeterandJane and the humour blogs than the Pinterest-perfect ones, but that's a choice of style.

Some of this thread I can't help but agree with - the smug mummies hashtagging #blessed and so on. I also hate it when a blog is nothing but endorsements and paid opportunities for irrelevant products and services.

I do think there's an interesting point too about whether we are humiliating our children. I hope to think not, and that we all did hilarious things as kids that we wouldn't be embarrassed about as adults - because we were kids at the time, but there is a fine line, and everyone's judgement will be different on that.

However, I also think it's a feminist issue. As a PP said, women have always written (before that, oral tradition was how women told stories), and I do think it's reductionist to suggest women shouldn't have a voice. I think it's patronising to say that they should be treasuring their time with their children rather than writing about it. Many women had big careers, hobbies, interests that they have reduced or stopped owing to children. Writing about their lives (which at the little-kid stage is often dominated by childcare) is an important outlet. Some women do it well. Some do it less well. But it is no-one's place to tell them they can't do it at all.

And you don't have to read it. (Apart from mine. It's brilliant.)

I have a parenting blog (currently on hiatus/break/just not updating it/whatever) and I can't get too worked up when people come on and slag off mummy bloggers. Some people love them, some people hate them, most people are largely apathetic.

I've done ok out of it. I never intended to make any money but we've had a few bits to review which DD enjoyed. I now write for Huffington Post and I've appeared on TV and radio a few times talking about various things, so it's been good writing experience. I don't think it's ever really taken off because I don't fall into either category, I'm not "pinterest-perfect" but I'm also not "my kid is always a little shit and I need wine". I think there are great examples of those kinds of blogs and terrible examples too but if people are happy reading and writing them, that's what matters!

I'm proud to have written my blog; apparently it's helped a lot of people. It was basically a mix of a diary and a help guide to balancing university and pregnancy/parenting, and being a younger parent. I don't know if it's a good blog or a bad blog but people have contacted me to say they've found it useful so that's good enough for me :)

I agree Nunnthewiser It is patronising and a bit worrying really. A relative of mine researches women's writing which historically has been ignored in favour of men's. Even nuns in the middle ages wrote stuff to pass the time! I think it is great that normal women today can feel connected through an outlet for their thoughts/frustrations about domesticity, which let's face it is often hugely dull #blessed etc Esp if it makes you feel less like sticking your head in the oven.

Ovaries the day that someone contacted me to say that a post I wrote on PND helped them was a nice moment and I will carry on in case that happens again. Loads of blogs have helped me feel more sane, it's a good reason to write them.

The blog staring 'Little G' is such smug mummy twaddle: monotonous content, limited and repetitive vocabulary and the writer is overly fond of a comma. I no longer follow as the insta stories were equally as mundane. However lots of people do and that is entirely their prerogative.
I do like Mummy blogs but prefer more realistic and interesting content such as MummyDaddyMe, BrummyMummy, and This Mamalife.

Each to their own I guess.

Some blogs are bloody brilliant. Some are self indulgent navel gazing. I skate over the latter 😊