Perfect Moms, Walking Clichés, and Wal-Mart

Happy Wednesday MWOB readers!

Today, we are introducing a new voice who contacted me because of our "Join MWOB" tab where I encourage moms without blogs to let me know if they want to write. Even though in the blogosphere it seems EVERY MOM has a blog, Amanda is one of the zillion moms who don't. But she writes. And she has a voice yearning to be heard like the rest of us. She's also a mom of four and a student so she doesn't really have the time to sustain her own blog - for now.

I am thrilled to introduce Amanda writing her first post for MWOB. Thanks for reading her and supporting our mission.

Written by Amanda, a mom without a blog

I am not a perfect mother.

I do pride myself on living a full and interesting life and my kids seem to appreciate it. Having said that, I must admit that I am prone to rambling soapbox speeches about the materialistic and corrupt lifestyle that is modern America. I loathe the feeling of spending a Sunday afternoon in "Babylon" buying crap I don't need and ingesting empty calories masquerading as food. That is why I refuse to indulge in any aforementioned activities whenever possible. I am guilty of people-watching, passing judgment and also contributing to and reinforcing stereotypes (much to my dismay).

I live in the epicenter of two corporate world headquarters (Wal-Mart and Tyson). Here in NW Arkansas we are in a pocket of financial stability and low unemployment rates due to these companies plus the University. Although I must indirectly benefit from this I do not condone many of the big corporate practices. I am of the entitled persuasion that can don a Che t-shirt like the rest of 'em and boycott Wal-Mart all year long - until we need organic raisins. The local organic food co-op thinks that the very same package should cost $3 more!!!

I don't set foot in Wal-Mart for ideological and energetic reasons. Clearly, I purchase a Smart Chicken if I need one. My family eats quinoa and millet, we raise some livestock, vote Democratic or Independent, heat only with a fireplace and cool without A/C. (Ask me about 98* and 98% humidity sometime) We do not drive Suburbans. We do not-repeat- Do.Not.Feed.The.Baby.Fast-Food!!!

Until I found myself in the throngs of a PMS craving for salty fried chicken (never mind that my PSYCH I course just went over the very real possibility that PMS is highly over reported and possibly not based in science). It was Thursday at 2:30 pm, way past lunch for a hypoglycemic nursing mom. On the verge of a killer migraine, I even ordered a Dr.Pepper for caffeine, something I gave up years ago and only indulge in on occasion. Much to my chagrin, I have reached that age where I have one failing organ to fixate on. Gallbladder related topics are heavily googled at my house. But, I was all "gallbladder be damned" and ordered myself and my two-year-old (gasp) a meal. What a hypocrite I am! Leaving the house without snacks for the baby (besides my boobs).

Who did I think I was kidding? I am as mainstream and unhealthy as the next guy and I'm over here feeding it to my little child. The "imaginary" PMS crept over me like a stealth fog and I was assaulted with guilt and melancholia. Holding back tears, I pull up to the window and retrieve my order. "She's never had fast-food before, y'all"! -Dude says "at least it's the best".

Agreed.

Then I am reminded by the beeping cellphone about soccer practice for the older kids. I am responsible for not only hypocrisy but overpopulation- Geesh! So, I'm off to caravan kids like a "good soccer mom" wondering all the while if I really am a walking cliché.

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About Amanda

Greetings from the Ozarks!
I am a mom without a blog who has 4 kids ranging in age from 22 months to 14 years old. My oldest are twins and not only are they amazingly agreeable (my fingers are crossed) but they are also still somehow boyfriend and cell phone-free girls who help with dinner and laundry. My middle child is the consummate middle child and is a real button pusher; she is a competing champion gymnast who loves being the center of attention. My youngest daughter is a real ham and will surely need to be some kind of rock star in order to get all her attention needs met. She is surrounded by big sisters who dote on her and teach her bad tricks. She is highly verbal and recently asked the grocery store cashier "Where's my yogurt, lady"?

I look forward to contributing to the hilarious, touching and insightful posts on MWOB, they are a great break from farm chores (we are raising 20 sheep) and college (I am trying to finish my Education degree). I can't wait to express my mommy concerns in this supportive atmosphere.

The night I first hit "Publish"...

...I was confused and a little freaked out. To say I had no idea what was I getting myself into would be an understatement of epic proportions.  At that moment as I sat there trying to figure out what the hell "Blogger" was and how I could put a whatever picture in my header, I was still a mom without a blog.  A gloriously ignorant mom without a blog.  With a half-baked idea in my half-baked head.    

And now exactly four months later, exactly, I am a mom WITH a blog. Still confused, still a little freaked out, but overall I feel like I'm on one big crazy adventure traveling all over the world, meetings all kinds of cool, fascinating people, learning a hell of a lot and trying to keep my brain from exploding.

My bloggy friend, Deb, had this idea for everyone to post their first post on this particular Friday and because it's a grand idea and because I'm generally fried this week, I am jumping in.

Here it is. My first post.

Originally published October 13, 2008

It all happened innocently enough. I needed an art table for the kids. So I googled "children's art table." Among my choices popped up something along the lines of: "Build Your Own Modern Art Table." Now I have no time for building art tables but we live in a kinda cool modern house and thought a modern art table would look just fabulous. So I clicked on it. And sure enough, it WAS a cool modern art table...built by a really cool mom. Not only did this mom design this table, she bought all the stuff for it, used tools to put it all together and now her gorgeous kids do fabulous art on it.

Wow..."who has time for this?" I thought. Then I innocently clicked around this cool mom's blog and saw she had also had a garden. And she uses her homegrown herbs and vegetables in her kitchen to delight her family with fabulous dishes. And then it dawned on me...not only did she find the time to build an art table, plant a garden, take care of the garden, harvest the garden, and prepare yummy meals, she found the time to BLOG about it.

OK, if she can do all that, then surely I can build this art table, I found myself thinking (although if I really paid attention, I would have realized I was just pissed off.) Okay, I can do this building furniture thing. The table would look perfect in our place....my kids' art will be even more kid-artsy.. my children deserve a cool mom who builds things.... and then I snapped out of it. I was wasting time. Precious seconds during "nap time." I had other real things to do...like FIND an art table! Or clean the kitchen or... you know the drill. Here I was contemplating the truly impossible. There was no more chance of me building that table than me eating Sushi for dinner. (I don't eat Sushi even though I live in L.A. - I know, I know.)

What started out as a happy foray into the world of children's art tables landed me in a confusing state of mild depression and sinking self-worth. Yikes.

And then I had a flashback to a conversation I had had with a friend over a year ago after we both had recently given birth to our third kids. She was telling me how she was feeling a bit anxious as she compared herself to other moms who shared their daily escapades through their blogs. I mean, at least she had a blog, but she felt other moms had way better blogs than she did. It also seemed that other moms did cooler things with their kids, more educational, more creative, more organic, more...just more. And better. And then after my accidental run-in with the homemade modern art table, I was feeling the same way. Like a big ol' lamo.

But why????

The modern mom has a slew of stuff on her over-achieving brain and now we have to add comparing blogs to our list? And what if we don't even HAVE a blog? Where does that leave us?

It seems it's all coming down to a line drawn in the sand - moms who blog and moms who don't. I'm so a mom who does not blog but I felt the need to reach out to other poor on-the-brink moms who might encounter a homemade piece of furniture, or some hand-sewn girls' cutie dress, or another organic vegetable garden and have her day go just that much further down the drain.

So this seed was planted and a creative outlet needed in the middle of my beautifully never-ending days with my three breathtaking children. I'm not sure how it will all unfold or if it will simply fold, but I guarantee you, you unknown mom with or without a blog out there in blogland, this site will not intimidate.

P.S. I never got an art table. But my mom ended up buying my girls some very useful organizational art tools.

Cool Art Caddy and Shelves from Lakeshore

For more First Posts go check out Deb at Dirty Socks and Pizza