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I grew up in a neighborhood where all of the moms knew the kids and all of the kids knew the moms. Dusk was the time when the Moms sat in driveways in their lawn chairs as they watched the kids play. This was the time that notes on motherhood were shared, recipes swapped and advice given on life, love and motherhood.
I no longer live in a neighborhood like that. In fact, I don't know a lot of women who do. The proverbial backyard fence that mothers shared stories over no longer is a part of our culture.
But don't think that means it does not exist. It just exists in another way. The cyber back fence. Moms from all over the world can share their knowledge, stories and tips with other Moms through the Internet and blogging.
I have made amazing friends. I have definitely learned a lot from women all over the world. Without a doubt, the new back fence has its advantages. What we have lost in face to face contact, we have gained in world-wide accessibility.
Misha of The Wallpaper of My Mind wrote one of the most amazing essays on the personal isolation of today's society and how blogging is bringing us out of that isolation.
To my incredible surprise however, the greatest culture shock I had faced yet was when we moved back to the United States. We own a home in the suburbs and I stay at home raising our two toddlers. Never have I encountered a more isolated culture. There are many young mothers on my street. Few of them stop by unannounced as mothers do in many of the cultures I am familiar with. Even in the western European countries the lack of car-dependent transportation makes for more natural and frequent moments of connection.
Not only is it different from other cultures, it is different from the days and suburbs that I grew up in. But as a whole, mommybloggers are changing that.
I read mothers that blog from all over the world. Never has a generation of women been so closely linked. With a click of the mouse, I can read what a mom in Africa is doing then click over to another mom in Spain and finally check out a few friends in the United States. All within the comfort of my home, I am joined with these women.
Watch out for this force coagulating in society. We are not June Cleaver, Maria Shriver or even Anna Quindlen (not to mention Carol Brady - I have no side-kick named Alice!) but we are in touch moment by moment in matters of religion, economics and political decisions. We have that - along with the capacity to influence each other toward a common goal - childrearing related or otherwise. Howard Dean's methodological successor would be wise to visit the realm of mommy bloggers. He or she may gain an education, in addition to viewing more baby pictures than he/she thought humanly possible. We may not all share common ideologies, but we do all share a very common interest.
I have to admit this. After reading, re-reading and again breaking it apart, my very favorite part of the entire essay was this line:
The new backyard fence may be a keyboard and a monitor and the uniform of choice may have changed over the years, but we have outgrown both our pearls and our limitations.
Amen, Misha. You summed up the world of mommyblogging in one amazing sentence. As a mommyblogger, I thank you.
As much as I would love to sum it all up neatly, I am going to allow Nate Ritter say what we mommybloggers already knew, but love hearing anyway.
Mommy bloggers are looked down upon (even by me, for a while). Sippy cup toting, peanut butter giving, butt wiping adoration, depression, exaltation. These moms are creating community without even one company’s aggregation. They are doing it by themselves, the way we geeks used to do it. They may be late into the game by internet standards in terms of adoption of technology. But, I think Misha and her fellow mommies and friends have more understanding of community than we geeks ever will.
BlogHer Contributing Editor Jenn Satterwhite also blogs at Mommy Needs Coffee, Aggroqueen and Mommybloggers.
Image source: Findlaymarket.org
