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STFUParents: Not Your Mama’s Blog
April 23rd, 2010 | 
Author: By Ericka
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I’m not a mommy’s mommy by any means.
Case in point:
- My child doesn’t own more outfits than me (and she won’t until she gets that whole spitting up thing under control).
- I’m not on constant germ patrol. Don’t get me wrong, the girl hasn’t touched a naked shopping cart in her life but carpet fuzz won’t kill her. Or dog food.
- I sometimes have to do quick math when someone asks me when my daughter’s birthday is. In all fairness I’ve forgotten my own zip code in the past. I’ve also forgotten to wear shoes.
- My kid insists on exploring what’s going on underneath the couch. And I don’t stop her.
- Scrapbooking? What’s that?
Short of owning a one piece bathing suit for mommy and me swimming classes (and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to take a pair of scissors to the thing. I mean it has an attached skirt for crying out loud), I haven’t really hitched a ride on the “typical” mommy wagon. And I have a feeling you haven’t either.
That’s why I love STFUParents.
This site humorously chronicles “typical” mommy hijinks across the web, particularly on Facebook. It’s like a gaggle of tightly wound, anal retentive breeders collectively vomited on a blog. And as disgusting as that sounds, trust me. It’s hilarious.
But as much as I love STFUParents, the content also concerns me. There are plenty of instances where mothers aren’t only being obnoxious but are downright exploitative. Um, I’m thinking little Timmy ain’t gonna be so pleased with you when he finds out that you not only documented his first doodoo but practically held it up so the whole world could catch a sniff. Needless to say, I’m not so certain potty pictures should be plastered all over the interwebs.
And don’t get me started on “mommyjacking.” If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s pretty much the act of commandeering somebody’s Facebook status with something horrendously baby related. For example, if Sue writes that she’s having a bad day on facebook, Kim replies “You don’t know what a bad day is until you have children!! LOLZ!!!!” Because as anyone knows, only moms can have bad days. You know what I did yesterday? I had lunch at Macaroni Grill and perused the merchandise at Barnes and Noble. The cross could definitely be heavier.
Now don’t get me wrong. There is a ton of frustration when it comes to motherhood. I don’t like being a target for spit up practice and my heart goes out to each and every woman dealing with a colicky child. But I think we’re all well aware that we really aren’t so bad off. After all, we have the privilege of raising a pretty incredible little person.
So no, you won’t find me reading Parents magazine like it’s my job or hitting speed dial to inform my pediatrician that my baby just blinked. But you can find me reading STFUParents on a consistent basis. That is until someone turns me in to the mommy police.
And on that note I gotta run. I can hear the sirens as we speak.
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I had something witty and remarkable to say but I got distracted by Jr.’s wonderful new word! HA. I can’t stand to even BE around those moms because I think they are secret drinkers or exercize too much or maybe have affairs with other people’s husbands. Just sayin.’
I am sorry but they make me sick, they might have some funny topics but they go off into another looped out world,.. they mock motherhood~ I know!
Not only that if you have a different idea,.. they mock you and delete your comments~!
I would never talk about them is a sweet light
They can be really hurtful, along with their following of SAHM bashers,..
Not a Fan,.. where is the dislike button?
Thanks for the write-up, Ericka! I just noticed this in my Google Alerts. So glad to have you as a reader!
@Sassypantsfreckleface — I don’t know how much you’ve read the blog or participated in the comments, but there is a healthy mix of parents and non-parents who do both. I can’t help what the “bashers” say, but I am wondering where you got your information about comments getting deleted? I have only deleted a few particularly hateful comments (some of them directed at parents) since starting the blog over a year ago, so I have to say I don’t agree with what you wrote. Also, I don’t think the blog mocks “motherhood” so much as TMI updates on social networking sites. I would never mock “motherhood” in general. It’s meant to be tongue-in-cheek.
I have personaly been deleted by sticking up for a dear friend who was mocked and harassed! So THAT is where I GET MY Information! Tounge in cheek, is not meant to make someone feel awful ashamed, made fun of or afraid. I was put down, My comments simply asked if this is how you would talk to your mother,….. It is not Funny! The commenters can be very hateful, and to those who haven’t had their facbook update hijacked,..it just might be, until it is your turn to be torn apart by STFUParents,…just sayin’
Lol. are you friends with that crazy woman who said she wanted to feed her neighbor’s dogs salad laced with antifreeze? There were a bunch of “friendly supporters” who came into the comments in that post (that I later took down upon her request) and were incredibly rude.
Regardless, perhaps you and I just have different ideas of verbal support. Because I would never remove a comment that simply said, “Is this how you would talk to your mother?” You must have said something more than that.
The facebook example is SO SO SO funny because people do that. I love it. This is too funny. Hope all is well. TGIF, Love, MG
This cracked me up. I have a friend who is a “mommyjacker” in it’s truest form. When I do post things about my own baby – hey, we’re all guilty of it from time to time – she always has to one up me. And when I post things about non-mommy things, she always has to attempt to out-parent me, as if it’s horrific that I think of things other than my daughter. I’m definitely going to check out this website!
Around here at Chez Max I am not known as Mommy of the year!! I like my weekends, yes weekends, away from my kids and I have been known to utter the phrase, “No one says the word Mom for the next ten minutes!!” While I will be a mom for the rest of my life it is not the only thing I am!!! (awful grammar I know! Sorry!)
Around here at Chez Max I am not known as Mommy of the year!! I like my weekends, yes weekends, away from my kids and I have been known to utter the phrase, “No one says the word Mom for the next ten minutes!!” While I will be a mom for the rest of my life it is not the only thing I am!!! (awful grammar I know! Sorry!)
I’m so glad there are more mommies like me out there! STFU, Parents is one of my favorite sites on the whole interweb. Just because you have a kid doesn’t mean that your brain turns to mush and you have the right to post WAY TMI stuff about your kid and your life on facebook for the world to see. I don’t care if your kid craps rainbows, that business is between parents and their children, not between parents and 400 of their closest “friends.”
I have to disagree, unfortunately. I had a HORRIFIC experience with this website. Three months ago, something I wrote on my private FB page was posted on this website, the readers took it WAY out of context and, because one of the commenters shared my full name, email address, and blog URL, I had several hundred harassing emails, blog comments, even PHONE CALLS from people threatening me and my children because they didn’t like a tongue in cheek thing I said about “killing” a dog that was barking incessantly. Anyone with half a brain knew it was a joke, but these people decided I’m a puppy eater and literally threatened me and my children. In fact, the harassment continues to this day (this happened over three months ago). I had to change my phone number, my email, my blog URL, and moderate comments. The people who comment on that site and get caught up in the herd mentality are, quite frankly, frightening. When this initially blew up, I had police patrols and private security around my home. I had no idea if these people were serious in their threats or not. Since then we’ve had a security system installed and I have lost my faith in the inherent goodness of people.
What was supposed to be funny and fun quickly turned into something ugly and sinister. I’m not a fan of “over-sharers” any more than the next person, but I’ve seen how their mockery and ridicule can quickly get way out of hand. It’s too bad, but there it is. My experience with this website has definitely soured me toward that kind of “humor”.
Gucci Mama – We both know that situation spiraled out of control because you had a public Facebook page, a public blog that mentioned your full name, and you wrote a hateful message about killing your neighbor’s dogs with salad laced with antifreeze because they were waking your napping kid(s). Then you went on to say you didn’t care how they died as long as they ‘did so quietly’. Obviously you’re running a few risks there!
But I removed that post, openly condemned those who went to your blog and said rude things to you (which I would NEVER encourage), and I apologized to you. Of course you are welcome to come into the comments here and express how you feel about what happened, but I just wanted to defend myself a bit, too. I’m sure you understand. I’m not a bad person running a bad website, and I try my best to keep the crazies at bay. I wouldn’t want anyone to think otherwise.
okay i’m still reeling from excitement that stfu parents actually read this article! love your commentary! seriously good writing.
and i’m glad others understand what i’m saying. i think it’s awesome to be proud of your child and to be proud of being a mother but i also think people get a little weird on facebook when they’re kids are involved. sometimes tmi is tmi.
and to sassy: i respect your opinion. to each their own.
It seems my initial comment was lost somewhere in blogland. I won’t go into the whole thing again, but I did want to say that this website isn’t all tongue in cheek. I had a horrific experience with its readers a little over three months ago when they took exception to something I wrote in jest on my private facebook page. Because of the harassment and threats I received, I had to change my email address, my blog URL, and even my phone number because some of them got hold of that. During the first few days when they were threatening me and my children, I had private security outside my home. We’ve since had a security system installed because they are STILL finding ways to harass me and I don’t know what these people are capable of. I’m sure they’re lost in a herd mentality and full of hot air, but I can’t be too careful. I wish this site was all fun and games; I think the person who created it intended it to be. But my experience has definitely soured me.
that’s terrible. but i agree, i don’t think that’s the purpose of the site and it’s a shame a certain group of its readers are being so cruel.
i wish you and your family luck in this situation and hopefully it ends quickly.
I’ve never heard of that site, sounds interesting, gonna check it out!
Amen. And if you can’t parent with a sense of humor, it’s going to suck.
I haven’t read all “the books” and my son wears almost exclusively hand me down clothes because I refuse to spend money on things for him to spit up on. I don’t even own a copy of “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” because I think it’s designed to scare the crap out of people.
The Mommy Police have been circling my house for awhile now….
I’ve never heard of that site, so I’ll have to check it out.
Personally, I love being a mom that doesn’t have it all together. Life’s definitely funnier this way