The Infamous NYT article

Everyone in the blogosphere has read the infamous article in the New York Times that calls parenting blogs "An online shrine to parental self-absorption." I'm not even going to bother linking to it, mainly because I'm too lazy to look it up right now. Anyway, since we're all buzzing about it, and rightfully so since it's more than a little insulting, I want to add my 2 cents. Is this a parental shrine to self-absorption? Well, yes and no. I am totally and completely devoted to my children. I'm also pretty devoted to myself, because I've been with me for 22 years, and it doesn't look like I'm going anywhere soon. So I do talk about myself, my kids, my husband, and my pets quite a bit. I also talk about my online friends, my real life events, the news, the blogs I read, and occasionally stupid people. For the big name blogs, like Genuine, Suburban Bliss, and Sarcastic Journalist to name a few, each has their own niche. All three of those bloggers are parents, but we read about their life, entertaining thoughts, and sometimes we participate in games or discussions. Genuine's readers helped name his now 6 month old baby, and will help name the new bun in Mrs. G's oven. SJ blogged through her daughter's birth, but she was a blogger way before the pregnancy, and was "Dooced". Melissa at Suburban Bliss makes you feel like you are a good friend joining her for coffee and a scone, sharing war stories of parenting and marriage. The journalist who wrote the NYT article apparently only glanced at most of the blogs he mentioned, but he probably read a lot of Dooce. I like Dooce, Heather is entertaining, but it is sort of self-absorbed. She turned off her comments (for good personal reason) so her blog is not about a sense of community, but rather an outlet for her struggles and frustrations. That's perfectly ok, since obviously quite a few of us like reading it, but it doesn't describe the rest of us, and the intentions of our blogging. So if you have a blog, or are thinking about starting one, go for it!! Write about whatever you want, for yourself, or to entertain, or even to just embarrass your kids. Maybe blogging is the new scrapbooking. Just have fun!