There’s a hot topic on the parenting/mom blogs these days. I mean, there are a lot of hot topics (Attached Parenting, for example. No one ever seems to get tired of bashing or praising that whole business). Then of course there’s breastfeeding vs. bottle-feeding (I’ve been a part of that whole business). However, the past several weeks the parenting blogs, heretofore known as pogs, have been aflutter about pictures. There are a few of the most popular parenting/mom blogs that seem to paint an eternally serene picture of mom/parenting life. There always seems to be the perfect amount of snow on the ground or just the right of sunshine coming through a window. And the food! Oy, the food! It’s healthy and interesting and made from scratch! It’s so wholesome and homemade it could make Laura Ingalls Wilder’s meal selection on the prairie look like an all-you-can-eat buffet at the local Sizzler. And let’s not forget the children. The children are clean and interesting and eat all that wholesome food while making origami and knitting their own sweaters. Now, I’m not exempt from some of that. I post pictures of my daughter and more often than not she is smiling and looking happy. I mean, who wants to look at pictures of crying children? I’m trying to attract people to this here blog not turn them away running. I also have a goal of not wanting someone to call Child and Family Services on me based on unhappy baby pics. Yikes.
But then there’s the other side. There are the parent/mombloggers who want you to know how much they hate Instagram and Facebook. Please, PLEASE know that they do not post pictures of their children anywhere because they want to live in the moment. Kveller.com recently got an influx of new followers and great publicity when a blogger of theirs posted a rant on the first category of “perfect harmony” (my words, not hers) mom bloggers. Her post started a campaign on the site called No More Fake Book where readers can post pictures of what parenthood really looks like (I myself posted a picture of my husband with our daughter. Both of them were in Giants jerseys only Siona was freaking out and had her classic cry face on). It resonated with a lot of people and I enjoyed what she had to say and how she said it. Yet, I’m still somewhere in the middle.
Here’s the thing. I like the rosy-cheeked children and the perfectly placed raindrop on the window behind a cup of coffee in a mug handmade by the aforementioned rosy-cheeked children. But I also like the pictures and the bloggers who are real with their parenting. Thank you for letting us know that you had to feed your kids box mac n’ cheese cause you work full time and didn’t have time to make your own pasta for dinner. I don’t feel so inadequate. For reals, thank you. And yet, it’s hard enough being a parent and sometimes I don’t want to read about someone else’s struggles with parenting. I have a nearly 7th month old baby. She’s my first kid and your story about how your 2 kids were up all night for 3 nights with fevers TERRIFIED me. I mean I lost sleep just thinking about how I would be able to handle that. But then there’s that rosy-cheeked blogger mom again. I’m having a hard time digesting the fact that you’re on baby number 3 and you still manage to wear lipstick, style your hair and go out and get coffee with friends WITH your 2 week old baby. I’m pretty sure I didn’t shower for the first 2 weeks of my kid’s life and I’m still waiting to put lipstick on again. And here’s the inadequacy again. But here’s the thing, no one can MAKE me feel anything. I allow that feeling to exist. I give that person/blogger/child/whomever the power to ‘make’ me feel that way. And I know this is going to blow y’all’s minds but I, and anyone else, don’t actually have to read the blogs you don’t want to read. I also get to pick and choose who I follow on Instagram. Nowadays you get to pick your news, your culture, your online life. It’s all your choice (for example, if this post is pissing you off then just close your browser).
Someone’s not diggin’ on the whole ‘apple’ thing.
So because I still haven’t made dinner yet tonight I’m gonna cut to the chase—the food! As we’re preparing for Passover (we’re staying put for the first time ever), I’m of course thinking of food. I want to diversify and not get stuck in the matzah rut. Listen, I like matzah . . . the first 3 days but day 4 rolls around and I’m all, “that better be a piece of cardboard you’re waving at me cause if that’s matzah I need you to get it out of my face”. I hope to be able to cook with a lot of fresh veggies and fruits but the one item this house will not do without is Temp Tee cream cheese. I’m not kidding. My husband buys at least 2-3 tubs of it every Pesach. He loves the whipped yumminess but I think it also gives him really great memories of Pesachs of yore. Now since I’m going to try to be easy on the matzah I was thinking a great way to have a sandwich and not have to use matzah is to use apples! Below is a recipe that’s super easy yet super delicious and I dare ya not to eat the left over Temp Tee/preserves mixture with a spoon like a delicious soup!
Apple Sandwiches with With Temp Tee Whipped Cream Cheese
What!?
1 Golden Delicious apple (or any of your choosing)3 Spoonfuls of Temp Tee Whipped Cream Cheese
2 Spoonfuls of raspberry preserves
Handful of chocolate chips
Handful of chopped walnuts
How’s That Now!?
Mix Temp Tee Whipped Cream Cheese and raspberry preserves into a small bowl. Cut apples into 1/4 inch thick round slices. Spread Temp Tee and raspberry preserve mixture onto one slice. Top with your choice of chocolate chips, walnuts or even dried cherries. You can also go crazy and top it with all of the above toppings. Lay the other slice of apple on top like a sandwich and enjoy!
Jewhungry 
this really looks amazing!
First of all, very nice photos! Second of all, that is an awesome use of Temptee and I am going to try to wait until Pesach to try it, aka that’s what I’ll be having for a snack tomorrow afternoon. As far as the all powerful social media issue, I think it is complicated and very simple at the same time. When I read the kveller thing you posted on my page my first thought was, “Doesn’t everyone know that Instagram and Facebook are just a highlight reel?” Do people really think that life unfolds in a series of golden hued squares of smiling children? I know mine doesn’t, and I try to be honest about my struggles. But, like you said, no one wants to read about the exploding diapers, lost keys, endless laundry, and make up free days (months, years, LOL) of motherhood, much less see photos of them. I think it is fine to highlight the sweet moments, but let’s not to pretend that the tough times aren’t there. They are there, and here. Laying on the floor in a puddle of exhaustion.
Also, I find the difference between the bloggers I love and the bloggers I don’t bother reading is in how genuine they are. To name names, I feel like Kelle Hampton really does love her life and enjoy her kids. As far as whatever goes on outside the lens of her camera, I have no idea. Okay I have some ideas, a few of them snarky. But you get my point!
So you have some thoughts about this do ya? 😜
What, too much?
I can hear you say that with that Caitlin smile and that, “Guys, come on. It’s awesome” voice that’s so you!
If you feel like I’m hogging your comment thread you can always delete it!
I’m pretty positive there is no such thing as ‘hogging’ of the comment thread. At least not in my book. At least not with you
apples and cheese are such a good combo, why have i never thought of apples and CREAM cheese!?
Listen, as a Mommy, a blogger, a foodie – I love this! I will be trying this on my kids, trust me. As to the issue of ‘perfect” Mommy blogs, not-so-perfect Mommy blogs, in the middle- look. Every Mother knows. We all know there are times our darlings are really not so darling, and just like any other blogger, we decide how/ what we want the world to see. Just like we decide what we want to portray, we also decide what we want to read. Sometimes, I want to see the beautifully dressed child and the ‘perfection’ – it reminds me it EXISTS. Most times, truthfully? I want to see the moms like me, WAHMs, with DCs and DHs that give them such runs for their money it makes their heads spin. Because in its own way, that is also a form of ‘perfection’- its life being lived.
iI agree, reality is so much more pleasant to read about than unattainable perfection, that’s why I always have a messy house, so that no one should feel pressured to be perfect when they visit 🙂
Oh and don’t get me started about attachment parenting!
I gave up on perfect when, after waking up every two hours to breastfeed and making meals, doing laundry etc etc, my house was such a mess that I would have had to spend three days straightening up before any actual cleaning, and I had no makeup on and was still wearing maternity clothes and the doorbell rang and guess what? I t was an old boyfriend. He was somehow working for the landlord and decided to just stop by. I am sure he was as embarrassed as I was. After that I figured, oh well. And, btw, I always wondered if he did that to anyone else, ever. Only Mary Poppins was perfect.