You KNOW you want one…

Queen’s edit: I’m at DotMom’s today. Go buy a shirt and then go read my post over there. DO IT. The Kaiser says you have to, or no more cool shirts.

And it’s for a good cause.

You can all GUSH more over the Kaiser…He made this today. Without my help.

She’s now plastered on everything from shirts to tote bags to mugs. Half of the proceeds will be donated to the Feminist Majority Foundation. So go ahead and visit the CafePress Queen Store. And for those of you not in the “stay at home” category, never fear…the Kaiser is working on more!

Forget Xenu, We’ve got Clark


Baby Crack. That’s what we call it in our house.

Do your kids freeze when a puppet walks across the tv screen? Do their jaws drop open, drool dribbling down their chins as a wind-up duck quacks and waddles from right to left on the boob tube??

Yeah, you’re a Clarkian. Welcome to the cult.

Julie Clark is the L. Ron Hubbard of us parents. We pop in her DVD’s and bow to the message that toys are much more fun to watch on television. Pictures of apples are fascinating. And when the puppets come on, it might as well be Jesus walking on water.

Julie is from my former hood. She was a stay-at-home Mom. In, might I add, a pretty nice neighborhood. Now, you can call her media mogul.

So it’s no wonder we are all addicted to the Baby Einstein conglomerate. We must believe everything Julie tells our children is gospel. For we too, wish to be stay-at-home media moguls. Or at least find a way to make millions while not disrupting the very reasons we chose to stay-at-home with our children.

Therefore we worship Julie. She’s livin’ the dream. She plopped a Jack-in-the-Box infront of a camera and BAM! infants were instantly hypnotized and mothers everywhere smacked their foreheads, wishing they had done it first.

So how do we become good Clarkians? First we must take the oath:

I solemnly swear to hatch harebrained schemes on a weekly basis
Ones that promise riches beyond my wildest dreams, but never
interfere with the raising of the chilrins’.
I will make my husband’s eyes roll with every scheme
And when I finally am successful, I will rub it in his face
while we roll in money.

Personally, I’m doing my part by blogging everywhere possible. Will there be a book deal? Syndication? A windfall from the blogging Gods (formerly the dotcom Gods) when blogging reaches Microsoft status? Maybe. But it makes my husband’s eyes roll. And YOU KNOW Mr. Clark shook his head when Julie came home from yet another Starbucks playgroup and said “let’s video the kids in costumes playing with toys!”

So I have to be on to something.

Thank You


Ninja Poodles
Mom 101
Mommy Needs Coffee
BlogHer
Her Bad Mother
Mocha Momma
Just Say It

Stay-at-Home Feminist

I knew the so-called “Mommy Wars” were big, I had no idea HOW big. It seems the war is now on my doorstep, or more accurately, in my email box:

“Erin, I can not believe you dress your daughter in Feminist shirts. YOU ARE A STAY-AT-HOME mother!!!! All you have taught her, is that you have succumbed to the patriarchy and subscribed to catering to your husband. You clean, cook, wear an apron-everything WE fought against doing for all those years. I am sickened by women like you who have thrown away their opportunities in favor of suburban Barney marathons and tupperware parties. Don’t call yourself a Feminist. Don’t dress your daughter like she’s part of your cause. You are NOT one of us. I fought to give you the option and the right to choose your fate, but at least I was a strong role model for my boys. I showed them a woman could be the bread winner and the mother not that I needed a man to take care of me. I would appreciate if you, and women like you, would stop aligning themselves with the real feminists. Goddess Bless, Anne”

When I first read this email, I was hurt. And my skin is usually pretty thick.

I was hurt because I do have guilt over my choice to stay home with my children. As a woman, I feel a sort of responsibility to my gender. I feel like I should always be everything I can be, to show that women are strong, educated, and above all-equal.

But those reasons are exactly why I chose to stay home. Because as a strong, educated woman, I knew the benefits of having at least one parent at home. My husband and I actually had the option available to us, and it seemed a no brainer.

Does having a mother who stays at home have it’s drawbacks? Sure. An impression may be left on my son and daughter that this is a woman’s role. But I highly doubt it. My kids also see their father clean, cook, do laundry, etc. They also see stay-at-home fathers in our circle of friends. But the benefits of having a parent at home far outweighed any impressions that may or may not be floating around.

And here is the big kicker: I want to be home. There was a time where I wanted to be live at every breaking news story, and I did that. There was a time I wanted to be grilling public officials and asking the hard hitting questions-and I did that. I did it well, too, thank you very much. And now, I want to influence my children. Raise my children. And raise them to be strong, educated, and independent.

My mother graduated from high school, got pregnant and married my father. I graduated high school, went to college, became an award winning journalist, THEN got married and got pregnant. That’s progress. I was not expected to stay home with the babies. That’s progress. In fact, I planned on going back to work. After my son was delivered, I changed my mind. Motherhood was my job. And again, it was a no brainer.

Here is what you may not realize…I have it all. And I have it how I want it, not how society wants me to have it. THAT is being a feminist. THAT is what you fought for. You don’t like my choice? Fine. I don’t like that you don’t want me in your little “club.” So I’m starting my own.

SHF. Stay-at-Home Feminist. Raising kids and Raising hell.

Oh, and I plan on dressing my daughter in more feminist garb. I even have a shirt that matches hers. We’re a family that believes in equality of the sexes and choice. And that idea also means I will battle with YOU, my feminist sister, on the choices I make.

In Training

Dear Advertisers

To Whom It May Concern,

You are in luck today! I don’t want to censor you, v-chip you, ask you to tone it down, or tell you to stop making commercials.

But you should know, I’m not watching. So it really doesn’t matter. You might as well keep making them however you want.

You see, when it’s 2pm on a Sunday and the family is gathered around watching a game…we skip your commercials. My kids, they don’t need to see a woman’s face melt, a guy with a gun shooting aliens, Tom Cruise running from spaceships while crap blows up everywhere, or your latest war game where people’s heads explode.

We’re not only NOT watching your ads, we’re not buying your products.

So you can go ahead and keep showing your violent, frightening, foul-mouthed ads when children are still awake. I just thought you might want to know the consumer isn’t watching.

Maybe you’ve forgotten we don’t NEED to watch? Even without TIVO, I have the power to turn off the television. That’s right, some responsible parents actually TURN OFF THE TV when the programming may be objectionable. I know you are probably used to parents who are lazy, and will let your brainwashing ads sink into those little brains. I mean, all you have to worry about is the FCC right?

Wrong.

In fact, this Mom isn’t even a fan of the FCC. Or Tipper Gore. Or letting the government decide what is appropriate for her family.

Well, anyway. Good luck selling that video game, movie, war toy…whatever it is you are hocking. Maybe those same morons that blindly follow the herd here in good old America will shell out some cash for your crap.

Sincerely,
Queen of Spain

p.s. I’m not buying Floam. Ever.

Take a Bite Out of Mine

There are always challenges in breastfeeding. It’s just a given. While the sucking of the boob and the giving of the boob to suck may be natural, it’s still a “put Tab B in Slot A” situation and some bumps are bound to occur.

In following her tradition of being absolutely nothing like her brother, my darling daughter likes to bite.


It took one loud yelp with the Count and he never showed his teeth again. HRH Princess Peanut thinks it’s a game. A funny, funny game where Mommy yells loud and she laughs, and laughs, and laughs.

At first I was very gentle with her. I thought, like an idiot, that she would realize I was in pain and stop. Lately, on having to apply yet another coat of lanolin and/or neosporin to my nipple, I’ve gotten stern.

I need to clarify that when she bites, she is neither malicious nor devious. She really, really thinks we’re playing.

I put on my Big Girl voice and tell my precious daughter “No! No biting Mommy!”
She giggles and goes for another nip.
“I SAID NO!”
Her face turns from the sweetest smile to the utmost of betrayals. Her bottom lip quivers, her eyes well up with tears, and she is wounded to the depths of her soul. Bluebirds fly to her shoulder to sing and console her. Butterflies shoot out of her ass. A halo appears over her head and a black pointy hat appears on mine, while a hairy mole grows on my chin.

The girl just isn’t mean by nature. And despite the situation, she has no intention of hurting her beloved mother and can’t possibly understand why I am using the tone of voice usually directed at her brother.

I feel an inch high when I yell at her. But I have bite marks and bruises on my nipples. Mostly on my right nipple. For some reason, she likes to try out her EIGHT teeth on that one nipple much more than the other.

Some of you may think this little one is pulling one over on me. But I swear to you, she’s really doing the “I’m just a baby, I don’t get it” thing. But this has been happening for the past few days, and I KNOW she’s very smart-So it’s got to click soon, right?

Or do I just want to believe she’s innocent and sweet? So much so, that I’m letting her get away with it??

Maybe this is just one of those turning points. She’s going from baby to toddler now, and I find myself beginning the real start of discipline with her. Lately she’s been in trouble for standing on her ride-on Princess car. For pulling the cats’ tails. For pulling her brother’s hair. For climbing onto the couch and then climbing on it’s arm and trying to stand. For stealing her brother’s juice box straw and sticking it in the CD player. For eating rocks. For dismembering a snail. For trying to take knives from the dishwasher.

Hang on…I’m seeing a pattern here.

You’d think on my second child I’d catch on to the “testing us” thing earlier.

Hooray for blogging. But seriously, I’m happy to take suggestions on stopping the biting. It’s not enough of an issue for me to wean, but my boobs have already been through enough here.

Because raising two kids isn’t enough

I’m contributing at a new Sports Blog called “Draft Day Suit.” If you get that joke, then click on over.

Just to review…that’s Blogher, DotMoms, Draft Day Suit. Oh yeah..and Queen of Spain.

Eventually I will take over the world. It’s not like I didn’t try and tell you people I’m the Queen.