Marketing Mommy ~ Marketing, Motherhood & other Mysteries

Are We Perpetuating a Culture of Fear?

May 9, 2016 No comments

Is it fear or is it Memorex?

You’ve all seen them, the social media memes and posts comparing how we played as children in the “good ol’ days” to how kids play now. We stayed out until the street lights came on, or played with two tins cans and string as opposed to cell phones, or rode our bikes to our friends’ homes instead of texting, and it goes on and on. I was following the crowd in this thinking as I thought about how I would never let my daughter walk half a mile to my parents’ house alone as I would fear for her safety, yet I walked home from school every day and stayed by myself until my parents got home two hours later. Then I stopped and wondered why. What has changed? (more…)

What is the most difficult part about being women?

April 21, 2016 No comments

I was recently afforded the opportunity to attend a gala dinner. Previously unbeknownst to me, a gala is a black tie affair and women dress in formal gowns or dresses. This new knowledge left me standing in my closet looking at my sad collection of clothes wondering what in the world I was going to wear.

This was not the first time this had happened, of course. I stand in this position on most mornings, trying to decide what to wear to work. I try to pick things that look good on me, but at the same time I don’t care as much as some people about whether my assets are being shown off. I absolutely hate this non-stop merry-go-round of choosing outfits every day. Standing there trying to decide if I own anything nice enough to wear to a gala was when a horrifying and bone chilling thought crossed my mind, was Caitlyn Jenner was right? Was the hardest part about being a woman deciding what to wear?

It certainly seemed so at that exact moment in time. That is until my higher reasoning abilities kicked back in. (Somehow standing in front of too many clothes reduces me to my 14 year old self complete with adolescent anxiety as well as world view.) I recalled all the recent articles I had read on Equal Pay Day, as well as my own personal struggle with balancing motherhood and a full time job. (more…)

Marketing Mommy interviewed by Working Motherhood

July 7, 2015 No comments

Recently I had the awesome opportunity to speak with Portia Jackson over at Working Motherhood. We had a great conversation and I wanted to share that with you. You can hear the full interview over on her site.

The interview began with Portia asking me a little about myself. It was like that horrible interview question except asked by a friend so it seemed a lot less scary.

Being a working mom is something very important to me. I want to show my daughter and son that women can be successful on many fronts. And since my husband and I both work, we share household responsibilities also showing my kids that men can cook or change diapers and be successful at many different things. My husband is a great cook. He does all the grocery shopping in our house and cooks most of the meals, with the exception of Thanksgiving, that’s all mine. (more…)

Why Mothers Make Better Employees

July 6, 2015 Comments: 5

Originally posted April 19, 2010 – updated July 6, 2015

I’m sure by now you have seen one of those articles listing all the responsibilities a mother has and what her pay would look like. They usually make the rounds around Mother’s Day. For all that work we are rewarded with much appreciated hugs, kisses, and I love yous. But who would have thought that the skills we have garnered with all those responsibilities would mean that mothers make better employees? Those are “mom skills,” not work skills, right?

Wrong.

I’m sure you have heard the tried and true wisdom about mothers’ ability to multi-task and how that is an advantage. Or maybe how moms are very efficient, or great time managers and moms have good people skills. Those are all fine and good, but could apply to a lot of different people, moms and childless alike. There are some skills that are slightly more relevant to mothers but just as applicable to working. (more…)

The two biggest myths about spoiled children

July 2, 2015 Comments: 5

We all want to be good parents. So is it good parenting to spoil your child?

Some people say that spoiling a child is a good thing; that kids deserve to be happy and have all the things they didn’t. But others say if you spare the rod then you spoil the child, implying children need strict discipline, not lovey dovey parenting. So which is it?

Photo by Laura Crowhurst / CC

I consider that being spoiled is NOT a good thing. The “spoiled brat” image of Veruca Salt still comes to mind when I think of being spoiled. Usually when something is spoiled it means it has gone bad. Would you eat spoiled food? Of course not (at least I hope not). Why would you want children that have “gone bad?” I don’t! (more…)

What Baby Registry Items are Really Essential?

June 9, 2015 Comments: 4

The time leading up to having a baby, especially your first, is an exciting and sometimes scary time. There is a lot of preparation to do and things to buy for the new arrival. Thankfully (maybe) there is no end to the advice you can find for what you need to do, what baby registry items you need, and how much you should buy.

Between friends and family (not to mention perfect strangers who are all too willing to share just because you are pregnant), baby-centric websites, blogs, TV shows, social media, and baby stores, advice abounds, much of it differing. You can find advice on everything from the hotly debated vaccines to which sippy cup to use.

No matter what parenting choices you make, there are a few universal items every parent needs to buy. This list of what a baby “needs” will vary depending on who you ask. (more…)

Building Bigger Houses to Hold More Stuff

February 27, 2015 Comments: 6

We were driving through an older neighborhood where the houses were a bit smaller. My daughter wanted to know why they ever built houses so small. I tried to explain to her how when those houses were built they didn’t expect children to play inside and kids didn’t own several rooms worth of toys. the concept was totally foreign to her.

Today we build homes with big living rooms to entertain and a separate family room for play. The room needs to be big enough to fit our 60″ TVs and enough space to place the sectional couch an appropriate distance from the TV. Today it is tantamount to torture to have children share a room (probably because there is so little space in the bedrooms thanks to all those toys). (more…)

There is No Magic Pill

February 18, 2015 Comments: 6

I was sitting there scanning through blogs and articles when I came across this article by a phenomenal woman who in my opinion has her “stuff” together. She was trying to find her inner power and discovered you can’t find that on Google.

That’s when it hit me. That is exactly what I’ve been doing!

Okay, I haven’t been looking for my inner power. I’m not even sure I know what that means. But I was looking for some secret magic pill none the less. Only I didn’t realize it. (more…)

Is “Organic” Just a Marketing Gimmick?

September 22, 2014 Comments: 5

USDA organic Is organic food really better for you and your family? Or is it just a way to get you to fork over more of your hard earned cash and line the pockets of sneaky farmers?

The Organic Industry

Eating and buying organic food has grown in popularity of late. One report shows a 3400% increase in sales over the last 24 years, making organic the fastest growing food and lifestyle trend in modern history. With sales over $30 billion (yes that is billion with a B), the organic industry is definitely booming. (more…)

The Stress of First Foods for Baby

September 12, 2014 Comments: 6

Image via flickr user magic robots

When I had my second child I figured I knew the ropes and had this entire feeding first foods thing down pat. Yeah right! It is right when you start feeling confident that life throws you curve balls. Ever been there?

I thought recalled everything I learned from my first child including the trauma of making baby food in a food processor. So I bought a Baby Bullet so I could more easily puree “grown up” food into something my darling baby could ingest. (more…)