First catblogging, then babyblogging makes the big time:
The world's most thankless occupation, parenthood, has never inspired so much copy. For the generation that begat reality television it seems that there is not a tale from the crib (no matter how mundane or scatological) that is unworthy of narration. Approximately 8,500 people are writing Web logs about their children, said David L. Sifry, the chief executive of Technorati, a San Francisco company that tracks Web logs. That's more than twice as many baby blogs as last year...
With a new blog popping up every 4.7 seconds, according to Technorati, it is no surprise that there would be parent blogs, along with those for dating, politics and office life. But what makes them interesting is the way that blogging about parenthood seems to have become part of parenthood itself...
The anxiety and uncertainty so commonly expressed in the baby blogs definitely make for good reading. ("He likes cars and tutus with equal passion," Melissa Summers writes of her 2-year-old, Max, on Suburbanbliss.net. "I think he might be gay.") But it also shines a spotlight on a generation of parents ever more in need of validation, an insecurity that doesn't necessarily serve the cause.
What the blogs show is that "parents today are focused on taking their children's emotional, social and academic temperature every four or five seconds," said Wendy Mogel, a clinical psychologist and the author of "The Blessing of a Skinned Knee." "It deprives us of having a long view of development. Kids do fine. The paradox is that the way to have them not do fine is to worry about them too much."
Maybe that is so. But perhaps all the online venting and hand-wringing is actually helping the bloggers become better parents and better human beings...
I confess that, despite the fact that many of my Devoted Readers are parents, I haven't read many baby blogs, save for those run by bloggers whose children are an integral yet peripheral element (like James Lileks). Except for a two-year stretch of being married with stepchildren when I was in my 20's, I have no parenting experience that could result in useful advice for others. And my life - which revolves around 12-hour-workdays, my fiance, psychometrics, music, cats, eyeshadow, black velvet clothing, Court TV, and chatting on the phone - probably doesn't have much in common with those who are minutely detailing early-morning feedings and first steps.
But I say the baby blogging is a great thing. There's no better feeling than realizing that others out there are in the same (frustrated, overworked, sleep-deprived) boat as you, and I agree entirely that sharing experiences through blogging will be extremely helpful to parents.
(Via Wizbang.)
Posted by kswygert at January 30, 2005 10:50 AM