Via 11D and Bitch, Ph.D., other erstwhile “mommy” bloggers, I learned that Dooce apparently let one fly last week. She criticized the critics of mommy blogging, those who say it’s egotistical and that the kids are going to resent the moms for doing it. For me, this was the money quote:

This is the glorification of your childhood, and even more than that this is a community of women coming together to make each other feel less alone. You are a part of this movement, you and all of the other kids whose mothers are sitting at home right now writing tirelessly about their experiences as mothers, the love and frustration and madness of it all. And I think one day you will look at all of this and pump your fist in the air.

I first turned to the Internet because I was at home alone with my young son. Blogs didn’t really exist in 1996, but I joined Parent Soup, a website for parents, and got involved in the IRC chats they held on various topics. It was a lifesaver in so many ways. I found out I wasn’t alone, that not everyone was thrilled to be at home with their kids (as many of the local moms I’d met were), and I got support and advice on everything from playdates to poop.

I don’t consider myself a mommy blogger even though I have “Mom” in the title of my blog. When I write about being a mom, it’s usually tied to political and economic issues. But I don’t knock any of the mommy bloggers for what they do when they write about their kids’ lives. I applaud them. Their writing is quite good, well beyond what I could write. And I think it’s a political statement of its own. It really is going to be hard to ignore the hard work of mothers when it’s all going to be written down for the world to see. Maybe that’s what has the critics on edge. Having to acknowledge invisible work is painful for those who rely on it to move their careers forward.