Today my mother turned another year older. To be kind, I won't reveal her age. She's young at heart, and that's what matters. And since I was recently told that 80 is the new 70, well, then, my mother is practically a teenager.
Yesterday, we girls went out for a birthday brunch to celebrate; three generations of "ladies" in the family.
Tonight my mother had a little celebration, complete with belly dancer. Yes, my mama has flair. As Lily says, "me and Nettie are party girls!" So you can imagine her extreme disappointment when she realized she wasn't invited.
Lily decorated a card to my mom, with a drawing of her (my mother) as a princess, declaring that my mother was going to freak out when she saw it. She wrote out "To Nettie, Love Lily" by herself. I almost freaked out when I saw that. When did my baby grow up??
Since Anna's best gift is her smile and fabulous belly laugh, I leave you with her. Mom -- this one's for you. A big birthday hug and kiss from us all!
Note: watching this video may require Dramamine. Some viewers have been known to get sea sick from this segment in particular...it's a bit "rocky."
I am proud to announce that I survived the last 72 hours. Hopefully I look better than I feel. This one was a doozey that I've been dreading a bit for a few weeks.
I wish that I'd kept track of the mileage that I put on the car -- that would have put it in to perspective -- but with gas as cheap as it is right now, I'm no longer eyeing the gas gauge like I used to.
Here's hoping that you're not totally exhausted, or bored, after you've read out it. Internet -- I'm warning you -- this one is long. VERY. LONG.
Friday AKA "vacation day"
9:30 -- My day started with a tour of in-home daycare #1. [I am sure that, once the dust settles and my head clears, I'll likely share all my daycare stories/angst/issues with you. For the time being, though, I will share that lately I have been 150% preoccupied with finding Anna a new home during the day. For a variety of reasons, including waiting lists YEARS long...seriously, one place I called told me they might be able to offer her a spot in their THREE YEAR OLD room...yes, like, in 2.4 YEARS...I decided to expand my search beyond traditional center-based daycare to in-home daycares. Read on.] It took 50 minutes to tour 2 rooms and a bathroom, during which time Anna cried. No screamed. HER HEAD OFF. Because of course you know that they're interviewing me even more than I'm interviewing them. I think we failed. I sort of got that "we'll call you if a spot opens up" kind of a good-bye. Which is fine. I wasn't feeling it.
10:45 -- Trip to the pediatricians. When they asked me why Anna needed the appointment, I simply explained that I was sick and tired of having a sick baby. They needed to fix her. Or I was going to ask for a refund and a model upgrade. Seriously, I think she's been congested since birth. And she's sounded like a 60 year old smoker for the past 2 months. Nothing serious enough to keep her out of school, but after two different medications through a nebulizer AND a round of oral steroids, I expected more progress. Which I wasn't getting. But I did get a long and serious conversation with one of the elder pediatricians in the practice. Who Anna totally charmed with her smiles, raspberry-blowing talents, and chants of "mamamamama" (LOVE THAT!) and aba-aba-aba (well, Mamma Mia was one of her first feature films!). Bottom line -- the pediatricians suspects a dairy allergy. Huh... So she's now on soy formula. Of course we got the diagnosis days after we dropped some $150 on those commercial sized vats of Similac that you can get at Costco. Uugh! Well, here's hoping that this does the trick. We'll know in a few weeks. Naturally dairy elimination takes time. And, yes, the coughing continues...
11:30 -- Since we were so close, and since I can always come up with an excuse to hit "Tar-jjaay," Anna and I stopped at the local Target on our way home to pick up Similac Soy and a new vacuum cleaner. My Mothers of North Arlington mom's group has adopted a few families for the holidays, and their Christmas wish lists were posted on our website. Of course, by the time that I got around to check it out, the ONLY gift left was the vacuum. But since that item was actually on my own list a few years ago, I was more than happy to oblige. Awesome that I can teach Lily about the gift of giving while teaching about cleanliness (next to godliness right? guess you haven't been at my house lately...). Anna and I got everything on the list, plus a few extras, and I was able to resist getting anything at "Cafe Tarjjaay" even though I hadn't yet had breakfast or coffee. Still not sure how I was able to put one foot in front of the other. Screw breakfast...can live without that...but I'm usually not human 'til I've had my coffee.
12:45 -- Got stuck in traffic. Started swearing that I hadn't gotten anything to eat at Target.
1:30 -- Home. Quick diaper change. Restocked the diaper bag. Stuffed my face with various scraps of leftovers.
2:40 -- Picked Lily up early from school. Forgot to sign her out, for which I'm sure we'll be tarred and feathered tomorrow. Oops.
3:00 -- Toured in-home daycare #2 with Lily in tow. LOVED IT. Rather than scream, this time Anna was all smiles. Before we left she was on the floor, playing with toys and the owner, laughing. WILDLY.
3:45 -- Piled both girls in the car to race downtown for the Huck holiday party.
4:05 -- Pull in to garage. Thankfully we found a spot right away. We did a quick costume change. I think I used half a package of wipes giving Lily a sponge bath next to the car -- she gets SO FREAKIN FILTHY at school!! But soon enough both girls were wearing matching velvet holiday dresses. We were ready to go. Lily was giddy she was so excited about seeing her old friends and her FAVORITE BAND play. Like, OMG, is that Coach Cotton? Willie Bob? And Boogie Woogie Bennie? Yup, local pre-school heroes, Rocknoceros, were the featured entertainment. These guys have groupies. Just ask Noah (wink, wink).
4:15 -- We arrived with the concert already in full swing. A bit overwhelmed by the sudden attention when we walked through the doors, Lily balked, hid behind me, and decided she wanted to go back to the car. AS IF! Anna and I schlepped all the way downtown just for her to rock out to Rocknoceros. Like it or not, she was going to stay. When she discovered, though, that an old classmate was wearing the exact same dress, she quickly turned her frown upside down and joined the four year old mosh pit. I guess having the same dress as a classmate is cool in preschool. If only they knew how UNCOOL that soon becomes.
Although it's hard to see, the girls were jumping. Because apparently that's how "cool" preschoolers dance. Or that's what they told me.
5:45 -- After too many desserts to count, and lots of "jump up and get down-ing," we headed home. I was starting to feel the day. And guilty. Having spent several hours that day touring new daycares, the teachers and directors at the Huck couldn't have been nicer. They were so happy to see Lily. THEY were practically giddy...
6:30 -- 11:30 -- Home. Dinner. Kids in bed. Noah packed for ATL. Attempted to watch Stepbrothers, which turned in to Noah's out of control laughter and my nap on the couch. Welcome to our Friday nights!
Saturday
7:30 -- Noah left for Atlanta and wished me good luck. His alarm clock, of course, woke the kids up. No sleeping in for me...
9:00 -- My mom arrived to watch the kids so I could make it to my pilates class. I haven't been in three weeks and knew I'd be in trouble. I was SO dreading this class. But I also knew that if I missed one more week I'd be too intimidated to go back. I'll have you know, though, that I'm STILL in so much pain that I can actually feel it in my abs when each finger moves to type. Clearly I love you a lot.
11:00 -- I returned from pilates. Amazingly, the next hour and forty minutes is a blur. I know it was only yesterday, but I honestly can't remember it. I do know that I managed to shower, get dressed myself, and together with my mom get the girls dressed. Much beyond that I don't remember.
12:40 -- Restocked the diaper bag.
12:50 -- We left for the Nutcracker. We got lost. We found our way. We arrived in time to get a good spot in the line for general admission seating. Which I HATE. Put me in a line for general admission seating to watch paint dry, or mold grow, and I'll still get competitive. It's why I hate flying Southwest Airlines too. Hurry up. Wait. Hurry up. Wait. All the while my competitive juices are RAGING. This time, though, I'm happy to report that we got great seats. 7 of them. My cousin Susana had organized us small group of girls to go see the Nutcracker. And while I remembered all the details of the outing, I forgot to prepare Lily for a full-length performance that had NO DIALOGUE. Or at least it wasn't meant to have dialogue. The whisper shouts from Lily and her friend, Charlotte, were likely heard by everyone in the theater.
Lily with her cousin, Camilla, and buddy, Charlotte.
2:00 -- 4:30 -- Nutcracker. Music. Riveted baby Anna who refused to sleep lest she miss a second of it. Lily did very well until 20 minutes before it ended when she declared that she was bored. And wanted to go home. I gave her another snack, which bought me 15 minutes. 5 minutes before the curtain call she fell asleep in her seat.
4:35 -- DASH. We dashed out the door, 35 minutes after the performance was scheduled to end, only to find snow falling and traffic backed up. The whining 4 year old in the backseat added to the fun.
5:02 -- Arrival at a birthday party, 32 minutes late. When I searched for wine I only found juice boxes. Damn. Oh well, it was worth looking for!
6:15 -- Party ends. Pack children in to the car. Head to Williams-Sonoma for a late errand. Because I'm a mean mommy. More snow. Anna's first. Shame that Noah missed it.
Anna's first snow. And, yes, we do call that snow in these parts. Don't laugh!
7:05 -- Home. So tired.
8:30 -- Both girls were fast asleep. Miracle of all miracles! Lovely, just enough time for me to do a load of laundry, load the dishwasher, and watch one of my twelve million shows stored on TiVo. Some day I'll have the time AND energy to make a dent in the queue.
Sunday -- the day of rest?!?
7:35 -- Phone rang. It was Noah. He had figured that we were up (we weren't). He was calling to tell me that he woke up with his eye crusted closed and ask what it might be. Like Lily had had. A few different times. "You know, Courtney, when her eye was pink and crusted closed..." UM, you mean PINK EYE?!? Poor Noah.
7:45 -- Stripped sheets off all our beds. Washed them each. Twice. In scalding hot water. My fingers are crossed that I caught this before it spreads.
8:00 -- While I was down in the basement, I folded three baskets of clean laundry. Amazing that we had any clothes left in our dressers. "Paid" Lily with a candy cane to come get me if Anna started protesting loudly from her exersaucer.
8:30 -- "Paid" her again to watch Anna while I showered.
9:00 -- Organized Lily to create cards for the three birthday celebrations we were about to attend. Major creative session ensued. Lily declared that my mother, "Nettie," was going to "freak out" when she saw her card. Who taught my four year old to say "freak out"???
9:50 -- Restocked diaper bag.
10:00 -- My mother arrived. We had a lovely, and amazingly non-rushed, brunch at Harry's Tap Room in Clarendon. In honor of my mother's birthday. To be kind, I won't disclose which birthday. Lily ordered her own meal. Fruit. Smoked salmon (as in lox). Vanilla bean ice cream. Interesting combo...
12:15 -- Dropped off seriously overdue library books on our way home.
1:05 -- Restocked diaper bag. Again.
1:15 -- Left for second birthday celebration of the day. This one for twin girls at Lily's school. At Monkey Business in Falls Church, VA. Anna spit up on me. Twice. Isn't a party 'til someone pukes! Lily cried. Twice. Not a party 'til tears are shed either. These over some weird oblong bouncy thing that looked like a....well....I'm not going to go there, but the tears weren't worth it.
3:05 -- Departed Monkey Business for the third birthday celebration of the day, this one at Jumping Jack Sports in Ashburn, VA. We had about 30 minutes of travel time. Did I mention that this party started at 3?
3:40-5:00 -- Enjoyed a great party. This one for the son of MY friend. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow....and a very long day.
6:30 -- Lily asked for dinner, even though she'd eaten pizza and ice cream cake at the second birthday and birthday cake at the first. I think she's in the middle of a major growth spurt. I hope it's up and not out. With dinner, though, came a little concert.
Sorry it's so dark. And sorry to "out" you Jamie. We still love you even if you give LOUD gifts and sit on the other side of the aisle!
It's now 10:30. Both girls are in bed and sound asleep. Noah's in the air and should be home some time before midnight. I hope. I still have to put the newly cleaned sheets back on my bed, and I have to enter my time from last week...my work computer is booting up as I write. And I'm exhausted. In. My. Bones. So much for a relaxing three day weekend.
But as tired as I am in my core -- way too tired to be funny for you, my loyal blog readers -- I'm supremely relieved to have made the decision about Anna's care situation. While I'm dreading that conversation tomorrow, we are pulling her from the only daycare that we have ever known and putting her in this in-home daycare that is mere blocks from our house and that gets RAVE reviews from parents current and past. I just keep remembering her squeals of laughter when we were there on Friday. I hope. I pray. My fingers are crossed that we're making the right decision. I'll keep you posted.
As I mentioned earlier, while we escaped hosting any of the THREE Thanksgiving meals we gorged ourselves at last week, we did volunteer to bring desserts. Lily had been begging forever (literally since September) for a pumpkin pie, but I thought that I'd do something a bit different. As Emeril would say, "kick it up a notch!"
So, BAM!, that's just what I did.
Luckily for me, before I had even had time to crack the spine on my copy of Joy of Cooking, Daily Candy DC delighted me by forwarding along a recipe for pumpkin bread pudding. To continue with my celebrity chef quotes -- YUM-O!!! -- as Rachel Ray would definitely holler.
This one came from the chef at Washington's own 1789 Restaurant. And while my kitchen looked like a small roadside bomb had exploded after I made not one but two of these, it was SO worth it. CRAZY YUMMY!! And something that could as easily be served at a holiday dinner as it was at Thanksgiving. If I make this again, I might consider sneaking in some golden raisins... Sadly I didn't take a picture of it, for which I was chided by my food blogger buddy WhereInDC, but it was as rustically pretty as it was delicious.
Olson’s Pumpkin Bread Pudding Recipe Pie is for the birds. Wow Thanksgiving guests with a sinful bread pudding straight from chef Travis Olson’s pastry pantry at 1789 Restaurant. Pumpkin Bread Pudding Serves eight to ten
Ingredients 1 loaf challah bread, with crusts discarded 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon 1½ tsp. ground ginger ½ tsp. ground nutmeg¼ tsp. ground cloves 12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled 1 c. granulated sugar ½ cup water 1½ cups pumpkin puree 1 c. light brown sugar 5 eggs, lightly beaten ½ tsp. salt 2 c. heavy cream 1 c. whole milk
Preheat oven to 375°.
Cut bread into ½-inch cubes.
Combine the spices in a small bowl and then evenly sprinkle the mixture over the bread cubes.
Toss the seasoned bread cubes with butter and then spread the cubes on a sheet pan and toast in the oven for about twelve minutes, until just golden.
Reduce heat to 325° and place an empty two-quart baking dish inside to warm.
Add the granulated sugar to a small sauce pot. Whisk in about half of a cup of water until it makes a pourable consistency. Boil without stirring until the mixture turns amber, about twelve minutes.
Remove the warmed dish from the oven and coat the bottom with a thin layer of the caramel mixture. (There may be leftover caramel, which you can save and use as ice cream topping.)
For the custard, add the pumpkin to a mixing bowl and whisk in the remaining ingredients, one at a time in the order listed.
Add the toasted bread to the baking dish and pour the custard on top. Press down on the bread (yes, with your hands) to help it soak up the custard like a sponge, cover, and let sit up to an hour.
Return the dish to the oven at 325° and bake until puffy and no liquid appears when pressed, about 45 minutes.
Enjoy warm with ice cream.
Of course, despite the list of ingredients, the finished product is completely fat- and calorie-free. In fact, it's practically a diet food, so go ahead and enjoy that second serving. You know you want to!
My only words of caution -- in the interest of full disclosure -- is to not try to trick any VERY literal four year olds with this bread pudding when they've had their hearts set on pie. So while it kicked the pants off of the traditional dessert, we will be making one of those in the very near future to satisfy my daughter's craving.
And that gear is reverse. Lily, at around the same age, started crawling backwards. But she started off slowly. Anna, on the other hand, hit the ground "running." Backwards that is.
I needed to put new sheets on her bed tonight before putting her to sleep, so I put her down on the ground and turned my back for a second. One minute and she was sitting next to my feet. The next minute she was in Lily's room. And back again. Soon she'd gotten herself stuck underneath her swing. I couldn't believe my eyes. It did help that she was in her PJs and our floors are hard wood -- it was a nice slick surface.
Boy can she move!
And, apparently, move from sitting to tummy. She almost made it from tummy back to sitting.
So just for good measure, her crib was lowered to the middle height before I put the newly sheeted mattress back on the bed.
I'm not sure that I'm ready for her to be hitting these milestones so quickly in a row. Then again, no one asked me. One thing is for certain, it's the girls under four feet tall who rule the roost in our house!
While most people were out hitting their local shopping malls, trolling for deals, we hit the National Mall in search of a little post-Thanksgiving family outing. We almost had to bail. Traffic was HORRENDOUS as soon as we got close. And just as we broke free of the traffic I spied a parking space, located on a one way street, that I swore to Noah was a "dream spot!!" It turned out to be a permit spot. And since we had turned on to that one way street to get to the DREAM. SPOT. we had to retrace our steps. Back in to the traffic. I think that the makers of Excedrin had a spy-cam in our car, because just as we hit the traffic, for the second time, Lily started to whine that she was bored. And had to pee. And, to add to the chorus, Anna started to cry.
But we didn't bail. We kept going. And we found another dream spot. This time a real one. Right in front of the Sculpture Garden. So we stopped there for a mediocre, but expensive, lunch. OK, it was pretty bad. But with the fountain converted to a skating rink for the winter, at least the ambiance was fantastic!
We then went to see the Sant Ocean Hall at the Natural History Museum; our real destination. I have colleagues who worked on the grand opening of this exhibit, so I've been hearing about how awesome the exhibit is going on two months now. It IS awesome. Totally awesome. But also, perhaps, a bit too awesome for a four year old. Although Lily loved seeing all the fish -- she even found "Nemo" in one of the live tanks -- I think that we'll have to wait another year before she'll really be able to "get it."
So to finish out our adventure on a high note, we hit the National Carousel. And it was a huge hit with Lily. Even though she's ridden on approximately one thousand other carousels, riding up and down around in a circle always makes her smile.
Anna and I watched from the sidelines. We watched Lily and Noah on the ride, and we watched from afar the grand stand being built for THE. GRAND. OCCASION. The one that had workmen out on November 29th even though it's not happening until January 20th. THE SWEARING IN of President Barack H. Obama.
And as busy as the Mall appeared today, it's nothing compared to the sea of people that'll brave below freezing weather to witness that moment in history.
If you stretch your eyes, you can see the structure being built just to the left of center, no pun intended, of the Capitol.
I'm looking forward to seeing the 1.20.09 photos from space. I'd bet money that the crowd of people between the Capitol and the Washington Monument actually shows up on pictures taken from satellites!
There is so very much to be thankful this year, and I've finally had a chance to catch my breath from the holiday. Which, of course, only happened because I actually unbuttoned my pants. Ah, dieting...two steps forward, one step back!
My list of things for which I give thanks is a long one. Here's the top 10.
My Uncle Lake's health. One week before Thanksgiving we got a terrible scare in our family. The "C" word. Lung cancer to be exact. But on Tuesday the biopsy results came back and, amazingly, it's a fungus. Not cancer. I can't tell you how thankful we all are for this news!
My two amazing children. My life is forever better because of those two girls. And, hopefully, we are enriching their lives just as much as they're giving to ours.
My incredibly understanding and forever patient husband. Since I routinely fall asleep on the couch long before 10 p.m...and when I'm awake I'm often a raging bundle of hormones (I have found that post-partum PMS lasts almost the entire month and is 10 worse than it was before I had kids)...poor Noah is taking one for the team right now. I am VERY grateful for his patience and sense of humor!
Family. In my family we claim just about anyone as a "cousin." But that's because we've got so many awesome people in the family that we want to lay claim to them all.
Friends. Old friends. New friends. Mommy friends. Work friends. Parents of Lily's friends. Our lives are rich with friendship.
My job. Although I do complain...a lot at times...I am grateful that, in this tough economy, I still have a job. That in my own little way I am able to contribute to society. And that I am setting a good example for my girls.
Noah's job. Considering he works for a certain GSE company that is routinely mentioned in current Congressional hearings, on C-SPAN and CNN...we are lucky, indeed, that Noah still has a job. And, at least for the time being, it's a secure job.
The Nation's Capitol. I LOVE that we live a stone's throw away from the White House, the Capitol, and all the sights and culture that this grand city has to offer. Noah and I sometimes fantasize about "the simple life," trading it all in for a MUCH larger and nicer house at a fraction of our mortgage...in an area that's just a bit slower and, perhaps, even friendlier. But we always come to the same conclusion. Can't do it. This city is far too rich in experiences for us to move away. Free babysitters certainly help to sweeten the deal! Nope...this is the place we want to raise our girls.
CHEAP GAS! You can actually buy regular gasoline around us for less than $2 a gallon. I can't remember the last time I saw numbers like that at the pump! You might recall, but during our family vacation to Vermont this past summer, we paid something to the tune of $4.35 a gallon.
Pumpkin bread pudding. I'll soon post the recipe that I used for the dessert we brought to both of our Thanksgiving dinners. It was awesome. Totally deserving of its own post. I refuse to weigh myself now, but it was worth gaining an extra pound or two for! IT. WAS. SO. GOOD.
Leave it to Anna to come up with a completely unique way of moving. She's not crawling on her hands and knees. She's not shimmying on her belly. She's scooting. On her tush. But she's actually getting places. Slowly. V-E-R-Y slowly. Which is the perfect speed in my book!
Yes, my baby is on the move. Which, I guess, means that she's less and less of a baby each day. She sits up at the table with us. She eats cheerios. She's got two teeth. She laughs at Lily's jokes. She's already developed a love for Barbies. And, of course, if she spies something across the room, she's figured out a way to go get it.
But her little head still fits in the crook of my neck, and I can still quiet her cries almost instantly with my hugs. So even though her legs fall over the arm rest of the glider when I rock her at night, I'm happy to say that she's still my baby! At least for the time being.
On of Lily's best, best friends recently transferred from the Huck to Children's House Montessori. She, like Lily, has a November birthday and will be almost six when she starts kindergarten. Her family recently moved to Arlington, her older sister is in elementary school near CHMS, and her mother (a former Montessori student herself) was thrilled that this option was available so close to home. While they originally applied for admission next fall, a classmate of Lily's recently moved to NJ and KATY GOT HER SPOT!
These girls couldn't be cuter together. It's ridiculous. Katy and Lily have been in school together since they were four months old. And it shows. They learned to crawl together. To walk together. To eat together. And they learned to get in to trouble together. Yes, these girls can be trouble. It was with Katy that Lily decided to ditch her teachers, and her class, and take a tour of DuPont Circle near Downtown DC. When they were two. Luckily they didn't get but a few feet past the gate to the park. But those few feet cost me a few years off my lifespan I'm sure.
Since Noah was still in Boston and I needed a diversion, we joined Katy's family at a local Mexican cantina for dinner Friday night. It was there that Katy's older sister, Sophia, presented Lily with a card that she'd made.
I mean...I wanted to kiss her myself. And frame it.
Lily, who is in the tulip room at CHMS, and Katy, a CHMS sunflower, have the appropriate "headdresses" in the drawing. A detail that it took me a second to notice.
"FRUM" -- I nearly died when I saw this. I LLOOOVVVEEE the phonetic spelling. As a graduate of a Seven Sister women's college, I also love the fact that my four year old daughter already has such a close "sister."
What you may or may not know (I didn't), is that many retailers offer a kickback to websites that send happy shoppers their way. Yup, they're getting a commission on the money that you spend.
What I recently discovered is that there is one virtual mall, stocked with over 900 retailers, that will share the kickback with you. Win-win!
CHECK OUT http://www.ebates.com/. It's awesome. Totally rocks. I haven't found a store yet that they haven't had. And you can ask both Noah and American Express...I do ALL my shopping online. With two kids, packed parking lots and busy shopping malls, it's the only way that I can stand to make my purchases.
Register, for free, at ebates.com. Use me as a referral when you sign up (supreme_courtney@yahoo.com or Courtney Fox) and we both profit -- $5 in each of our ebates account. Then start shopping.
By clicking through to online retailers through your ebates account, you can get up to 26% of your total purchase back, although truth be told my purchases to date have been more in the 3-4% range. Still, it's money. Cold hard cash. Bonus -- Ebates is also always on the look out for coupon codes, which are posted to the site too. You get a BFC (Big Fat Check) mailed to you up to four times a year. Or, if you're feeling generous and the economic downturn hasn't pinched you too hard, you can donate the money to a charity of your choice!
Of course, ALWAYS do your own searches for promotional codes when shopping online. Naughty Codes is a great site, but there are literally a zillion to chose from. I usually just Google "promotional code for XXX" (xxx being, of course, whatever store I'm shopping from) before I make any online purchase. And I have never come up empty. I ALWAYS find some sort of discount, even if it's just free shipping. Except for Hanna Andersson. Those Swedes don't like to cut us a break.
It's always fun when it's actually appropriate for me to don my mommy hat at the office. During business hours. Even better when it's a "mommy blogger" hat.
So imagine my delight when, throughout the week, during the like two nano-seconds I've had to breathe, I've been able to follow the "Motrin Migraine" story. And while I can't bill the time against a client code, it certainly counts as work. It's my business after all.
Have you not heard?
It's started on twitter on Friday.
Spread to the blogs over the weekend.
Then it hit Madison Avenue on Monday.
From wire articles to Ad Age to blogs right and left of center, this is the talk of the internet.
So for those people who think that blogging is not serious stuff, go talk to the execs at Motrin. Better yet, talk to their ad firm (likely to soon be FORMER ad firm). First watch the not-so-brilliant-and-completely-patronizing ad that has, apparently, been running since the end of September.
This isn't the first piece of marketing material that has targeted moms and referred to their babies...our babies...as accessories. I actually saw a PR pitch about 6 months ago, issued on behalf of trendy Phil & Ted's. You know, the cool double-decker stroller company. While they were talking about "toting" children around, they may as well have been pitching a hot new handbag. It amazes me that people think this kind of outreach might actually fly. Just because we have mommy brains doesn't mean that they're completely useless!
So the online mommy mafia was in an uproar over this Motrin ad. Bans and boycotts were called for. Tweets abounded. If you Google the words "Motrin" and "headache," most of the results talk about this ad debacle, not the painkiller. It's an online phenomenon.
End result -- Motrin has pulled the ad, issued an apology, and will no longer overlook, nor underestimate, the clout of mommy bloggers. Perhaps they'll also do a bit more research in to their target audience before launching any new creative campaigns.
That mommies united over one issue and effected change -- major change within a company -- over the course of one weekend is testament to their power and to the effectiveness of this thing we call social media. Whether it's someone as visible (and crazy amazing) as my blogger idol Heather Armstrong, or someone like me who gets a few dozen hits a day, people are out there and listening. I am woman, hear me roar. Amazing!
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