Freaky Frugalite is a mommy blog. It’s *relatively* popular. I get about 20- 30,000 hits every month here (sometimes as much as 200,00 a month), and I’ve given several interviews to media corporations, including the Associated Press, TIME magazine, and other “smaller” media corps; and I have been approached by the folks from Good Morning America and BlogHer.

And it’s really neat.

I mean, I think it’s so cool that people actually LIKE ME! People actually LIKE to read what I write! It’s a terrific feeling. (No hotel stays or free cameras, though :-p ).

But…. fame doesn’t buy the groceries. :-p

I still have Page Rank 0 here, despite loads of people visiting me, linking to me, and media bigwigs mentioning me. My New York Traveler.net blog is even bigger- I get close to 700-1,000 hits a day there, with an active readership and a LOT of new folks visiting (my posts there are very informative). And that blog only has a measly Page Rank of 2.

I’m a pro-blogger. I write because I enjoy it, but I also maintain so many blogs because I’ve made it my career while I raise my children. It’s an extremely fulfilling career– thanks to you!– and I absolutely LOVE blogging. But all this love and flowers and media attention doesn’t change the income a whole lot…. and sometimes I feel disappointed and a little desperate.

… ?? I don’t know what to do, exactly. Maybe I just don’t have what it takes to make this blogging gig a full-time career thing. That’s OK, come to think of it. I’m happy keeping things easy and relaxed. But gosh darn, you’d think with all these interviews and mentions and fireworks and wreaths of roses, I’d see an increase in some cashola! Nope. Still, Page Rank 0 and tepid sponsors. Hm.

*sigh*

So what’s next?

A few years ago A long, long time ago, I saw a Sesame Street television show that had Elmo and a friend fighting over a toy. One of the “humans” (don’t remember her name) entered the scene and encouraged the two bickererers to share because sharing makes you “feel good inside.” What the h@%&*????? What kind of la-la land was this TV show promoting?! Sharing makes you feel like crap! Who wants to share? The truth should have been told– we should share because it is the right thing to do, because sometimes our selfish needs are nasty and destructive to others. My kids have never seen a Sesame Street show, and that’s why, right there.

It is with the same “what the?!” reaction that I read a news article from my local online news source, which proclaimed, “Stay-at-home moms: Benefits outweigh sacrifices, local mothers say.”

Benefits to whom outweigh sacrifices to whom?

The story goes on about how wonderful staying at home is– how wonderful it is for the mothers, that is. What drivel and rot.

The choice for Streeter, Downie and Bayly to stay at home with their children is a decision that they do not regret _ stating that the positives far outweigh the negative.

“The unpredictability of what will happen each day is one of the best parts of being a stay-at-home mom” Bayly said. “Today, for example, I built sand castles all morning.”

Sand castles. Big whoop.

Don’t get me wrong, staying at home with the kids has it blessings, sure. But moms, why do we really stay at home? So we can build sand castles and wipe snot all day? No! We stay at home for the sake of others, not ourselves– for, namely, our children. Pardon me while I rant, but I hate stories that propagandize such drivel, as if mothers need to be spoon-fed the glories of incessant diaper-changing and play dates.

Staying at home is very, very hard work and it’s a rather thankless job. Few men do it and fewer women are doing it, and opt to work outside the home. Staying at home, raising children and managing the household, is a heck of a lot harder than playing with the kids all day and cooking a meal or two. I very much dislike these stories that make husbandry sound like a merry-go-round of play all day. And I dislike it even more that society sneers on SAHM moms; if anything, society should be kissing our unpedicured, peanut-butter-and-jelly-stained feet, because, as Phyllis Schlafly once said, we SAHM mothers should be applauded for raising responsible citizens who will grow up to work hard to contribute to a healthy society and to the social security system.

So is it too difficult to admit that we moms sacrifice to stay home for the sake of someone else? Is there some kind of stigma to admit that the personal benefits, while satisfying, are second-place to the welfare and care of children? I’d like to see a news story that highlights this, but I have yet to see one. All I see are the “Sharing is Fun” stories. :-p