Mom in the Spotlight: Rockstar Blogger, Meredith Spidel

 Yeah, I AM The Mom of the Year!
Here's why...

Meredith Spidel blogs at The Mom of the Year, dedicatedly earning her title one epic parenting fail at a time.  When her kids aren't busy pummeling each other with legos or requiring their 16th sippy cup refill of the day, she tries to offer quick, relatable laughs for fellow parents of the world and all their empathizers.  She remains entirely terrified by crafts, promises to never share any useful household tips, and is fully committed to a less serious look at the world of parenting.

Follow Meredith on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest!

How old are your children?  Boys? Girls?

I have two children.  A 3 1/2 year old boy and a 1 1/2 year old girl.

What were your plans for working once you became a mom?

I had never originally planned to be a SAHM.  I was working as a social worker and after I got pregnant, we sat down and punched the numbers for daycare.  We realized my net earnings would be next to nothing.  We also have no family close and my husband works long hours, so I would have to figure out a job that allowed me to do all the pick-ups, drop-offs, sick days, etc., so it would have been really hard.

It is still so difficult to make ends meet, but we really work to be creative about ways to save money.  It's also important for us to accept this is our season of life right now.  Maybe someday there will be more vacations or dinners out, but we're so tired running after these kiddos, the energy for going out is pretty limited anyway ;)

 

What powerful force or idea within pulled you into the blogosphere? 

I was going through a pretty eventful time.  My daughter was just born, my grandmother had just passed, my sister got married, we had some financial issues, and my mom was dying.  I had never considered starting a blog before, but one day something sort of snapped, if you will.  I picked up my laptop and started writing.  I believe God gave me this outlet to process what was going on around me, and it was wonderful!

How long have you been blogging?  Where do you want your blog to go?  

I have been blogging for almost a year and a half.  I have no idea where I want it to go!  I have been totally thrown by the amount of work it takes to keep up with it, but it has been such a huge blessing in so many ways.  Many days it feels like a job, but there are also loads of moments that it is pure fun.  I don't have more time to make it bigger or try to write for other outlets right now, so I think I will continue with it until I feel firmly called to stop.  Or maybe in the future, more doors will open?  I'm trying to just remain accepting of wherever it goes.

What is your relationship to blogging?  Is it more like how one feels about a Cheetos addiction  or a yoga habit?

I don't do yoga and I try not to let myself eat Cheetos, so I don't know!  Somedays I love it, some days I hate it.  I do believe it is something I am supposed to be doing right now, so I am trying hard to balance the time commitment with the rest of life and not get  too swallowed up in it.

Your best FML Mommy moment? 

I am so lame, I had to look up what this meant!  Oh gosh, can I say every day?  I 100% do NOT have a handle on this motherhood thing.  I am the mother chasing after her shoeless screaming toddler in the preschool parking lot in the middle of winter.  I like to say I earn my Mom of the Year title one epic parenting fail at a time.  

Most recently, when my son got into a tube of Vaseline when he was supposed to be napping and smeared it all over his hair, the bedding, and the carpet, I screamed, freaked out and told him that he had to get back in bed and not move while I cleaned it up or I was going to call the police.  I though that was a pretty rockstar moment.

You go into a Gap that has women's and kids clothes.  Do you treat yourself or the kids? 

The kids.  I'm a psycho bargain-hunter, and could never justify the prices unless something was actually NEEDED.  My clothes might be so "last-year", but they still fit!

What would you like to change the most about your parenting style?

I want to be calmer, more relaxed.  I hate being this busy all the time!

Speaking of guilty pleasures, what are a few of yours?

Star magazine, Diet Coke, wine and pretending my son is napping so I can blog (thus the Vaseline incident).

What advice would you give to mom bloggers? 

I am trying too hard to figure out balance, so I don't think I'm qualified to advise anyone!  I do know that I keep trying to focus on what is really important in this life.  I think that looks completely different for everyone, but I never want to look back on anything with regret, you know?

Not that I know anything about this, but husbands often have mixed feelings about their wives' mom blogging.  How is this issue in your family?  

My husband has been really awesome about supporting the blog.  He does all of my site support, which I couldn't begin to do to save my life.  He also reads my posts and listens to me talk about the blogging world ad nauseum.  He knows who my blogging friends are by name, even he's never met them!

I'm not saying he understands it, or doesn't get cranky when I am constantly checking in or stealing moments away to write, but he is supportive.  Blogging is a hard thing to support because it takes so much time and there is very little financial return (at least for me!).  I don't know if we could keep up the energy level of this for forever, but for right now, he gets that it is important to me.

Why I’m Glad I’m not a Downton Abbey Daughter

I love Downton Abbey. 

My husband loves Downton Abbey. 

And because we talk about it all the time, my kids love Downton Abbey. (Though my son, the budding socialist, protests, “It’s not fair, their house is too big!  They have too much money!” Oh, my little Branson…)

Last Friday people’s Facebook posts began to light up about being joyfully reunited with their favorite aristocrats and their servants. I knew I had found a sister in Meredith, the rockin’ blogger at Mom of the Year when she mentioned she might have a friend DVR Downton Abbey in case of a DVR fail on her part.  She understood perfectly when I freaked out about my kids bedtime conflicting with the season premiere.  She didn’t even virtual snort when I pondered hiring a sitter so Hubs and I could watch our show in peace. 

My kind of gal. 

The Dowager Countess would find such anxiety so hopelessly middle class and tiresomely American. 

And writing about it, even more so. 

So even though I love, love, love those clothes (upstairs); I would be awestruck to walk the halls of that “house”; and why I would empty my bank account to study at the Dowager Countess Academy of the Withering Remark, life as a Downton Abbey daughter might not be all silk and roses.

1.    One sexual encounter and you were ruined.  Imagine a beautiful stranger throws himself at you.  Maybe he’s from an exotic land and looks like something from the cover of a Harlequin romance novel.  And because you are a beautiful young red-blooded Englishwoman you cannot and do not resist.  And now you are a marked woman who might as well walk around with sandwich boards reading (insert lowly cockney voiceover now), “Forgive me, I am but a wanton SLUTPUPPY.”

2.    Required: An MRS degree by 20. I don’t know exactly how old these girls are, but Edith seems at the most 25.  And everyone (including herself) is concerned about her, as though she’s gone and bought herself a steerage ticket on Old Maid Cruise Lines.  Everyone is all up in her business, because if it doesn’t happen soon, she may be headed for a cottage and a bunch of cats.   

3.    The Problem of mixed marriages. People got their knickers in a twist at first that William was a member of the bourgeousie (gasp!)  – a lawyer!  Sybil, who fell for the (gasp!) chauffeur, who was (gasp!) Irish, might as well have given her family and English tradition the finger -- or whatever hand signal the Brits do.  The very idea of my marriage, in that I am black and my husband is white -- would have caused the Dowager Countess to choke, Carson to have a heart attack, and one of the lower servants to knock over a candle with a platter and burn dear Downton to ashes.

4.    The food thing.  I am not a big fan of meals.  I prefer grazing throughout the day.  This would so not work at Downton.  The servants could not be bringing Lady Nibbler tidbits all day.  And then, dinner was was always in full dress.  Hello, did you get a load of how narrow those skirts were?  Not to mention lycra-free?  You’d be faced with all this rich deliciousness and not be able to chow down.  Mrs. Levinson, the American grandmother who actually enjoyed her food was looked down upon as the House Piggy. 

5.    Getting Run Over by the Gossip Mill.  Sure FB wasn’t even a twinkle in Mark Zuckerberg’s great-grandfather’s eye, but those tongues sure were a flappin’.  From Thomas and O’Brien’s big eyes, ready ears and appetite for scandal to the society ladies making sure they stayed in the know and everyone stayed in their place, you’d better mind your Ps and Qs. Or else...

6.    Can we say bo-ring? Granted right now, as a mom of a 2.5 and 4 year old, I’d sell you both eyes and a kidney just to sit down for five minutes.  But, My Word!  Imagine having so little to do in the world.  The leisure class indeed!  Spending days on end reading, walking the grounds. . . maybe a stroll into the village and visiting would not work for high strung me.  Just to have something to do I would chase drama like a hound on a hunt, and get my ass in huge trouble. Maybe have a fling with a footman (not Thomas!).  Which means I would bring the Granthams down a golden staircase of infamy. (See above slutpuppy, mixed marriages and scandal). 

So there it is, and that’s just the upstairs part.  Downstairs, sheesh!

For more reasons, go straight away and check out The Mom of the Year! 

 

And if you’re wondering what we’re doing on Sunday night in terms of our kids’ bedtime, they might just be on the couch with us.  #ThankGodItsPBS