BIG FAT TRAUMA QUEEN

a lighthearted look at traumatic abuse and its aftermath

big fat trauma queen

big fat trauma queen
Location
Undercover in the Bay Area, California, U.S.A.
Birthday
November 08
Title
Defying Gravity
Company
Wicked
Bio
I, like millions of others, am a refugee from some fairly gruesome childhood happenings. I entered adulthood as a selectively mute, unwashed, suicidal, friendless, uneducated, delusional, and sick-fat (as opposed to healthy-fat) young woman. I have been homeless in the Tenderloin (I am prouder of that than I am of my master's degree), and I have spent years in self-imposed solitary confinement. No more. I have morphed over the years into an irritatingly chipper and hyper-friendly Trauma Queen. If you're having a bad day, don't even look at me; my happy little face will just piss you off. This blog is dedicated to all the other Trauma Queens and Kings out there - we of the shrunken hippocampus and the hair-trigger amygdala. We who, in D.H. Lawrence's words, have "passed through the waters of oblivion." But let's not just pass through. Let's make a TSUNAMI...

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MARCH 18, 2010 11:37AM

Ho Mama! A Blog for Slutty, Single, Low-income Moms

Rate: 138 Flag

There just aren't enough Mommy Blogs out there written by slutty, single, low-income moms. So here I am to fill in that gap.

One year to the day from meeting my daughter's dad, we had a three month old baby. How slutty is that?

I've been married twice, but have seen no need to coordinate marriage with conception. I mean, really, why complicate things?

When I got pregnant, I was living in San Francisco. Upon discovering my  impending BabyMama-hood, my female roommate kicked me out into the street. My male roommate, her boyfriend, went along quietly. (She seemed to think he had a crush on me). 

This action would have been illegal if I'd been on the lease. But I was merely a sub-tenant. A serf. And now a pregnant serf with an $8  an hour job in one of the most expensive cities in the world. A city with a 1% vacancy rate. 

Never fear, though. Slutty, single, low-income moms are nothing if not resourceful. I brought my  premature baby (all five pounds of her) home from the hospital to an SRO hotel in the Tenderloin.

My daughter  didn't come home to  a crib or a nursery. But you know what? She didn't seem to notice. Perhaps cribs and nurseries are more for parents than for babies. Hmmmmmm.

Anyway, I did manage to find some cardboard cut-outs of Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet to tape to the walls.  But my daughter was much more fascinated by my face and  voice than by any baby toys or cutesy  decorations.

Feeding her was cheap and easy. My breasts pumped out a steady supply of milk. Feeding myself was a bit trickier. It's quite a hike from the Tenderloin to Whole Foods, especially with a baby strapped to your chest. But we managed.

I couldn't cook in our hotel room - we didn't have a refridgerator or a microwave -so I had to eat a lot of raw fruit, roasted peanuts, and protein bars.

Anyway, the lobby of our hotel was filled with loitering male prostitutes looking awkward and vulnerable in their  lipstick, dresses, and cheap crooked wigs. 

The hotel was owned by a large extended Indian family who did a lot of cooking. They filled the building with the sweet spicy smells of cinnamon,  cardomom, chili, and cloves.

Ruffled looking men and women, in various states of intoxication, knocked on our hotel room door at all hours of the day and night, begging for money. 

It was one of the happiest times of my life. My daughter's dad was able to pay our rent at the hotel, so I was able to stay "home" with her. I was in seventh heaven.

Once a week I went to a new moms' support group in a neighborhood about 2 miles, and a million light years, from the Tenderloin. Only one of the moms in the group, besides myself, was single. But she seemed  to want nothing to do with me. She was fairly high-powered. She had a first class nanny picked out and living-in with her already. She clearly wasn't one of "those" single moms. And certainly not slutty. I got the distinct impression her child was conceived both expensively and immaculately - with a sterile syringe.

The rest of the moms in my new mom support group were financially secure college educated women, happily married to magnificent brilliant college-educated men, who were the most eager and devoted fathers in the whole wide world. Gag.

As you can imagine, I felt right at home. 

And this may be the trouble some people have with Mommy Bloggers. Because, let's face it folks, not all Mommys are created equal.

There are, in this culture, Good Mommys and Bad Mommys.

The Best Mommys are married, upper-middle class (or better), have a college degree, worked before staying home with the children, speak english, and are both white and heterosexual. 

Good (not Best) Mommys may be black (non-ebonic speaking) or  hispanic (english speaking), or  Asian (english speaking, culturally assimilated).  But the income, education and marital status is non-negotiable.

In "liberal" communities, the sexual orientation may be negotiable, but in too many parts of the United States, it is absolutely not.

What I ask Mommy Bloggers to remember is this: If you are a married, educated, financially secure, upper middle class mom writing a blog directed at other married, financially secure, upper middle class moms, please acknowledge the fact that you are in the minority.

And you are EXTREMELY privileged. Motherhood is never easy. In your case, however, it is EASIER than it has been in any other place on earth  at any other time in human history. 

When you are writing about the struggle to keep romance in your marriage while toilet training a toddler, or about choreographing your child's social life on the playground, or about trying to maintain the brain cells you worked so hard to accumulate in college -please take a second to acknowledge the rest of us. Acknowledge the vastly different levels of struggle we face. And if you can, acknowledge it without judging us.

We're your sisters, too: the single, the slutty, the low-income, the illegal, the lost, the struggling, the uneducated, and clueless. We love our children just as much as you love yours. We want every bit as much for our babies as you want for yours. We are exactly the same in those ways. We just don't have (or get) all the  props.

Can you be a good mother if you can't afford a crib? Can you be a good mother if you can't figure out how to find a good husband? Can you be a good mother if you never finished high school? If you can't speak english? If you live in a developing country? If you're homeless?

If not, why not?

How much is the ability to consume related to the ability to mother?

These are the questions that lurk between the lines of the typical Mommy Blog.

The Mommy Blogger's voice is privileged and rare. It can be a funny, entertaining, and enlightening voice. But it mustn't be used to drown out the voices of the vast majority of mothers on this planet.

Most mothers on the earth today are poor, uneducated, and deeply in love with their children. And they are buried in shame and silence.

So Mommy Bloggers, please - take a moment to look and see the mommys who ring up your groceries, who clean the toilets at your children's preschool, who empty the waste baskets in your husband's office. See them, notice them, reach out a hand. 

They are Mommys, too. 

 

 

 

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I absolutely love this post.....I'm speechless.....I was deeply moved by the thought of you in the hotel with the Winnie the Pooh cutouts....and I agree with you that the most important thing to a child is not the Guchi onesies or that you have a Coach diaper bag....but that you took the time....to color...play...sing...paint....snuggle....that is what matters...
You are my new favorite and please keep up the writing....Rated...
Hmmm - OS ate my comment (imagine THAT!) - to repeat - you've hit another one out of the ballpark with this blog! ~r for insight
What an amazing story of mother love. What a piece! _r
You pose an excellent question: "How much is the ability to consume related to the ability to mother?" Unfortunately and overwhelmingly, in our society the ability to consume is related to everything. For example, a poor credit score can affect someone's ability to get a job. Capitalism is seriously fucked up. Rated.
i think i just fell in love with you, BFTQ.
This was great. Most women with children in this world are poor. India, Bangladesh, Africa, etc., and they love their children, and their children love them, as much as any other woman with money. I believe it was the Beatles who said "Money Can't Buy You Love".!
Poverty doesn't in anyway take away from how good of a mom you are or how much you love your child but I do feel that it is/can be harmful for the child. Poverty for the child is equal to a big fat handicap. Many opportunities cannot be afforded for these children that the more fortunate have. A child of poverty can be very loved and nurtured but in this society we live in it can be very debilitating.
As a single mother, I salute you!
What an insightful, great post, Trauma Queen! As with your others, you pose thought-provoking questions, although those who think like you already know the answers. I just have trouble with the "slutty" part of a single mom's image, but I understand that's how society sees them, not I or you. Rated.
Any privileged woman WHO SHUNS/MISTREATS another poor woman can never be a good human being, let alone a good mother. Such an inhumane woman will most probably raise and add assholes to society. Kind, humane, rich women do exist despite our cruel culture, though.

This is a profound, knife-to-the-heart, wonderfully painful, eloquent and beautifully told piece. Another winner; rated.
There is no way a so-called slutty woman could have written this laser beam into reality. Whatever you were in your past, in your present you are a gifted writer and thinker. Rated
Too bad the NE legislature didn't read this before shooting down pre-natal care for illegal mothers-t0-be and their soon-to-be American babies.
I'm a "privileged" mom - I know it and I'm grateful. And you're right - the pretty nurseries are more for the parents if you really think about it. My favorite thing used to be sleeping with my baby boy snuggled up against me - until my husband demanded that he move into his own room. Great post. R
Good stuff. Really good stuff.
As with all your writing, insightful and to the point.....and most importantly...with a heart!!!

You are a priviledge to read, BFTQ.
A good part of my own decision to postpone having children is that the very thought of living a life of struggle with a child is frightening and stressful to me. I am a product of just such an upbringing. My very sense of who I am has been shaped by the reality and the power of financial hardship.

The best foundation a parent can provide for a baby is stability of all kinds--mental, moral, and financial. While I applaud your clear focus on, and celebration of, the things involved in parenthood that really matter, I cannot help questioning your decision to have a baby when your own financial and material circumstances were so unstable. My perspective may need broadening, but this seems an injustice to your baby and places you both in a very precarious position.
Perceptive, insightful and real. Thanks for the read!
Excellent. I have known several good mommys like you. Glad to see someone speaking for them.
As a former member of the 'privileged mommy' set, I have experienced this attitude as well. My 'mommy cred' was never questioned. Until I became a single mom, and unable to get a job then I was no longer considered a good mom even by some in my own family. I think most moms would choose to be in the privileged set. But sometimes there are circumstances beyond our control. All mommies would do well to remember that it could just as easily happen to them or anyone.
Excellent post. A mother's love is a Mother's love. Some Mothers do not have the ability to parent or show love to their child. All of the education, money, and privilege in the world cannot replace that. You either have it or you don't. Thanks for your honesty in showing that not every child is privileged and yet many still know love.
This is incredible and incredibly brilliant. I deeply admire anyone who has the courage to raise a child in this world, let alone in an often challenging environment, and possibly not consider it to be all that challenging! I suppose in the scheme of things, mothering in an SRO is probably amongst the better conditions in the world.

Your daughter has been brought up with genuine maternal care and love, not by stuff, she's a prize and a rarity. Good work.
Love a blog mama with some giant balls! You are a powerful force in the world of moms and writers! You say what you mean and you mean to it! You get right to the meat of the matter and you are spot on target. I love this passionate style of yours, both as a writer and a mother. You are absolutely right! Regardless of social strata, papaless or oned that pay ot co-pay the bills, we (moms) are all mama hawks for our youngin's (the good ones or those who do everything in their power to put their children first. Took me a lotta years to master the mama thing and now I am working on my post-grad work in grammahood. It's the best work I've ever done!
Thanks so much for this piece of your maternal mind, heart and soul!!!
Love a blog mama with some giant balls! You are a powerful force in the world of moms and writers! You say what you mean and you mean to it! You get right to the meat of the matter and you are spot on target. I love this passionate style of yours, both as a writer and a mother. You are absolutely right! Regardless of social strata, papaless or oned that pay ot co-pay the bills, we (moms) are all mama hawks for our youngin's (the good ones or those who do everything in their power to put their children first. Took me a lotta years to master the mama thing and now I am working on my post-grad work in grammahood. It's the best work I've ever done!
Thanks so much for this piece of your maternal mind, heart and soul!!!
Geez! Sorry there for all the spelling errors and repeating the comment! Please delete that! Reads like this gramma started hitting the happy hour dial a little early! Off to do just that with another mama who has "adult son who won't leave the nest syndrome."
This made me swallow a huge lump in my throat.
"We're your sisters, too: the single, the slutty, the low-income, the illegal, the lost, the struggling, the uneducated, and clueless. We love our children just as much as you love yours."
Yes we do.
Thoth took the words right out of my mouth. :) You Rock!
YOU GO GIRL!!! FINALLY, SOME HONESTY!!! Even though LIFE STINKS, there are those like you & I who deal with it and roll with the SLUDGE OF IT ALL. YOUR POST IS THE BEST THAT I HAVE READ SO FAR!!! IT'S HONEST!!! IT'S RAW & FUNKY!!! LIFE IS ONE BIG TRASH DUMP AND YOU ARE MAKING THE BEST OF IT!!! MORE OF THESE WHINERS SHOULD BE LIKE YOU, BIG GIRL!!! LIFE STINKS BUT YOU HAVE GOTTEN OVER IT AND YOURSELF. YOU ARE A QUEEN AMONG MOMS AND WOMEN!!! KEEP BEING YOU!!!
Damned good writing!
Wow and holy hell. This is a brilliant brilliant piece! Truly loved to read and excited to pass along.
Your post was very poignant. I'm kind of over the privileged parent blogs myself, and your story washed over me with the force that only one grounded in reality can. Your love shines brightly.
Thanks, you point out something I have been guilty of thinking, and I appreciate it. You make a good point.
It's refreshing to see the subject of classism directly addressed. Economic divisions in the realm of motherhood are only the tip of that particular iceberg. Thanks for getting in there with a chisel.
i love so much of this. i, too, tho take issue with the term 'slutty'...as if it equates with low-income moms.

one needn't be a single mom to be in low income areas, either. many of the more privileged moms look down on anyone using an umbrella stroller as opposed to a $300 cadillac type. mine were 18 months apart; i remember one snob looking at me backing thru the door with mick in the stroller and caitie in a front pack. (bill worked at IBM back then...so i was able to be home with them. i LOVED it.) anyway, she proceeded to tell me that i had had my kids too close! i just looked at this total stranger and laughed in her face.

poverty, or just as bad, the the near-poverty of the working poor who fall between the cracks due to outdated guidelines is the real enemy here.

i don't know if you are a slut, BDTQ, but you are full of compassion, common sense and an amazing talent for writing. (r) for excellence and a lot of heart.
How much is the ability to consume related to the ability to mother? Indeed.

My office is in one of the poorest parts of our city. This week, I sat in on a couple of meetings to meet and interview finalists for the job of principal at our local charter elementary school. Let me tell you: I saw some poor, proud, and able mothers. Fiercely able.
BFTQ...I cried. Although in fairness I'm PMSing and cry a lot when I'm PMSing. But. But, I read the title and laughed, read the post and I want to say thank you. I am a mommy blogger (sometimes). I write about the funny stuff, but really it's my way of hiding. It's my way of feeling normal. I am a single mother who has lost pretty much everything. If it weren't for the good graces of my parents I don't know where we would be. I have, for two years now, felt such shame. I have felt such pain, and I have felt like the ultimate failure. I haven't really told anyone this, and for now I will continue to write about the funny stuff that other mommies can relate to, but maybe one day I will face the shame. If I do, if I am able to it will be because you just told me that I'm doing okay.

Thank you. Rated
Stephanie
I love this post. I just discovered your blog and you are a magnificent writer with a powerful voice, brilliant and unvarnished - though the polish is definitely there, if that doesn't contradict itself. Such a beautiful scene you paint, staying "home" with your baby in that SRO hotel with the lobby fodder and the cinnamon smell and the horrible mommy support groups. I can picture it clearly. I can relate, just a little bit, having grown up poor and gotten into the privedleged club and now sliding back out of it into single motherhood and unemployment-- and I can't wait to read what you write next. Rated.
No truer words have ever been spoken than what you have said in this post. :)
Clear, concise and witty...you hit the writing trifecta. I'm positive you'll carry the holy trinity--mother, daughter and a whole lotta love.
I bet you're a great Mommy!
You raised several great points. It is the love you give your child, not the $700 stroller that'sgoing to make the difference in the end.
Great post!
You bring up excellent points; maternal love is definitely not indexed to income. A good mother is a mother who loves and cares for her child, full stop. I think everyone benefits if the father is also part of the picture, and there to love and nurture the child and the parents there to help each other. But I certainly don't look down on mothers who are going it alone and doing the best they can. It's much better to be a single mother than stick with a man who would be a bad or abusive father. Your daughter is lucky to have you.
Your female roommate was right to boot you out when you "discovered" your "impending BabyMama-hood." Loving your children and caring for them are two different tasks. The first requires no more than intense affection, while the second demands intelligent attention to planning (whether or not those plans work out). May your baby grow up with a greater sense of responsibility than you apparently own. Shame on Salon for featuring your paean to carelessness.
i love this post too- amen!
The best I've read on OS for a long long time.
Wonderful... touching... so honest it is almost painful... rated.
Oh, You! Brilliant and much needed! I don't refer to myself as "poor" but as "unmoneyed." Makes all the difference in the world. You, too, rich in the intellect and perhaps poor in the purse. Love is the main commodity among people. Thank you.
Sometimes an underfunded upbringing breeds a child of exceptional strength. Sometimes privileged and posh childhoods breed children with serious entitlement problems who think they can steal if they are on Wall Street and that they must feel better than others in order to exist and their self-esteem depends upon Coach umbrellas, which keep them no dryer than others. . Farm kids are stronger and know how to work!! Poor kids know the value of every bite of food. Kids who sit on silk cushions have a very weak basis of existence. They will find it harder later in life, when the world turns on them and says, "Now, who do you think you are?" See Dr. Amy's "Bulldozer Parents."
Zinger! Excellent post--honest without being maudlin. Now, if only those you address would listen . . . . I suspect there is a different kind of shame in privilege, numbed by possessions and external wrappings. But, this may only be my dim hope in the potential goodness of humanity; I'm uncertain if others are capable of your insight and fearless enough to recognize sisterhood is classless.
Rated.
What is a Mommy Blogger?
Excellent post. Makes me examine my own judgment of some mommys I know, as well as perhaps being not so hard on myself for my OWN mommy talents and how I've been able to provide as a single mom.
Terrific. You really ought to get on some of the more popular "mommy" blogs and post this...
Agreed. The ability to consume has nothing to do with the ability to parent. Rated.
loved it. wish I wrote it. my life isn't nearly as colorful, interesting, or inspiring though so *glad yours is*! we are always more alike than different in any place we find ourselves and this really speaks truth to that fact. I sit at night sometimes with the switchboard operator at the hospital and we swap mommy notes. we couldn't be more different on the outside but share similitude in mom and family talk. I love it.
One of the best pieces I have ever seen on Salon. At least the father paid to put a roof over your head and that of his daughter. I hope he does more than that eventually.

You are obviously a very strong person. I admire you greatly.

Don't forget to use your strength to help others less fortunate, to tread the same journey to a better place.
Right on, sister. I've been one of those toliet cleaning mommies. I was thinking yesterday while coming home from my second job that I go to after my first job, that we live behind a facade of society's cleanliness. What I mean is, we watch the television, the news, read what is written and never really SEE or UNDERSTAND what is going on in this world. We're duped and drugged by this method of education, information. Think if the mediums we are so accustomed to were really showing what is going on, especially with women, how informed and sympathetic and equipped we would be to help one another and get out of the bubble of 'good' mommy thnking. You are so right on that all mommies love their children, even when they don't even have a roof over their heads, or a crib to put their baby in...I just added you as one of my favorite sites. I look forward to more blogging.
From a great old bar song;
"This town is full of guys who think they’re mighty wise ,
Just because they know a thing or two.
You can see them every day, strolling up and down Broadway,
Telling of the wonders they can do.
You’ll see wise guys and boosters,
Card sharps and crap shooters,
They congregate around the Metropole.
They wear those flashy ties and collars,
But where they get their dollars,
They’ve all got an ace down in the hole.


Some of them write to the old folks for coin,
That’s their ace in the hole.
Others have girls on that old tenderloin,
That’s their old ace in the hole."
Perhaps people can be forgiven for being influenced by what they read. Much of this comes from magazines whose main function is to sell stuff. Betty Friedan had a free-lance job to write for one of the many womens' mags in the post-WWII years. It was a common tool: The survey story. Magazines liked stories from women about how washers and dryers set women free to be better sex-mates for their hubbies. But the responses from the survey indicated that most women were miserable about their designated role of the post war era. Friedan wrote the story straight and it was rejected by the mag that comissioned it. It was later rejected by everyone else. Finally it was published in 1963 as a book called "The Feminine Mystique," which has sold zillions.

She stuck with the truth she discovered rather than cherry picking the responses which would sell appliances, as was the common practice. So have pity on your fellow mommy bloggers. It doesn't appear as though magazine practices have changed much. Who is going to advertise in a mag catering to people without disposable incomes?

But keep writing the truth as you see it. Worked out well for Friedan. My only nit to pick is your title. I doubt the term "slut" would be applied very often these days to a woman who conceives out of wedlock. And If I see "slutty" in the title, by God, I expect to read about slutty behavior. Guess that shows which mags I look at, ahem, read.

Great post.
Everyone else has said it. Your blog got to me. A woman who can find ways to enrich her child's developing mind with what most of us cast off is tops in my book. It says to me, "It isn't what you have, it's what you can imagine that counts." Imagination trumps easy consumerism anyday.
At what point did living in a crack-house motel seem like suitable conditions for you let alone your child? It is clear that you love your child very much. Your ability to be a good mother is not determined based on economic status though I would think that having a safe place would be a number 1 priority. And there are cheaper places to live in CA besides San Francisco.

HOWEVER if you are as responsible and intelligent as you claim to be then why weren't you or your partner using a method of birth control? Especially here in CA where at Planned Parenthood your income determines your ability to pay -- and at $8 an hour they would've given you birth control pills to you for free or a low, low, low rate. And condoms for free, I'm sure. THAT would have been the intelligent, responsible thing to do. Choosing to have sex and engaged in sexual activity is a very adult responsibility. As in many cases, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If you can't afford the birth control or condoms, you shouldn't be engaging in the activity, end of story.

Many kudos to you for getting through your childhood traumas and picking yourself up. At some point, you have to stop blaming your current circumstances on your past. Take responsibility for your own life choices. If anything, those traumas and hardships should propel you into wanting more and better for yourself and your child.

You bring up an excellent point when it comes to class differences. Big news: even those "privileged" mommies who have the McClaren strollers and live-in nannies may not be the best mothers.

At what point did you consider that bringing a child into your situation would be unhealthy for the child? Kids are expensive and basic needs such as food, shelther, and safety need to be met. And what the heck were you doing shopping at Whole Foods during that time?! Are you kidding? My husband and I both have full time jobs and there is certainly no room in our budget to be shopping there. And you found time to go to a mother's group but not to look for a job?

It's not about being a single mother or a married mother, or a single father or married father for that matter. It's determining the responsible thing to do. It's certainly not about labeling your behavior as "slutty". Girlfriend, that is the misogyny of our society trying to hold you back and / or make you feel guilty for being a woman who wants sex or engages in sex. It is ok and normal for women to do both of those things and don't allow social pressures to make you think or feel otherwise.

I speak from experience similar to yours. I had the foresight to recognize what sort of responsibilites I could and couldn't handle in my given socio-economic status.
@beachblonderobin
If you speak from experience similar to hers, it is clear you did not take the opportunity to learn anything about human compassion. Does it really make you feel better being angry and judgmental about whoever around you is not just like you? Does she challenge your values so much that you must attack her?
This is one of the best posts I've read in a while, filled with common sense. Bravo!!
Well Lesh old man... after the gushing of praise for a tawdry example of americana, You have nailed it again.
I have never been compelled to comment on any article before--anytime or anywhere--but your piece moved me so much I had to sign on and get an account. (I have read another post by you before and remember being very impressed.) You have a gracious spirit and beautiful heart--your baby is blessed.
I had to sign up just so I could give you major props. Awesome article! Your style speaks volumes and this story brought tears to my eyes. I come from a single parent family and have been and am going through the struggles that being middle to lower middle class brings. And I am better for it. I am thankful my mom wasn't one of the privileged.
Loved it..Felt like I had to keep reading faster and faster as the intensity increased. Awsome. r.
This is my first visit to your blog and boy did I pick a great time to drop by. This is one of the best written articles I have read on this site. Thanks for the opportunity to read your stuff.
I was a 'privileged mommy' for a while. Then I got divorced and the 'privileged mommies' didn't want me in their club anymore. Learned who my real friends were really fast. rated.
Brilliant and moving. Your blog just moved to the top of my favorites lists. Your writing is unstoppable. I hope you're working on a book?!
'Can you be a good mother if you can't figure out how to find a good husband? Can you be a good mother if you never finished high school? If you can't speak english? If you live in a developing country?'

Historically ironic that these women are considered "bad mothers" but are always hired out to nanny and care-take the children of the "good mothers" as they pursue their privileged lives.

Excellent post!
You know, the fact that you stayed home and were involved whether in a hotel room or a McMansion, was priceless. I am glad that you were able to.
I am not a mother, but I can't help but notice lots of judgment between the various camps. I am glad that you brought it up here.
I love this post, you always speak your heart. I adore your truth and real world wisdom. ~rated~
"How much is the ability to consume related to the ability to mother?" brilliant

I loved loved loved this post- been there ,done all that 25 years ago and it actually seems to be worse today to be a single/unmarried mother.
This was a very moving post with a great reminder to all of us to see the person behind the image.
That's why I want to point out that while I totally, totally, totally understand the class differences you are pointing out--I see them in action too--that it is equally unfair for you to assume that ALL privileged mothers approach their lives and the lives of others in this way.
I can't help it any more than anyone else that I was born white, American, and privileged. I am happily married and proud of my husband. I consider it an honor to raise my family.
I am educated. I would be even if I hadn't gone to college because I believe in education yourself. It's why I homeschool, and I why I seriously regret 5 years of college that put me in great debt because I was so heavily influenced to continue no matter what the cost.

My husband has a good job, he works hard, and we do know that we are blessed and privileged for this. He makes more money than most two-income families.

But you know what? We buy our kids' clothing at thrift stores and garage sales, unless we are unable to find an item we need in their size...then we buy it as frugally as possible. We purchase my husband's professional wardrobe at outlet stores or on sale for at least 50% off. I thrift for my own wardrobe when I can, but it's hard to find clothing to fit me so I do buy new on occasion...always on the cheap.
We breastfeed, babywear, and co-sleep. Some people were horrified that my daughter didn't have a bedroom until we moved to our house last summer. (A house, by the way, that we purchased in foreclosure for no more than the price of the land that it is on and needed a lot of work that we put into it ourselves.) There are several single moms in my closest circle of friends and I don't see them as any different from me. We're moms, period.

So, why do we live this way? First of all, we have faith in God and seek to do the very best we can with what he has given us. To us, that doesn't mean having the best of everything just because we think we deserve it.

Second, we have a lot of debt, from our younger days, when we weren't raised with the kind of values we have now. We are working diligently to be free from this bondage, and our payments on medical bills, credit cards, and student loans make up 40% of our income.

Third, we give. We tithe to our church and give as generously as we can to those in need. More importantly, we don't just give of our money. We give of our time and neighborly love.

My point is, none of us are in any place to judge anyone else. I am starting a blog soon, not about all the things we buy and do, but just to highlight the simple beauty we find in our little country life, to inspire others to live simply and peacefully. I wish peace and healing to anyone who is struggling with pain from their past, and I hope that just as you want mothers who fall into your definition of privilege to be aware of those in other situations; that you and others will not automatically look at women like me who basically meet those criteria and judge us for being who we are. At the end of the day, you just don't know. We all have our struggles and we are all accountable to God.
This is everything I've ever wanted to say about mommybloggers. Everything.
This is the best! OMG, please come read this at the Community Keynote at BlogHer. The irony will be phenomenal. I've been wanting to write about what it's like to be a Non-Mom in the midst of the Mommy Bloggers. This gives me some ideas...
I really enjoyed reading your blog. You definitely have something to say and it's thoughtful and well-written.

However, I find there to be one point lacking: why in the heck did you get pregant when you had such an unstable life? Your writing is the evidence that you are a very intelligent woman. Please explain why or how such a bright, focused person decides to neither invest in reliable birth control or to keep a child she cannot afford to raise in a safe, stable environment?

Lots of people are facing hard times they never anticipated due to loss of jobs and income. Your situation is not reflective of that. I wish you well in your role as a parent but the problems you are currently facing are of your own making.
What a wonderful story of survival and love in it's purest form.
It took a lot of courage to stand strong and get through that rough time. ~ Big Hug ~ and Hooray ~

I fall in the poor single mom of a 14 y/o special needs child. At ouir toughest time, we basicaly lost everything we had so that our son could treat with a more specialized doctor (i.e. Out of Network) due to son's unusual diagnoses spectrum.

The child psychiatrist was the best of the best and his clientele of patient's was reflective of his academic status. The other parents were extermely intelligent and 'successful'; doctors & attorneys. Some were fortunate entraprenuers.

And then there was me and my son, sporting our old clothes and inexpensive footwear. Naturally, I felt insecure and somehow 'lesser' than them.

However, as I sat with these people seemingly privileged people, every Wednesday for 2 1/2, I realized we shared a common bond in the form of our challenging children.

I too felt a little wince at the anger directed at the 'blogger mommys'. I'm not one myself, but just want to say even people of financial security go through their own hellacious lives; only in a different form.

Don't get me wrong, I know too well that snooty, high brow look down the nose all too well. I think this is where the passion the post is directed.
~~~

Don't sell yourself short as far as a formal education goes. You have articulated a beautiful story of a mothers love ALL Women can relate to.

Thank you for sharing so much of yourself here!
@Angela Quattrano

I admire much of what the blogger wrote and I find her persepctive unique. However, there is a fair point that must be made. Why did she get pregnant?

I'm a public school teacher. I know why many young girls get pregnant and I know why I didn't for many, many years. I planned NOT to get pregnant. This blogger writes about getting pregnant like it was something OUTSIDE of her control that just happened to her. Are you kidding me? If she were 16 and uneducated, I'd be more sympathetic. As it is, she has condemned her baby to growing up in an unsafe environment.

There is nothing admirable about druggies knocking on your door at all hours to scam money. That's scary. It's a blessing that the baby is too young to understand what is going on around her, but mommy blogger better get moving on a safe home fast. You'd be amazed at what young children take in from their surroundings and the negative imapct it has on their development.
@Ms. Nafari,


The point should never be "should someone have even had a child in the first place". Who are we to criticize LIFE?

Regardless of the circumstances in which this precious girl was conceived, born, and raised, it is evident that she has a loving, conscientious mother and it really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of that. Are you suggesting that only people of privilege should raise their 1.8 children because they can afford to do so according to the world's standards, and that those who have less should not be trusted with the responsibility to raise children?

Every life is a gift that holds promise. How much joy and happiness has this child given to her mother and many others? How much has her mother sacrificed to raise her? Love is always sacrificial, my friend...which is why the poorest among us may be the best qualified to give it, and why there are so many problems in our country, because those who HAVE are teaching their children that things are more valuable than people.

We may look to the past if we confine ourselves to heavily to the norms we've placed on our own society. How many children in human history have been born into less than ideal circumstances? In the midst of wars? terrors? famines? diseases? And, if you teach history in your work, you may notice that history is full of great people who came from the most humble of circumstances.

Please consider this before demanding an account from someone as to the very existence of a human life.
While you're in the checkout line connecting with the cashier, also take a look at the well-dressed woman in line behind you and acknowledge that she may have cancer. She may live with alcoholism. She may have lost a child. She may have mental illness. She may have come up from nothing. She may lose everything. She may help countless people with her privilege. She may actually not have money or security at all, just a nice outfit.

Hardship, poverty, trauma do not equal authenticity. Everyone has a story that is deeper than we can ever know just by sizing them up in the supermarket line, or even reading their blog.
@Jennifer St

Wow. "who are we to criticize life?" Where is the criticism of "life" in my statement? OTOH, I freely admit to criticizing the poor life choices that parents make, but entail suffering on the part of children. Here's a news flash for you: Poverty's a real drag on children.

Perhaps you don't know that because you don't have experience working with children who live in poverty. There's nothing heroic or wonderful about children who lack proper clothing, food and a safe and stable home. Their lives are difficult and stressful and it's not fair. I've bought food for students, warm clothing and bookbags. I'm lucky to have those resources to give. The fact is that I cannot stand it when a child has to go without. They all deserve better.

It's easy to throw stones at the Coach bag moms but that's not really what this blogger's struggles are about.
Rated. Wow. I wish I could rate it 100 more times.

--another slutty mommy
@ Niffari,

I do know a thing or two about children living in poverty. I lived among them for two years in a devastated neighborhood in a declining city. I served meals to those in need, purchased school supplies for the neighboring children, provided basic over-the-counter medication when their parents could not. I also spent several years teaching in child centers where I cared for children of all circumstances. I look forward to participating in an upcoming mission trip to aid Appalachian families living in poverty. So, I am truly familiar with the suffering of some children.

It sounds like you are a dedicated teacher and your students are blessed to have someone like you looking out for their best interests.

But I must disagree with you when you say there is "nothing heroic or wonderful" about impoverished children. They are children, no matter what their circumstances. And it does them no good whatsoever to say things that amount to "they should have never been conceived in the first place". My 78-year-old neighbor is the youngest of 5 children. Her father died when she was 9 months old and her mother still managed to support them in the middle of the Great Depression. They had very little...even today's standards of poverty are bright and comfortable compared to what they had...but she told me that through all of that, they never even knew they were poor. She never had any idea that she was, in other people's eyes, in a disadvantaged situation. They were happy. There was so much love in their family that today, 70 years later, THAT is what she remembers about her childhood. Perhaps it is doing a disservice to children to give them the idea that they are poor.

My overall point is that people are to be treated with dignity and respect, and just because a child lives a life of poverty (and I am well aware of what that truly entails), we can't say they should not have been born or that their mother should have been more responsible. It doesn't matter.

The author indicates that she is thankful to have a roof over her head, and that her daughter is growing up healthy and happy without all the trappings, bells, and whistles of this world. I don't see anything tragic about her situation and I pray for them and every family out there who suffers. God will restore all things...we are just responsible for how we live our own lives and how we treat others.
Don't condescend. How stupid do you think people are? Of course we know that single women with no money can and are statistically as common great moms. Zillions of people, male and female, know that having money or not having money, doesn't make a good parent. Parenting isn't about money. We didn't know that? You didn't need to tell all the walking wounded, raised in the nuclear intact suburban or rich and middle-class urban families that. Mommy-bloggers must love your story because they love being beat up, that guilt thing they have. Please don't make your next blog about how the middle-class and wealthy kids couldn't be as emotionally scarred because even though they had horrible parents, they had good schools. Because you'll just be contradicting your point. Money doesn't equal a good parenting. And the nuclear intact family doesn't. We all know that.
I know what you mean. I have 7 children by four different women. I love all of them equally, and share in their upbringing, yet people shun me as a bad parent . I am not a Bad Dad, and all my Baby Mamas love and cherish our children alongside myself.

It's time to shed this notion that Money = Good Parenting.

Love = Good Parenting, and I have much of it for all my kids.

Peace!
@ Jennifer St Might I point out to you that you aren’t responsible for your privilege but with your privilege comes responsibility and some of that responsibility is to avoid blaming those with less privilege of being oppressive to YOU. Your comment about YOU being judged merely derails the focus of this post which is to highlight the privilege that most mommybloggers have.

YOU are the one with the privilege, you are NOT the one being oppressed. YOU don’t get to claim that YOU are being judged by this person because whether or not you acknowledge it, there is an imbalance of social equity between the two of you. YOU have the balance of privilege in this situation and with that comes the responsibility to not pull this kind of derailment and blame the person with less privilege for judging you. This post which is highlighting privilege is NOT “judgement”, it is social awareness raising, it is hard work and your comment ignores the discourse of privilege (by saying, “You think you are oppressed, why, hey, you are oppressing me!”) and perpetuates the very thing that this post is attempting to unpack. Got it?
Oh yess, BFTQ. You nailed it. Thanks!
Loved, loved, loved this post and its message. Thank you.
When I actually became a parent myself, my admiration for single moms went from abstract to deep and sincere admiration. It was hard enough caring for a newborn with two adults on hand; I simply can't imagine having to do it all on your own.

And let me tell you, the cult of perfect parenting, especially for moms, can be just as psychologically devastating for married working moms. You just do the best you can from day to day.

What else is there to do?

(And when you can, check out consignment shops and second hand stores. SF has to have some good ones. Nothing against Goodwill (a great source for clothes, especially when they're pretty much growing out of stuff instantly) but some of these places have excellent toys in working condition dirt cheap.
You have a wonderful way with words! Given your talent to tell great life stories. Keep it up the with more good stuff on your blog. Continue to keep your fans informed of your lifes journey. Many years ago a guy who worked for me and his wife Robin started Parenting Magazine. Your blog should be added to their rag, but they sold the magazine to Time, Inc. many years ago.
I feel ambivalent about this post. On the one hand, I commend the author for reminding us that poor moms can be good moms. But I dislike the tone that assumes that so-called privileged moms don't know hardship. I think it all comes down to judgment. Circumstances don't make the parent. But neither does the label "good" or "bad." Poor moms (and dads) aren't always good moms. Mine wasn't. Was she a bad mom because she was poor? No. Am I a better mother because I have more money and opportunities than she? No. But I am a better mother.

Who is anybody other than me to judge her ability as a parent? And who can judge me in my now-happy life with a supportive husband and healthy baby as gag-worthy? I'm not trying to excuse the way the author has been treated by other mothers. But the negativity with which this post was written actually adds more fuel to the fire of criticism. And let's not forget that mistreatment doesn't just happen across income or racial lines. Rich can be nasty to rich, and poor can be nasty to poor.
Thank you for saying this. It saddens me in that not much has changed in the US in the past 35 years since I had my first child. If it wasn't for my daughters, who would serve the lucky mommies. In some ways it looks like it's worse, maybe because I'm just tired of seeing it. Tired of still living with it.

You put it very gently, thank you very much.
BRAVO! BRILLIANT! FUNNY! THOUGHT PROVOKING! My sister, Mary, told me to stop everything and read it -- that was, what, 10 days ago? Better late than never to have read this. You don't need it but I'm adding my enthusiastic and grateful rating!
I read and rated this awhile ago. It really touched me and was deeply disturbing at some levels. I've been pondering so much of what you've said. It was an important post to bring to many's awareness. And then I thought of the many women I've worked with over the years. Many of them have been upper middle class white women. They suffer in different ways than women of less means. I think there's an assumption that if you have money, you shouldn't dare have any kind of pain, but it is a psychic pain that runs deep and far. The journey is really the same, no matter what class you are, the money you have. But, there is the "invented" pain that money brings and I think this is what you are perhaps talking about. Your post prompted me to make a comment at the end of my monthly support group for stepmothers. Every single problem was in some ways, a luxury. Small stuff really. And I looked around the room and said, "Let's all remember. These problems that we are experiencing..not being recognized by the stepchildren, having tension with the ex-wives...these are problems that the truly advantaged women has. I'm not so sure that women living in poverty or third world countries would give a crap about these problems." There was a small bit of silence and then the nodding of the heads. As for me, I never got the expensive toys. When my children were toddlers, they were free to open up all the kitchen cabinets and haul out the bowls and pots and pans. They spent hours, ignoring the other toys bought at Target. Anyway, great post!!!!
Brilliant, loved every word of it.
@beachblonderobin

I too share your perspective. While it’s laudable to bring a life into this world and offer love to that little person, there’s also “quality of life” to consider. It’s one of the reasons that abortion was so hard-fought-for in the 60s and 70s. You'were not so much judgmental so much as honest.

Sorry, but the idea of living in a fleabag hotel w/hustlers in the lobby doesn’t sound like a healthy way to live, no matter how much “love” was extant. Living hand-to-mouth is unhealthy for anyone, let alone an infant.

"Ruffled looking men and women, in various states of intoxication, knocked on our hotel room door at all hours of the day and night, begging for money?" BFTQ is lucky none of those losers or their customers made a move on either her or the kid.

In case everyone forgot, this is 1 more illustration of the breakdown of the family. Remember “shotgun weddings?” Well, you don’t see them anymore b/c no one cares about whether that child is legitimate or not. Those weddings may have ended by whatever device—as indeed, so many seem to anyway—but the point was to give the child a name other than “bastard.” There are people who still feel that way, you know. Not to mention how employable (or NOT) the mother becomes when seeking employment to support said child, dooming that child not only to poverty but to deprivation of opportunities that might help the kid out of repeating her foolish mother's pattern of behavior. That poor child is the product of lust and folly, rendering BFTQ’s pious justifications of being “poor but loved” a little less than genuine.

For someone w/a MASTER’S degree, BFTQ doesn’t seem either to have learned much or about behaving responsibly about birth control—or about being an adult. I’m no shining example of perfection, but I knew myself and my limitations well enough to know I’d be a poor mother to any child.

"Most mothers on the earth today are poor, uneducated, and deeply in love with their children. And they are buried in shame and silence." Perhaps, but had they been adults and behaved more responsibly BEFORE dropping those kids, they wouldn't be "buried in shame." Anyone can make a mistake--once. After that, you knew better but just "didn't wanna."

Being an (alleged) Adult means accepting responsibility and the consequences of your actions. You want sex, protect yourself. If you don't, and get knocked-up, then make damn sure you're able to care for that child properly. Sorry, but "(making) $8 an hour..in one of the most expensive cities in the world...a city with a 1% vacancy rate" and having a child, does not sound responsible.

I feel sorry for that kid.
There is such a thing as birth control. Planned Parenthood will do it for practically FREE. Check it out. I don't have a lot of patience for people who don't seem to be able to figure out what happens when you have unprotected sex. Children deserve to be planned, not live in a hotel with Winnie the Pooh cutouts.
My bloke found your blog and read it aloud. thank you! you just summed up the last 5 years. walking into a room as a single non working mother aged 18, you get put down. Its the same in south wales uk as it is in the usa. Now I am no longer a single mother and I have a second one on the way. My partner totally agreed that you dont need a nursery or posh baby room to be a good parent. You just need to love your child. Please keep on writing!
You have a very lucky child to have a mother such as yourself.
From one trauma llama to another, I applaud the brevity of your paragraphs.
~If you are a married, educated, financially secure, upper middle class mom writing a blog directed at other married, financially secure, upper middle class moms, please acknowledge the fact that you are in the minority.~
Which is a sad truth. WE are amidst a new new baby mama generation, that leads me to believe marriage will be obsolete in our time. I only pray the moms you are referring to, are able to over-come as well as you have by focusing on good choices. Its going to be interesting to see how our world has evolved in twenty years, when these kids become our future.
Divorced, proudly independent single mom of 4 years.
I just found this post....and adored it. I am not a single mom....but I am low-income. I am raising 3 delightful children without the help of a $700 stroller or designer diaper bag. I have an issue with people on here giving you a hard time for shopping at Whole Foods. What is the problem with making sure you are eating healthy, nutritious foods? You could be running down to the corner Exxon mini-mart and buying donuts and chips. I applaud you for caring enough about yourself and your daughter to try and make good choices. And I do think the term "slutty" does you a disservice. You sound smart,witty,and fun. Good luck to you and your beloved child as you find your path. Btw.....only one of my children ever had a "real" nursery....and what a waste. She could have cared less about whether it was painted or decorated. All she was interested in was me and her daddy. She's pretty well adjusted now at 13. She doesn't remember the Laura Ashley stuff I bought on credit. Only I do.....'cause it was a dumb thing to do!

Hope to hear much more from you!
So brilliant--wish I'd found out about it sooner. I've met many a mom of the single, never-been-married variety in my travels through the system, and I can see they were just as much about raising wise kids as the so-called straight-laced mommies I'd met previously.
I've seen single mothers making conscious decisions to teach their children well. I've seen them rise to the occasion, loving their kids with grace and good humor. I loved this part:
"How much is the ability to consume related to the ability to mother?" Sheer brilliance!!!! So very -Rated-
Although I'm not nor can I be a mother, if I was one I'd hope I'd have friends like you among all the middle-class, well-educated mommies in my circle. I live in the innercity by choice with poor women, none of them single on my block, struggling with poverty, joblessness, and addiction, and relationships with husbands who may or may not try to work to support then and their children which one or none are not the husband's. These women love their children as much as any other mother.

My mother was the good African-American mother you mentioned who doesn't speak Ebonics, is educated, was a virgin when she got married to a minister, and did everything "right" but had a nervous
breakdown after losing a child and a father and literally gave me away to her mother because she was pregnant and had a toddler, my brother, and couldn't handle rearing me, too. Lucky for me, my brother refused to be separated from me and we are still close. I'm sure my mother loves me, but it was my grandmother who nurtured me. I've seen poor, single, uneducated, "slurry" moms handle a lot more and still manage to rear their with no husband. Rated
Nobody has the right to judge mothers? - I don't think so. All 6th graders should have a field trip downtown to watch family court in action.
Good on you girl. My daughter has been in the same position as you. There is definitely a group who label all single Moms as being different and beneath them in some way. People like you put things in perspective and you would probably run rings round others because of the life experiences you have had to deal with that they have no idea about.
In response to BeachBlonderobin - no your experience was not even closely similar. Am acquainted with your single mother who worked her butt off so that you never ever wanted and you were spoiled beyond compare by an overindulgent Grandmother. And after it was all said and done you kicked the woman who sacrificed for you directly in the teeth. So no darling, your experience didn't come close to this woman's - perhaps if you get your hands out of everyone else's pockets and deal with a little reality such as the writer of this piece you wouldn't prove so condescending.
Not enough ways to LOVE this blog post.

Ironically, I sit on my floor snuggling my 1 year old now as a middle class SAHM. I was not always one.

When my first daughter was born- I was married to a man not her father (abusive horrid marriage taking forever to end). Was just starting a waitressing job, a house with no gas in the middle of foreclosure, living in a neighborhood that was dodgy at best.

My daughter did not have the trappings of a first baby- I did not have a shower I was an embarrassment to my family. My family pressured me to give her up for adoption.

6 years later a new husband, a college education, a career, and 3 more children, I am the minority the privileged. My days recovering from an abusive marriage, as a slutty low income mom are never mentioned- but I never forget them. I think about them often. I am thankful for them they taught me how to mother with my instincts.
Not enough ways to LOVE this blog post.

Ironically, I sit on my floor snuggling my 1 year old now as a middle class SAHM. I was not always one.

When my first daughter was born- I was married to a man not her father (abusive horrid marriage taking forever to end). Was just starting a waitressing job, a house with no gas in the middle of foreclosure, living in a neighborhood that was dodgy at best.

My daughter did not have the trappings of a first baby- I did not have a shower I was an embarrassment to my family. My family pressured me to give her up for adoption.

6 years later a new husband, a college education, a career, and 3 more children, I am the minority the privileged. My days recovering from an abusive marriage, as a slutty low income mom are never mentioned- but I never forget them. I think about them often. I am thankful for them they taught me how to mother with my instincts.
Great post...love is the only currency you really need to be a good mother. Rated!
great piece of writing...rated
I could cry after reading this but I can tell you are resourceful and you are so right--babies really don't know about economics. I would buy toys for my children and they played with the boxes.

One time I couldn't afford a fancy venue like the bowling alley or skating rink for my daughter's birthday party and so I drew 101 dalmations and hung them everywhere. We played bingo, ate cake made from a box, and all the decorations were taken home for favors. It was one of our finest hours.
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