BC The Magazine // July/August 2011XX

MOMMY

A look at three local mothers who are writing successful blogs

What blogs do you follow? In recent years, mommy bloggers are not only growing in popularity but they are gaining in influence.

The term doesn’t even begin to denote the talent and capability that go into maintaining a successful blog; make no mistake—the power behind these blogs is growing stronger every day. Whether blogs are mil-

lion-dollar businesses or more modest endeavors, a productive mommy blog always starts out with a love of writing and a belief in sharing parenting challenges and triumphs.

We’ve profiled three up-and-coming bloggers to find out their individual story. Check them out, and then bookmark their sites!

BC The Magazine // July/August 2011 XX

(Momtomomcolumns.blogspot.com)

Ann Meyers Piccirillo, LeoniaMom to Katie, 10 and Jack, 8

Monthly Visitors: 3,000

Day Job: Columnist for the Bergen News, Press Journal, Sun Bulletin and various other newspa-pers, magazines and film projects; author of the book Child Care for Mommies, she’s currently working on her second book, Married to the Mob: Motherhood, Madness & Merlot.

How It BeganI started blogging in 2009 as a result of reader responses to my “Mom to Mom” newspaper col-umn. Readers wanted more stories, and wanted to be able to easily share them with their friends, co-workers and families. Having the platform of the newspaper to launch the blog made it easy. I started my “Mom to Mom” newspaper column, and blog, shortly after my daughter was diagnosed with autism. It was a way to connect with people and find some normalcy in my life. It gave me a reason to take my head out of the world of autism and focus on something that made me feel good about myself. The generous responses I got, and continue to get, from my readers never cease to amaze me.

Blog FocusMy blog is based on stories from real life events. Each story, though true, is crafted to read like a well-written sitcom. As parents we always seem to be rushing. One of my first stories was about the time I was rushing to pick up the kids from school but decided to quickly get the car washed because I had ten minutes to spare and I inadvertently drove off with one of the Mexican workers who was in the trunk of my minivan still cleaning the back window. I actually had to make the decision about whether to take him with me to get the kids or bring him back to the carwash.

The X FactorMy blog is unique because my goal is to take the everyday stresses that we all face as parents and put a humorous spin on them. It’s like Erma Bombeck woke up in the 21st century and found herself a New Jersey housewife with two kids, an untrainable dog and a volunteer firefighter husband who’d rather run into a burning building than deal with bath time. As a writer, I take great pride in telling a good story. I strive to give my readers a reason to read. I want to connect with them by making them laugh at the things that stress us out every day.

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Ann Meyers Piccirillo, Mom to Mom: Motherhood, Madness & Merlot