• There is the need for influential mom bloggers to, like, make money or something
• Companies want to work with mom bloggers because they have authenticity and their followers/readers listen to them

I came up with something that some companies and bloggers are doing already, but this would be a way to simplify the process.

Here is the description of Momtent:

Companies want to connect with mom bloggers to have authentic voices in an ethical manner. Mom bloggers are struggling for a way to earn the money they deserve for their hard work. Momtent is designed to overcome the hurdles facing both sides, creating a fair way for both sides to win. Companies get quality content, and mom bloggers get paid for their writing.

Momtent works like this:

• A company seeks a mom blogger to write content for the company’s site. They set their budget,  and the topics to be covered. They state their desired Twitter followers, experience level, and whether they require that the blogger include a badge or widget in their sidebar, tweet about their posts, and so on. This allows a company to get high quality, search-engine optimized content for their own blog or site, and to leverage the reach and readership of the blogger.
• Momtent turns to our pool of quality writers to find the best match (or matches for companies seeking a team of bloggers). The writers get paid to create quality content for the company.
• Momtent will also edit the content so it arrives clean and error-free, and we deliver it in the format requested (Word, coded html, etc.).

It’s as simple as that. Companies get real mom voices, and moms get paid for their work.

I’d love to hear what you think…. also, if you are a company or a mom blogger, be sure to submit the forms for either to get more information (as a company) or to get into the mom blogger database to get assignments.

If you can get past the offensiveness of the ad (I know, it’s hard), there is a larger issue here. Companies are marketing to moms without any clue what moms think. This, to me, is just further evidence that all companies and marketers who want to reach moms need to hire a Chief Mom Officer like Jessica Smith.

I recommend you (and Motrin!) watch Katja’s video:

And keep an eye on the PR nightmare via this feed of posts tagged #motrinmoms on Twitter:

If you have posted about Motrin moms (I already see loads of mom bloggers tearing into them. Don’t mess with the moms, companies!), please post a comment here. If you leave CommentLuv checked, it will pull your latest post’s link in automatically.

I have toddler twins and a 5-year-old. I need hands-free first and foremost, and that eliminates about 90 percent of remotely decent bags. I am also an early adopter gadget geeky mom, which means I have a variety of gadgets that need a safe, cozy spot in a purse: iPod, Smartphone, digicam, etc.

Since becoming a mom, I have bought purses. I mean, a lot of purses. I always have such high hopes for them. Then I use them and usually within a day, maybe a week, I hate them. I endure them usually for several months before I resort to trying again.

Then one day I saw the infomercial-esque commercial for the Buxton. It looked so alluring. They were showing like an endless number of things going in and out of the thing. I thought to myself, “I know this is probably a scam… yet I can’t help but wonder if I should get it. I DO have a lot of crap.”

Jump six months later, and I was standing at a Bed, Bath and Beyond store. And there it was. The Buxton. I couldn’t resist the impulse to try it. I even pulled it out of the bag before making my purchase and thought two things: “This looks like a cheap crappy purse,” and “This does NOT look like it can hold a bunch of crap.”

I was right on both points. It barely held my wallet and AT&T Tilt Smartphone at the same time! It does have several pockets, but they are miniscule pockets. For example, I couldn’t dream of getting a gadget in there like an iPod or even a slim digicam. Not unless it was the only thing going in there.

And I’ve had it less than a month, and there are already sections tearing. Probably from my attempt to make more than two things fit inside.

Oh, and the best part? That little cell phone pocket they brag about? I don’t think the stylus for my Smartphone would even fit in there.

So I’ve decided I’m sick of trying purses that are not mom-friendly, only to waste money, waste precious time I don’t have moving crap from purse to purse, and then just be aggravated with it later.

I’m making a call-out to PR people, companies, manufacturers, Etsy crafters, whoever. If you have a purse you think is mom-friendly, contact me and I will test it. If I hate it, I will write about it (sorry, but I’ve got to share!). But if I love it, I will write about it and gush to my mom friends. On several social networks. (Psst: I have a lot of mom friends. I mean, a lot. And most of them have blogs too. Just sayin’.)

Here are my demands of a purse. I would read them closely. These are non-negotiable. For a purse to be mom-friendly, it should be all of these things:

1. It must be hands free. I have three kids. When they see my hands tied up, they plot against me. Two of them are 2-year-olds. Enough said? I need my hands. I don’t care what makes a purse hands free. It can be a backpack, a messenger bag, and it can float right next to me for all I care. But I need it to be hands free in a comfortable manner (as in, not a back breaker!).
2. If I have to let go of it or set it down suddenly, and open, it needs to keep all my crap inside. I know this demand probably sounds a little unreasonable, but here’s the thing. Because of said kids above, I often have to put down a purse without forethought and effort to zippers and snaps. Some purses will allow gravity to keep crap down, but some actually have gravity working against you. If you leave your purse open, it WILL dump its contents. I can’t have that.
3. It must have multiple secure, closable inner pockets and pouches that will hold a variety of gadgets. A mom-friendly purse should be able to hold cell phone (yes, a big one), PDA, iPod, digital camera, maybe a Flip. If these pouches can be padded, all the better. It should also have plenty of room for you to organize checkbook, wallet, keys (how many times must I dig around a stupid purse looking for keys? I want a special pocket easy to get to, but not subject to fall-outs, that holds keys). A purse that is just one bag sack is useless. You can’t find anything in a rush, and moms always rush.
4. It must be roomy, but not ginormous. I know this is a subjective thing, but size with purses never seems quite right. If it’s huge (and one big glorified tote), it is a back-breaker and you also carry everything but nothing since you can’t access anything. If it’s too small, well, it’s utterly useless.
5. It must not stain easily. Because let me tell you. Something will get spilled on it.

Beyond that, there are some features that would be nice, but not mandatory:

1. It should look good. I would love to actually put that in the mandatory list for a mom-friendly purse, but I’m trying to be reasonable here. If it could look great and stylish, that would be an amazing bonus.
2. It should be manufactured/made/designed by a mom.
3. It should be reasonably priced (accessible for most moms to buy).
4. It should be environmentally-friendly. A purse made with recycled materials, for example, would honor a mom’s desire to protect the planet for her own children.

Here’s the totally weird thing about my quest to find the perfect mom-friendly purse: moms are buying a crapload of purses. Aren’t they a major purse demographic? I mean, are they testing these things on any actual moms? I can’t help but wonder.

I’m ready. Do you have a purse that can stand up to a type-A mom’s test?

And if you’re a mom, what annoys you about purses? Have you found the perfect mom-friendly purse? I would love some recommendations! I’m getting desperate here!

_{Photo of woman with purse, © Ugur Yilmaz.}

I love that I finally get to spend more time with my children (in December I switched from long-time hardcore workaholic career mom to working at home all but one day a week). But the road there has lasted since I was pregnant with my daughter (and she’s 5). We did spend a year in France with my daughter, but to do that we sold our house and lived off our equity.

The rest of the time, I’ve worked full-time by day, raised children, busted my ass after bedtimes and before waking times freelancing. I’ve been doing a job (writing) for years that absolutely did not require my presence in an office, and absolutely could have been done from home. I’ve got plenty of experience to qualify me to do this job (more than 15 years). But no employer has allowed it (especially being that I was in the paranoid and twitchy newspaper business until 2006).

It took all of that time, all those years, all those late late nights, to hit a critical mass of freelance work and work at home clients that I could stay at home.

Ridiculous.

Sadly, when it finally happened, I was in a day job I finally loved. But the fact still remained: it was physically away from my children.

It’s exactly the reason, it’s the entire motivation and purpose, behind my creating Type-A Mom. I wanted to create one option, as unimportant as that might be, where moms who want to work at home (and who deserve to have the best of both worlds) actually can. The site is still young, just a year old, and it’s still building, but that is my dream.

So here is my Mother’s Day wish. Companies will finally get it. Companies will make it not only allowable for moms to work at home (and dads, too!), but encouraged. Sure, there are many positions in which you physically need to be there. In many, many jobs you don’t. At all.

So why are companies still requiring that moms be there, despite studies and anecdotal evidence that moms not only can accomplish work at home, but that those who work at home are, in fact, often times more productive? Just so they can get that warm and fuzzy feeling one gets from hovering over an employee?

So companies, how about it? Treat your moms right. Make our lives easier. Let us work from home.

Shoot, it’s not like you need to be selfless and take a hit for doing so. COMPANIES benefit from letting parents work from home. You need less space, no insignificant factor considering the cost of real estate. You need less equipment. It benefits the environment, as there are fewer people commuting. It’s quite simply a win-win.

And what of your big fear? That moms will just “work” at home, but really goof off. Well, fire them. Just like you would fire someone who goofs off and gets nothing done in the office. Not too complicated.

To hell with the Mommy Wars. Make it so any mom, all moms, don’t have to choose between work and home. We can do both, and we should be able to do both.

Do you know of a company that is amazingly family-friendly and allows moms to job share, work from home, telecommute, or generally be devoted to kids and work? Comment below so they get some recognition, and so moms know where to apply.

Photo of working mom by Piotr Bizior.