Sarah & Ian Hoffman

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Mompetition’s Interview with Sarah Hoffman

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I’ve really been needing some humor lately. I think that maybe we all have. And so I called up one of the funniest women on the web, Valerie Stone Hawthorne of Mompetition. And because she is awesome, she agreed to put me in one of her xtranormal videos—an experience which stark. raving. mad. mommy has called “the mommy blogger equivalent of being on The Simpsons.” And she is right. I am beyond excited to present to you Mompetition’s Interview with Sarah Hoffman:

Let me know what you think.

And don’t forget to “like” Mompetition on facebook!

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The “My Son is Gay” Phenomenon

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Yesterday I read an essay by mom blogger Cop’s Wife, entitled My Son Is Gay. It’s a fantastic essay, about the blogger’s son, Boo, who dressed as Daphne for Halloween. It says most of what I’ve been saying on my blog for more than a year about acceptance—but she’s funnier and smarter than I am, so you should definitely read it. I made a comment on her blog, and signed up to receive future comments by email, because I take a personal and professional interest in how people respond to stories about gender-nonconforming boys.

By this evening, there are 14,000 comments on the site (all of which have appeared in my inbox…I might think twice next time I sign up for that function). Maybe I’ve just been sheltered from the viral blog phenomenon, but I’m completely blown away. There are 14,000 people who care enough to comment on this woman’s boy in a skirt (probably more by the time you get this post from me and check out her website)! Most of these people are enthusiastically supportive (and only a few tell her she’s sinning, or ruining her son’s life, or using other assorted scare tactics). And this is what really blows me away: how much support we have. How many people will jump to defend a boy who’s different. How strongly people feel about not bullying boys who make choices like Boo did. I really had no idea.

So please read it, pass it around, talk about it with your families and friends, and celebrate how many supporters we have in the world!

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A Halloween Winner and (sort of a) Poll

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Happy Halloween!

First, I would like to announce the winner of Jacinta Bunnell’s gendertastic coloring book, Sometimes the Spoon Runs Away with Another Spoon! Our lucky winner, Emily Striker, randomly selected by the trusty random.org, will receive her copy by mail pronto.

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The rest of you, go out and buy the book here!

Second, I’d wanted to present you with a little poll in honor of Halloween. But I realized the questions I had in mind were slightly more cumbersome than what I could fit into a yes-or-no format. (If you have a pink boy or a transgirl, what was s/he for Halloween? If you have a tomboy or a transboy, what was s/he for Halloween? If your child is gender-normative, was s/he inclined to transgress traditional gender bounds in a way that…oh my.)

So since I can’t quite sate my curiosity in a poll, I’ll just ask—and encourage you to share in the comment section below—what were you and your family members for Halloween? Did anyone not get to be what they wanted…and why? Did anyone’s choices surprise you?

I’ll start: This year, Sam was a medieval mercenary. Ruby was a candy corn fairy. My husband was Dick Cheney. I was a mom. We all got to be what we wanted to be for Halloween, and it all surprised me.

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