WordPress is kind enough to tell me what Google searches lead people to me. Yesterday, someone Googled “does the Mrs Odie blog make any money?” No.
Many of my incoming searches are “Kelle Hampton annoying” and “Kelle Hampton haters.” Every day, I think about deleting that post from last August, where I said I thought she was fake and spoiled. People read it every day. For some reason, hundreds of people have read it in the last three days.
I know Jessica of “The 24 Year Age Gap” deleted her KH post because she wasn’t interested in the kind of attention it got (sidebar: congratulations on your wedding, girl! Can’t wait until you post about it!). When I wrote my blog entries, I was just a blogger with about a few dozen followers, mostly friends. This was my opinion about something all my mommy group friends were sharing endlessly on message boards. I got so tired of opening discussion threads and seeing “You MUST read this! It’s the most moving birth story EVER EVER EVER!” with a link to KH’s blog post about the birth of her daughter with Down Syndrome. I have a tendency to go in the other direction when something gets hugely popular. I almost didn’t even read The Help because I got so tired of being told I “must” read it. (But I did read it and it was a good book). Despised Duran Duran.
I vented about my dislike of the blog everyone thought was so fantastic. I did that around this time last year. It got a big response, so I engaged with those readers for a while, continued writing about the subject, then got bored with it and stopped. I’ve written almost every week for a year and barely mentioned What’s-her-name, but when people Google how annoying she is, then read my blog entry, they react like it was written today.
So much has happened in my life in the last year. I got pregnant and had another baby. I went back to work as a high school teacher. I lived through high drama in my immediate family. I made new friends and lost touch with old ones. I’ve written over a hundred little doo-dads here.
And I probably wouldn’t give the Hampton clan a second thought, except there’s that blog entry from last year that keeps popping up in people’s Google searches. Okay, maybe there are SIX entries. Like I said, I wrote about it for a while and then lost interest.
I am not one of those bloggers whose website is a parody site, like “Pie Near Woman” (clever title spoofing Pioneer Woman) or “McMama Without Pity” or “Get Off My Internets.” All of them are hilarious and definitely my type of humor, but the writers have to stay deeply immersed in the lives of the people they are ragging on. I want to write about my own thoughts and my own life. I think it’s rich enough to sustain my blog.
Are the people who find this blog by Googling her actually becoming my readers? If they like it, they probably want more of it and are disappointed that there isn’t any more after that little cluster from last year. If they hate it, then the conclusion is obvious.
Odie thinks I shouldn’t censor myself just because people disagree with me and give me flack for my opinion. He thinks my opinion is valid (full disclosure: he is my husband and generally strokes my ego in hopes of getting sex).
I find myself whining to myself: I’ve moved on; why can’t everyone else? Maybe the only way to really “move on” is to hit the delete button.
While I think about it, those posts are temporarily password protected.
**Edit: on second thought, I’m not going to censor myself. I wrote what I felt at the time and this is my blog. If you don’t like it, take the advice so many of you who love K-Hizzle give me “Don’t read it.” Some people on a discussion thread about me wondered “who has time” to “obsess” about another blogger and write about her. “Get a life!” Who has time to post all day on a mommy discussion group thread about how I should get a life? Oh, YOU DO. It takes only a few hours a week to do what I do.
It is hard to find time to write, though. It feels like selfish time. I have two tiny children, a husband, two cats, a dog and a neglected house. I have Flourish: The Housewife Project to see to, so this is the last thing I’ll say for now.
The Friendly Pedant by Mrs. Odie 
I almost didn’t see this post because you are on my “blogroll” which shows me new posts in an ascending order but didn’t see this one. To answer some of your questions and provide add’l comments, I did find you last summer after googling as I was wondering if anyone else found something to be not right about her posts. And then I have stuck around because I like hearing about your marriage and your job, etc.
One of your readers commented on your blog several months back about a great post that Jessica (whom you’ve mentioned in this post) wrote. And now you like to read her blog and comment on her blog and give her a shout out here. So that is a good thing, right–to have found someone whose writing I assume you like as a result of your readers sharing another site they found that had a well written post about her.
What I’d like to know is what other blogs do you like to read?
Yes, I don’t post all week, and then I get on a roll one night or morning when the kids are asleep and I crank out two or three. I should learn to save them as drafts and then crank them out slowly over the week.
I read a lot of blogs for different reasons. Yours, of course.
I read http://irishtwinsmomma.blogspot.com because she reads mine and I followed a link back to her and liked it.
http://babynumber 10.blogspot.com. This is Patti Rice’s blog called A Perfect Lily. She is a nice lady, for all that we are completely different. She has a daughter with DS about the same age as KH’s and I know they are blog friends and Patti maybe even secretly hates me, but am interested in her and what she does on her blog. She gives God full credit for everything and I am an Existential Theist, so I actually give HER credit and think that she is a generous and amazing woman.
Some people I ‘met’ online have new babies with serious medical conditions. I follow them both because I want all the world for their sweet daughters. We were pregnant together and my child came out healthy and normal while theirs didn’t. I don’t know why this happens. I am grateful, but I have a certain survivor’s guilt feeling. http://isabellamichele.wordpress.com: her daughter was born with serious heart defects. She recently had her first open-heart surgery. She was back in the hospital a few days ago and hasn’t posted an update yet. I’m very nervous and check in on her daily. I just found out she’s really struggling with medical bills and was unable to pay rent while in hospital with her baby. As a result she’s being evicted.
http://susieandellie.blogspot.com: her daughter has Prader-Willi Syndrome, a genetic defect that causes the person to have insatiable hunger.
http://tinyglimmers.wordpress.com. She was in my pregnancy group online, and her child was born early due to premature rupture of her membranes. Gideon fought for his life for many days and then after several brain bleeds and infections, he passed away. More survivor’s guilt for me.
Someone posted a link to a blog on Jessica’s blog: http://jamescamdensikes.blogspot.com. This little boy was 8 months old, got a brain tumor and died in a month. I have been weeping almost daily over this blog, feeling horrible survivor’s guilt and heavy grief.
I think it is part of my PPD to follow these stories. I look at Pringles (right now asleep in her swing with a vague sleep smile on her pink lips) and I wonder, “Why me? Why not them?” and it terrifies and hurts. Reading those blogs is sometimes like picking at a scab for me.
BUT, mostly I like to read blogs that make me laugh. I love http://getoffmyinternets.net. Not just the writer, but also the commenters are funny. http://www.theblogess.com. Her Beyonce Chicken post went viral. I’m not sure she has a very happy marriage, but she is a hilarious writer. I am filled with envy and respect.
I still read dooce.com out of habit.
I read http://readymyblog.blogspot.com. The writer, Amy, is very young and talented. I get some wry glee out of reading her angst over turning 25. She is but a pup, still, we all probably felt as she does at her age.
http://twentytaketwo.wordpress.com. She is a new blogger and I see potential in her. She is a high school principal, though, and the school year just started, so I wonder how she’ll be able to keep it up. I hope she does. I can see that writing is a passion for her.
Of course, Jessica at the24yearagegap.blogspot.com. She has a way of putting things that is hysterical, and she’s intelligent to boot.
http://mrsk6.wordpress.com. A friend I’ve never met. She has just completed her professional teacher training and will soon get a job full time (I know it! Good luck Mrs. K!)
http://whizzochocs.blogspot.com. She doesn’t post as often as I’d like, but I love her take on the world and she is a very talented writer (also an English teacher). She is Childfree and single both by choice, so we don’t have much in common there. Nevertheless, we agree on practically everything else and I find her delightful (she is also a best buddy of mine in real life).
Cheers!
MO2
I’m sure there are more, but this is what comes to mind off the top of my head.
Thanks for the nod. You know I love you, but I’m not going to blow fairies up your ass like other commenters on other blogs.
A fairy enema sounds especially painful. Thank you for not going through with it.
I don’t remember exactly how I got there, but I do know that THAT post was the first one I read, and that I have read all the subsequent posts because I thought you were funny and honest. And she is now forever “K-hizzle” in my mind and I thank you for that.
Thank you. I have to give my sister credit for K-Hizzle. She came up with that.
Please don’t delete THAT post. It was refreshingly eloquent, it said exactly how I was starting to feel about KH’s blog which I now refuse to visit because of the way she exploits her kids and has made the whole damn thing so commercialized. The way all her worshippers gush over her every word sickened me to the point that I just couldn’t be bothered giving my energy to it..
Now, I follow your blog instead, and even though I rarely comment, I appreciate your writing style and your humour (yes, humour with an extra “u” – that’s how we spell it in Australia!).
The other blogs I follow are about people whose lives have been affected by infertility (a subject close to my heart as I had been trying for years to be a mother) and one woman in Australia whose husband died earlier this year after a psychotic episode. Lori inspires me with her courage to continue raising her children on her own and to speak out about mental health and suicide.
The Kelle Hampton Google search brought me to you. I am now a weekly reader of this blog, not because of what you said about KH ( some of which I had also thought about her) but the way you said (wrote) it.
Be yourself. Write whatever you want. Don’t delete the posts.
Thanks for what you do.
I found you through Google in January. I can honestly tell you that I have visited your blog more in the last 8 months than I have hers. I didn’t expect you to continue writing about KH – I viewed that blog entry and the others that followed as a mere gripe. I enjoy your blog and identify more with your parenting and marriage adventures than I ever did with KH. Not everyone wants to view life through a glittery camera lens.
Not “everyone” thought her blog was amazing. Mayhaps you should have written about bandwagon mentality on message boards, instead of deconstructing someone else’s blog post. I What is the real issue here?
Yes, that is an excellent suggestion. And I love the word “mayhaps.” Bravo!
Funnily enough, I found you while looking for Kelle’s blog and it blew my mind that there were annoying searches even though she had begun to grate on me a little. I love your blog for so much more than the hilarious ranting last year, but I keep forgetting to bookmark you and so when I need my fix I google “Kelle Hampton Annoying” Sorry if I’m messing with your mind!
I say don’t delete but I would add an editor’s note essentially summarizing this post so people get that they are losing their minds over old news. I would also close comments.
Mr. Odie wouldn’t happen to know about Peak Oil? Did he read this article? I think it’s a must read for resource depletion. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/magazine/can-jeremy-grantham-profit-from-ecological-mayhem.html?pagewanted=all
M
This is excellent advice. Thank you.
That really is great advice about closing comments and redirecting to something more “Mrs. Odie,” if you will.
Because of the overabundance of gushing, over-the-top rah rah KH posts in that vast expanse we call the internet, one pretty much HAS to google “kelle hampton annoying” or some such variant to find entries that reflect a different viewpoint. I had been following the other blog for a while and started to become increasingly uncomfortable and wanted to know if I was alone in feeling that way. In the past week she revealed that she has been trying for another baby since N’s first birthday, and again I found myself wondering if there were other people out there who shared my opinion on that revelation.
As to whether or not you should maintain/delete your KH posts; this is YOUR blog. Do whatever feels right for you!
Was your opinion on that revelation that she is the kind of person who basks in the attention she gets from being pregnant/having a newborn, and now that Nella is thriving perfectly well with her Down Syndrome diagnosis and it’s not really providing THAT much writing material, KH is getting bored of not feeling special anymore and needs the “high” of a new pregnancy and baby to look forward to? Because that was mine.
I found your blog b/c of the Kelle Hampton post (can’t stand KH’s blog, BTW), but I’ve stayed b/c I enjoy your writing and your story. Mostly I just lurk. I have my own blog, but don’t update it nearly enough as I’d like to have time for.
Congrats on your new baby!
Thanks! She’s so much fun.
The Kelle Hampton Post got me hear too – I’m not even sure why I was googling that. But your writing kept me here. I think you are fun to read and I enjoy your blog
Hi Mrs. Odie,
I too was brought to your post by K-Hizzle, however I continue to read faithfully because I’m nosey and like to hear about other people’s lives. You’re funny and your kids are funny I admire lots of the choices you’ve made regardless of what “society” deems appropriate and think that you are just great! Keep it up and I don’t think you should delete any of your posts at one time it was how you truly felt and really who cares how people get here as long as they get here right? itleast that’s my thoughts. Google is an amazing device but without it I never would’ve been able to read about your hiarious daughter….the agonizing time you’ve had trying to get her into her own bed and seeing pictures of your sweet little pringles. Have a good day and don’t you fret (as my fiancee would say) it’s perfect just how it is!
It warms my heart to hear people compliment my daughter. I think she’s quite funny, but I’m her mom. Thanks for agreeing with me.
(Editor’s Note: I tried to write my reply in italics, but I can’t seem to get it to work, and my time while Pringles naps is so limited, so I made it a dialogue instead.)
Commenter: I was telling my friends about Kelle’s blog and they googled it and then told me about your blog. So I hopped on to take a read and it just emphasized how much I love Kelle’s blog. I know you probably just want to be as popular and liked as she is, and want hundreds of comments after each post but there are more people out there that want to read “refreshing” vs. Dark and negative.
MO2 (aka, me)Have you done scientific studies on this and know it as a fact, or are you just talking out of your ass?
Commenter: It’s hard to follow when all you talk about is hating Kelle. You should revamp your blog and make it more positive rather than how broke you are and how you used to be ugly. I’ve read a few posts of yours and have to stop,
MO2: Revamp my blog and make it more positive? If you’ve only read a “few” posts (I have nearly two hundred posts from the last year and a half), then you cannot really say what my blog is like or what the tone of it is. I am willing to bet you only read the posts that have a “Kelle Hampton” tag on them. There are only about 6 or 8 of those. 6 or 8 out of nearly 200 is not enough to accurately summarize the tone of a piece of writing.
“All you do is talk about hating Kelle.” You have the hyperbole of the young. Ah, to be young again. But, I digress
Commenter: go ahead check my IP address or whatever you do to track down your haters (MO2: ?) but I, actually my group of friends feel a little sorry for you.
MO2: THANK YOU! It’s about time someone felt a little fucking sorry for me. Really? So, I can’t sit at your table in the cafeteria at lunch?
Commenter: Maybe we just love Kelle so much (MO2: Clearly) that it’s real easy not to like your blog. I know you’ll probably erase this or fight back but that’s ok, I have my rights just like you have yours as a blogger.
MO2: Are we fighting?
This is almost clever. If I publish your comment and rebut it,then I’m “fighting back.” If I don’t publish it, I’m violating your rights. Not a bad effort.
Commenter: I have a successful business and a hard working husband but as successful as we are there are certainly more successful people out there but no energy is wasted on them, just ensuring we stay positive and focused on what we have. You should try that…..
MO2: Congratulations on your happy marriage and your successful business! Neither of those is easy, especially in today’s world where our country is engaged in numerous foreign wars and the economy is in the toilet.
I cannot be the only one to LOL at the irony in this comment.
I can assure you, you are not.
This made my day.
I actually found your blog because of Patti’s blog. A while back, someone commented about a blog that made fun of children with Ds, and I clicked the link to read the blog. Later, that same person commented that you were that girl’s sister and posted the link to your blog. I clicked that link, too, and found your blog (the link went to the KH post). The blog that made fun of children with Ds has been taken down (it was a spoof blog about KH, if I remember right), but I have continued reading yours because I like your writing style and dry humor. I continued reading KH’s blog until she started the Hallmark posts. I have since lost all interest.
I looked up the Hallmark thing because I didn’t know what you meant at first. Wow. I have a lot to say about this. Not about K-Hizzle specifically, but about this new style of marketing that tries to make us believe they don’t really want to sell us anything, they just want to celebrate life with us! My specialty is rhetoric and I teach the language of advertising every year. It’s my favorite unit because I think it is one of the more applicable things an English teacher can teach. More on that later.
For the record, my sister’s blog post did NOT make fun of DS children. The person who wrote that was being vile and reactionary. My sister wrote a VERY dark satirical piece. It was misunderstood by people who have an extra-sensitive knee jerk reaction to certain topics. Although, it’s gone because I asked her to change a few words and she kindly obliged by deleting the whole thing. I’m glad that you like my writing style. I do appreciate that.
LOL. The Hallmark posts killed me. “I wrote Heidi a card, just because, saying I love her for being my friend.” OR, “I wrote Heidi a card because Hallmark gave me six of them free and told me to give them to people and write about it.” If a friend of mine pulled that, I really doubt I’d be that flattered or touched by the “just because” sentiment the card claims to carry.
Your post about K-whatever is how I found you! 🙂 And Im’ so glad I did because I love your honesty about life and children. Don’t ever change. Stay cool. 😉
I was actually trying to go to the other blog and couldn’t remember the web address so I started to type her name into google. Then google suggest had “annoying” listed and I couldn’t resist. I had to click. This was just yesterday. I love finding good blogs and I’ve enjoyed what I have read so far.
I agree Kelle Hampton is annoying is how I found you as well. It might surprise you to know you do have readers that can happily enjoy reading both blogs. I do enjoy your blog because I enjoy your writing style and I can relate to so many of your parenting triumphs and low points. I do enjoy Kelle’s blog for the same reasons. Do I get annoyed with her blog, absolutely. Do I get annoyed by your and just about everyone else’s blogs at times, you bet! I know my grammar and my punctuation suck! I keep hoping that reading your blog will rub off on me and I will improve. I do wonder how you feel about gaining the readers from a negative post. Sometimes I wish that you were growing numbers from a post of your own (such as Kelles birth story) because I think you have the ability to write in a style that can touch people like that and gain blogger ‘fame’ on your own without piggybacking on a critical post about someone else’s blog. That being said I don’t think you should take it down, it’s your opinion and how you felt at the time. Leave it there. The only reason you should take it down is if you no longer feel that way or are feeling uncomfortable having it out there. Other people shouldn’t have any influence on whether or not it comes down. Your opinion is refreshing and I’m glad it brought me here. Thought I’d quit lurking, say Hello and let you know there is a weird universe where people can like both flavors. Best of luck to you with your two babies 🙂 It only gets harder, I know because my girls are the same age difference and one and a half year older then your girls. Take care.
Hello! It doesn’t surprise me that people can enjoy both blogs. Many readers have told me so, and I know people are complex. Plus, our blogs are so different that you can satisfy diverse needs by reading both. Thank you for giving me your opinion, which I value and appreciate. As to your question, I have had very mixed feelings about growing my blog from a “negative post.” I don’t see it so much as negative as I do “critical.” I teach critical writing and reading, so it’s my forte. I didn’t foresee the effect my blog post would have when I wrote it. At the time, I only had a few dozen followers. I wish that I my blog could take off for something else. I thought “Bloom” would be something, but then K-Hizzle (for shizzle) had the same title. Now I have been thinking about “Flourish” but I discovered yesterday that another blogger has that too. Although hers is about trying not to shop. What a hard life where the place you can make improvement is not shopping.
It only get’s harder??? Oh SHIT!
I like this blog and I say keep your opinions about KH up. Many others feel the same way and you have really pointed out so many things people are thinking about her and her fairy life.
I don’t read her blog often but I read a post recently where she refers to the oldest as a “toddler” (WTF? Isn’t she like 5 years old?) and there is still no mention of this older one going to any school. No preschool, no kindergarten, no supposed homeschooling. Why don’t her mindless followers ask her if she does anything with that kid besides pose her for pictures for her blog and take her to the beach. She’s a very strange woman IMO.
Her daughter only turned 4 in July. Actually she has talked quite a bit about home schooling and her debate on home schooling or sending her to public schools. I still call my three year old a toddler…I thought they were toddlers until they were 4 or 5ish. What do kids come after they are toddlers anyway? I guess at 3 or 4 they start being called preschoolers? See I’m still new at this parenting gig…I work through it and learn every day 🙂
I’m not sure when a child stops being a “toddler.” I know they don’t start kindergarten until 5, even though I was 4. I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to start them at 4 anymore. As a public high school teacher, I think school is a better option than homeschool in almost all cases.
I think a lot of people may get here by accident, as google suggests phrases when they try to google Kelle Hampton to get to her blog or other info about her. That just happened to me as my computer is playing up and somehow responded as if I had clicked on the phrase when I meant to just search her name. I am sure your blog, which seems funny and well written, is its own place and valued by your readers. But I am just trying to reassure that maybe not all these links have any intention or significance behind them. I enjoy Kelle’s blog and don’t feel any dislike for her at all, but I feel confident she doesn’t need her fans to stick up for her and think that you should be allowed to speak freely. So I would just take the posts down or leave them up based on whether you feel comfortable with the sentiments expressed (or are happy to let them reflect how you felt at the time instead, and how much the links annoy you). After all, it is too late to take them back in that those most concerned have probably read them. I don’t like to think of Kelle reading your comments or being upset by them, but I accept you have freedom to say what you think and that when you enter the online world negative or unfortunate things are an occcupational hazard. I can see it annoys you that people think that is your whole blog, but as I mentioned above that may be accidental in part.
By the way I have not recently read the posts, I saw them on your blog some time ago through the accidental link and have since arrived a couple of times the same way. But I haven’t reread them so I couldn’t say my advice includes a proper memory of your critique. That doesn’t seem that relevant anyway. One thing I couldn’t help but notice this time I came to your blog – your mention of your age. You are still young, I think you should not worry about being a new mother at 39! Plenty have done it older and been there to have fun with their grandchildren.
Sorry to post a third time, I know that’s annoying. I just wanted to add that while I really am keen for people to have freedom of speech and believe that the decision on whether to delete the posts should be based on your own views of them, I personally should say that I find them a bit discordant with the personality I have just seen in your other posts when I read down from where the link sent me. I am not saying it is discordant, I don’t know you. But for me ‘hate’ is an inappropriate response to the blog in question – you might have issues with it or find it annoying and not your thing, but why would that make you feel hate toward the writer? That seems inappropriate (for want of a better word), unfortunate and a reflection more on yourself, which may not actually be accurate, it may just be a choice of extreme and perhaps misleading wording. If it is a true reflection, or if you are happy to let people take it literally or not as they wish, then you might prefer to leave it based on personal principles of your own. I think people would understand though if you just didn’t want the hassle and deleted it for practical reasons rather than anything else.
Whenever I get comments like this (praise followed by carefully worded criticism), I wonder if it’s a test to see what I will post and what I won’t. Maybe I’m paranoid. Or maybe I am a GENIUS. You said you hate to think of Ms. Hampton reading my posts. Don’t worry. She’s a big girl. She’ll be just fine.
I think slut, oops I mean lutska, was trying to impress you with her big words, punctuation and her overall knowledge of the English language. Which is slightly ironic, given her name.
As far as KH goes, I think she actually is secretly depressed and very unhappy. Normal people don’t go on a hunt for “adventures” on a regular basis, unless they are trying to escape something. Don’t delete the original post. It was you and your thoughts at that moment. Honest. Authentic. Most blogs are missing that nowadays with all the sponsors and I-can-make-lots of-money-through-my-writing mentality.
“lutska” really needs to cover herself as Hampton’s plant better than this. I think it’s fairly obvious…and annoying.
My brain keeps seeing the word “slut” scrambled in lutska.
I too stumbled upon you a great while back when googling Bloom+KH. I do enjoy her blog at times and I also thought your posts on here were extremely entertaining. Definitely do not delete!
KH’s most recent post starts like this….”when I write the key board and I are practically lovers”. I am convinced her entire blog is a scam and her father is writing those posts. Wouldn’t Hallmark and all her sponsors love that one!
Keep your posts up. There is something “off” with KH and maybe the people with half a brain will finally figure that out when they come across your blog.
Of course I had to read it. The bit about having a cigarette after grossed me out more. Ew.