Do you remember when "mom" was just what you called the woman who gave birth to you? (Mum, in my case.)

Now the word "mom" is a whole marketing strategy. The momification of every sector from business to fashion and entertainment to blogging is ongoing. There doesn't seem to be an area that can't be mommified. And I say this as a writer who is proud to be called a Mom Blogger (said with only slight sarcastic intonation).

You know that mommydom is trendy when even the celebrities are pulling out their mom card whenever they can. From their baby bump to getting their body back, a celebrity mom gets extra media attention, more tabloid shots and possibly extra sympathy from the cultural group known as "moms".

When I first heard that Disney was rebooting The Muppets, I didn't really give it a second thought. They were funny when I was kid, but the decades-old movies are a bit painful to watch these days and their goody-two-shoe optimism has had its day.

But then the trailers and the spoofs came out and it felt like the Muppets were in on the joke. Could this be a reboot of characters from my childhood without all the cynicism and sexed-up characters that plague all the other comebacks from my youth?

I don't know how you do it. I get told that often by moms of only children or people with no kids. I don't know how you do it is what I often tell moms of four kids or more or who work full-time and still manage to coach the soccer team and write thank-you notes.

I don't know how any of us do it.

Did you line up to see Harry Potter this weekend? Did you cower at Voldemort? Cry at the end? Revel in all things Potter?

Harry is like a member of our family. We even discussed naming our puppy Sirius or Patronus after a character and a protection spell. (We settled on Joey for no reason other than that it is what we came with.)

My husband read each book to my now 11-year-old. The two of them lined up at midnight for the last book to be released. They have been part of a cultural moment that I don’t know will ever happen again. It was a journey they took together and I love J.K. Rowling for that gift. In fact, that reason alone has made me a Harry Potter fan for life.

Have you seen Rango yet?

We haven't, so I shouldn't really comment on it... but here I go.

There was an article in the Globe and Mail that detailed a controversy over the smoking in the animated kids' flick. Seems that some supporting and ugly characters smoke in the movie and that has raised the ire of some parents and the pediatrics associations in North America.

It is shameful, and it is our little secret. My husband likes to watch the Bachelor Pad and Dating in the Dark.

It is helpful to be reminded how horrible it is out there, he tells me.

And the out there is everywhere. It's fun to watch the hook-ups, the break-ups and the questionable fun of single life. Added to that is are the joys of watching public divorces.

Outraged Moms, Trashy Daughters, screams the headline from Maclean’s magazine. The article then goes on to pose the question: How did those steeped in the women’s lib movement produce girls who think being a sex object is powerful?

I wonder that too. I read about Rainbow Parties and see the girls walking down the street in their best hooker garb. The girls gone wild mentality has made trashiness an approved form of dress but also a respected way of engaging with the opposite sex. We went from dividing up good girls and bad girls to bad girls being good. As if owning one’s own sexuality was the most important goal of the feminist movement.

Wow. Miley Cyrus has been through some big changes recently. A new home, a new boyfriend,  a new tattoo, and a new slutty look. I guess when you grow up under the media spotlight, 18 is a lot more like 23. Too bad that the girls who have been watching her mature on the tween hit Hannah Montana missed those 5 years because they are still aging along the normal growth rate of young girls.

So you can understand why they might be a bit confused about the recent changes. They (and their parents) know Miley Cyrus as a flouncy skirt, kooky outfit, wig-wearing, wise-cracking teen with a second identity as Hannah Montana. But she seems to be want to be known as a leotard-wearing, arousal-inducing young, umm, woman.

6:00 a.m. the alarm goes off. Phil (Bill Murray) turns, sits up in bed and hears, “It’s Groundhog Day!” for the umpteenth time and then goes on to have the same day over and over and over again in the 1993 comedy classic Groundhog Day.

6:00 a.m. the baby cries, you turn over feed it, realize baby is soaked, get up to find some diapers, realize that the baby is now up for the day, and so are you, just like the day before. Welcome to your own personal version of the movie Groundhog Day.

I went to this beautiful coffe & play place yesterday where the toys are all wood, the food is all organic, the beans are all fair trade and the babies are named Fisher, Penny and Oona. It's the kind of place that is cropping up in lots of urban neighbourhoods where new mothers can go and feel safe that their infants won't be polluted by anything outlawed by Health Canada, or Dr. Sears.

And I was so jealous. All those new moms relishing each and every stage of babyhood: the hours their babies are sleeping, what rituals they use at bedtime, which bouncy seat is best, which organic cream works on eczema. Their earnestness is touching. At some point some of those moms are going to be third-timers and they will look back and laugh at their fear of dirt and plastic and all things that are not made of bamboo.
Click to see a movie trailer of crazy cute babies