An ode to the Busy Mom™

and the money she spends

When I google the phrase “busy mom,” the first website to appear is one called, appropriately enough, Busy-mom.com. The tagline of the website is “connect with other busy moms just like you!” It’s a pretty lo-fi website with bad graphics and articles entitled things like “Announcing the Busy Mom Fashion and Home Decor Line” and “Healthier Fettuccine Alfredo” and “The Costs of Saying I do: A Mature Woman’s Point of View.”

The first image to pop up when I google “busy mom” is this one, which seems about right.

Image source

In America, the Busy Mom™ is a harried mess. She is eternally bedraggled, her coffee is always cold, and she appears ever in search of a wine glass emblazoned with the words Mommy Juice. She is trying to do it all because she lives in a country that insists she do it all.

Regardless of whether or not we, as mothers, work both inside the home and outside the home; regardless of whether or not we have one child or six; regardless of whether or not we can afford to pay for help with childcare, house work, and meal prep; we are all the same according to marketers and advertisers. We are all Busy Moms™ in need of products to compliment our Busy Mom™ lifestyles.

When a Busy Mom™ shops for a multivitamin, a lint-roller, or a car, the Algorithms That Be will distinguish between a lint-roller meant for all people and a lint-roller meant specifically for Busy Moms™, and while I’m but a lowly culture writer and not a business or market expert, more often than not, Busy Moms™ pay for the privilege of buying shit marketed specifically to them.

Here is a bag marketed to moms. It costs $162.00