I do not remember how I stumbled on her Instagram. As I browsed her feed, I was intrigued by snippets of her blog posts. And although I do not have young children, the excerpts of her posts were not only exciting but relatable.
Several days later, I poured myself a glass of wine and visited Mommylogue.blog. I was blown away by her stories. They were about her experiences as a mom, but they were so much more. Some of the things she wrote about were relatable; others gave me that aha moment, while others made me contemplate.
She is affectionately known as Elle DoubleU Pepper on Instagram, and it is also her gracious signature on Mommylogue.blog. Still, Lindsey Whiting-Schnepper is a 40 something real-life mommy documenting mommyhood in all its glory and glamour (or not-so-glamorous moment). A bachelor’s degree graduate from Hofstra University and a dual Master’s Degree graduate from New York University. What started as a therapeutic exercise for Lindsey and a way to document milestones and memories of her boys’ lives have blossomed into something raw, honest, at times messy, beautiful accounts of true mommyhood.
As an avid mommy blog reader, I find Mommylogue.blog refreshing and REAL. I marvel at her stories and the inspiration she provides for someone like me whose baby is no longer a baby. I can only imagine the comfort her stories provide to mommies who need to see what true motherhood is.
A collage of moments that confirm we are doing the best that we can, and that is ok. The rest of us are relieved to know that mommyhood is fantastic, heartwarming, heartbreaking, a blessing, beautiful, exhausting, and a series of imperfect moments. One can appreciate the kind of candidness Lindsey gives–some of us are comforted that we are all in this together and that mommyhood is not perfect and is not meant to be.
What is Mommylogue.blog?
It’s my inner dialogue—my mommy voice—unedited, unfiltered, and undeniably relatable. It’s my real-life documentation of the milestones of the coveted community called mommyhood from the pages of my diary.
Lindsey Whiting-Schnepper
Lindsey’s description of Mommylouge.blog says so much. It is a highly inclusive community showing us the true adventures of mommyhood. Something we did not know we needed but are so incredibly grateful to receive.
March is National Women month, and our theme here for March is The Power of A Woman. What better way to celebrate than to celebrate A Mother, someone who is making a positive impact on mommyhood–positive, genuine, honest, and nontoxic stories to confirm that you are not alone and your struggles are every other mother’s struggle.
I asked Lindsey what she believed to be the Power of a Woman from a mommy’s point of view, and here is what she said.
Power is defined as
the ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially as a faculty or quality.” Or it is “the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.
Some words are just easy to define— others have infinite meanings— like the words woman and mother.
Try as one might but defining what it means to be a woman or a mother is next to impossible. Simply because it can mean something personal to the person holding the title. The complexity of being a woman and being a mother is multidimensional.
What happens when you put them all together and try to understand them or explain them, and answer this open-ended question: what is the power of a woman from a mother’s point of view?
I really had to think about this. I am all two, a powerful woman and mother. Most of us in this community are. Not in the physicality alone but in the things we can do you don’t see. Having the strength to give others their own personal power is what it means to be a mother. Give them the roots and the wings.
I have the ability to guide my children through their lives in such a way they will successfully arrive at their own desired choice. Being able to influence them comes from not just the love but the trust between us. Partly because I was once in their shoes, so I have perspective.
I read this quote early on when I became a mother:
To inspire people, don’t show them your superpowers— show them theirs.
It spoke to me. It stayed with me. It is not really my role as a mother to just be the guide but the mirror — I must reflect on what I project.
Though there’s something interesting about having power— it waxes and wanes. It’s not always consistent. Sometimes you hold it, and sometimes it holds you, and sometimes you have to hand it over like a torch or a baton. You have to be willing to share the power when you’re a mother, or you will be met with a power struggle.
And the struggle is real for a lot of mothers and women. That is when you lose trust and perspective.
I am not a new mother or an old mother. And I’m just shy of being a middle-aged woman— Oh boy, that’s hard to say at 41 years old. I have been part of the motherhood community for a little under a decade.
I have two children. Two boys. I’m the only woman in my house. So with this, it is my responsibility to not just influence how my sons observe women but how I represent them so they can understand them. Respect them. Love and cherish them. First, it begins with how they do this with me as their mother and then if and when they find their own women out there who they want to mother their children.
Both my boys went through a superhero phase literally and figuratively. My older one is now into the power that comes with the right kinds of sneakers that give you speed and arc, and my little one is all into protecting the night to save the day and wearing a cape.
They think of these symbols of heroism as what it means to be powerful. However, I told them that in addition to these larger-than-life figures, it’s the everyday heroes that we really should aspire to be or become. The ones who can do things we want to do not just can’t do. Being a mother is just that. Make the possible and possibility a reality.
Having the magic touch without the magic is just the mother. Being our own superhero. Women have been doing this for years regardless if they ever became a mother.
I never imagined almost ten years ago, I would be capable of the things I can do. It’s not that I didn’t believe in myself or have a built-in role model, my mother, but until I was put to the test of the roller coaster of motherhood, did I know how powerful I am.
I wrote a letter to myself last month—a love letter. In the letter, I wrote it to the girl I was before I became a woman and a mother— twice. I told her that who she was becoming was someone she would have aspired to be. She must also not forget to love herself. Self-love is just as powerful as when we get it from someone else, if not more. Something I remind my boys of all the time. Not just to be confident but connected to the core of who we are. That’s powerful.
At my core is my heart and inside my heart is the power of my love for my children. My family and friends. My role in all of it — as a mother and a woman, in no particular order.
I might never be able to define myself as a mother and a woman simplistically and be met with the complexities of the terms because these titles continue to evolve as I do. But there is power in knowing that power shifts, evolves, and so do perspectives, and if I share myself and my heart with the ones who fill it, I will always have the power of my purpose.
What a beautiful and robust response from Lindsey. Please stop what you are doing and head to Mommylogue.blog and follow her on Instagram at @ElleDoubleUPepper, whether you are a mommy or not.