Why your pitch hurts my feelings.

I understand that PR representatives are busy people and do not have the time to review every blog top to bottom. I am okay with that. What bothers me is when I receive an email with a subject line such as "Check out our: Super Pointy Stabby Awesome Ninja Knife!!!!!!". Clearly this person did not skim my blog. I am the mother of two children under two. Neither child needs a super pointy stabby awesome ninja knife. Why would I review such a product? What about CrunchyVTMommy screams super pointy stabby awesome ninja knife?

I can forgive this though. Some people use their blogs to pay the bills and I am not about to judge them for their choices but anyone that does read my blog briefly would know that super pointy awesome ninja knife toys are not a good fit for me or the readers of this blog.

This is minor in the grand scheme of things. My real beef is with the assumption that because I blog primarily about motherhood related topics that I am an idiot. I have received a significant amount of emails asking me to promote brands/products/contests for free. Why should I?

What makes people think that because I no longer wear a suit that I do not consider what I do to be work? Maybe I have been unclear: I consider this work, I enjoy it, and I take it seriously. I take everything I do seriously which may be why I am not that fun to play Monopoly with but anyway I would love it if people stopped treating me like an idiot. I know that blogging about your company for the *chance* to win a bunch of some stuff that I do not want or need is not in my best interest. Did you think that I do not know that my blog has better stats than yours? I know. I am aware that you are the sole benefactor of my efforts. I also know that you are asking me to work for free and that hurts my feelings a bit.

I am not nor have I ever been stupid. I am happy to volunteer as a charitable pursuit but not to benefit anyone looking to profit from my work. Women are not idiots solely because they choose to classify themselves as mommy bloggers or whatever the current attempted derogatory description du jour is. I am sure that your generic pitch works from time to time because you get lucky, someone wants your doodads, or just plain doesn't know better but it is to your detriment. You should want to cultivate a reciprocal relationship. Why create adversaries by insulting someone's intelligence?

I am a mom and I blog but I don't work for free.