One of my favorite guilty pleasures on TLC is I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant. For those of you not familiar with the show, it’s pretty self-explanatory–it’s a reality show about ladies who did not realize they were preggo until they’re giving birth in the toilet at work or whatever. The New York Times’ Lisa Belkin points us to the latest “surprised mom,” Kentucky native Kelly Bottom. We want to hear your own urban legends: Do you know any “surprised moms” personally or were you one yourself? Are you also a fan of crazybananas reality shows? We want to hear from you in the comments!

Last week, we had a mom who was down with all the slang the kids are using these days, one who was encouraging her daughter to take up the oldest profession, and another who thought that condoms might be good for her son’s care package.

1. Thought You’d Appreciate My Coolness
2. Hockey Problems
3. Show and…Vibe?
4. The Happy Hooker?
5. Snuggle Time Coming Right Up
6. Agree To Disagree
7. What Goes Into a College Guy’s Care Package
8. Maybe I Can Get Dreads
9. Think About It
10. Mass Intensity

The excellent website Babble is fielding the following question from a stumped Momma-to-be: How do you pick a baby name? Jessica’s mom was inspired by the Merchant of Venice when she named her daughter. She thought she was being original. Little did she know that Jessica was the most popular name for girls in 1982. D’oh! We want to hear about how you chose your child’s name or how your mother chose your name. Post your stories in the comments below.

The most popular posts of the past week… from a mom who wasn’t sure how her daughter’s name was spelled to a mom who couldn’t bear the thought of being snowbound with her husband and son.

1. That’s Not My Name!
2. My Googilly
3. Trapped With Dad and Bro
4. Swallow After Reading
5. There Was a Lot of Paperwork Involved
6. Home is Where the Mom Is
7. I Hope Your Two Broken Arms Heal Soon
8. Fart Credit
9. Case of Mistaken Chat Identity?
10. Learning the Ways of Facebook: Friends and Farmville

Here at Postcards some of our favorite entries have been from moms reentering the dating world.  The website momversation asks the excellent question: When should your kids meet your new man? We would love to hear about all your experiences in the comments–both from moms who are dating and the kids who have met new boyfriends. Just think, it couldn’t be much worse than if your mom brought home this guy. [Momversation]

Last week’s highest-rated posts taught us secrets about aluminum foil, reminded us that moms need fashion advice for Erykah Badu concerts, and made us consider the difference between brownies and “miniature chocolate bites.” Enjoy!

1. Did You Know About This?

2. Customer Service

3. How to Have the Best Valentine’s Day (Maybe)

4. Snow Day for Mom’s Ass

5. President of the I Can’t Stand David Cassidy Fan Club

6. AC/DC Is the Best Medicine

7. Dessert Psychological Warfare

8. Cougar Vs. Frump

9. Mom the Olympics Commentator

10. The Truth About Mom’s Hot Boyfriends

Babble has a nice list up of all the Olympians who are also moms. Out of 207 women in the winter Olympics, only 15 have kids, and most of them are curlers–including Canada’s Kristie Moore, who is competing in Vancouver while she’s 5 months preggo. Yahoo’s Shine wonders if Olympians are too competitive to be moms, a pretty silly question if you ask me. What do you think about moms who are also Olympic athletes? Did you ever spend a lot of time training for an amateur athletic event (a marathon, a swim competition) as a mom? How did you balance your free time with your athletic pursuits? [Babble, Shine]

The website Babble has an essay in its “most viewed” column in which a mom says that she is going to be naked in front of her sons, even when they become teenagers. She is careful to note that she has very strict parameters involving her nudity, but that if her kids “stumble upon me in a state of undress, so be it. If they don’t want to get an eyeful—they will learn to knock.” What do you think about this mom’s declaration of nudity? When did you stop being naked around your own kids? [Babble]

We’re going to try something new here at Postcards–every day or so we’re going to throw in a piece of mom-related news just to keep things interesting and provoke discussion. Today, via Lisa Belkin’s Motherlode blog at the New York Times, does motherhood affect…wait what was I typing? Oh yes! Memory! This common malady is also known as “baby brain” or “mumnesia,” but a new study shows that moms are just as forgetful as non-moms. The only time cognitive function declines for women is in very late pregnancy. For the moms: Did you find that you were more forgetful while you were preggo? For the daughters: did your moms forget everything they didn’t write down? [New York Times]

Check out last week’s most popular posts, calculated by number of clicks! We’ve even got a few posts hanging on from the week before…

1. Obama’s Speech Makes Muslim Mom Happy

2. Re: David Carradine’s Death

3. “The Talk,” Now Via Email

4. No Mustaches for You! (last week: #1)

5. Girls vs. Boys (last week: #3)

6. Technology Success… And Fail

7. S/he’s All That (last week: #2)

8. Put On Your Patience Sombrero

9. Contraceptive Bummer (last week: #7)

10. I’ve Named Him Super Pig.

Check out PFYM’s 10 most popular posts (by clicks) from last week:

1. No Mustaches For You!*

2. S/he’s All That

3. Girls vs. Boys

4. This is a Test

5. Why Mom Got Defriended

6. Llama Guilt Trip

7. Contraceptive Bummer

8. If You’re Going to San Francisco…

9. Momma Needs a Brand New Jag

10. Mom’s Virtual Farm Addiction

* Mustache not representative.

We wanted to let you know about a program that Postcards From Yo Momma is really excited to be a part of. Current TV’s From Your Lips: Parents Just Don’t Understand, airing Monday, June 1, 11:30pm EST/8:30pm PST, will explore our generation’s relationships with our parents through the lens of viewer-created content.

Our generation interacts with our parents in ways that generations in the past never have. We are more likely the children of divorced parents; we seem to communicate more often in large part due to new technologies; we cut the cord later in life; and we talk to them more like friends than authority figures. Still, we experience difficulty dealing with cultural traditions that may fly in the face of these new trends, and struggle with how we may want to raise our own children.

In this episode of From Your Lips, viewers meet Jaratt, who struggles with the fact that his dad has “friends with benefits;” Jordi, who goes on a road trip with her mom; and a young filmmaker who makes a movie about a young man moving back in with his folks, starring his folks. Along the way you’ll hear from experts on the subject, hear what kind of advice your parents have given you, and see what modern-day postcards from your mother sound like, courtesy of Postcards From Yo Momma.

Tune in on Monday, June 1, 11:30pm EST/8:30pm PST, on DirecTV (358), Comcast Nationwide (107); Dish Network (196); Time Warner Nationwide (check your local listings); AT&T U-verse (189).

We wanted to say happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there who have been gracious and good-humored enough to allow their ungrateful children to submit to our site (and our book!). The site wouldn’t exist without you, and we have learned so much from your tender, funny, smart, caring messages. We also wanted to wish our moms, Judy and Robby, a very wonderful day.

Doree and Jessica

Calling all New York-area Postcards From Yo Momma fans! TOMORROW night, we’ll be reading from our new book LOVE, MOM: POIGNANT, GOOFY, BRILLIANT MESSAGES FROM HOME (still time to buy before Mother’s Day!) at the 92nd Street Y in Tribeca, at 200 Hudson Street. The hilarious comedian Catie Lazarus is going to be moderating. It’s going to be a fun time! Tickets are only $12 and you can buy them online. And of course, we’ll be signing books.

Hope to see you!

xo

Doree and Jessica

Attention all Boston-area Postcards From Yo Momma fans! We’ll be reading from our new book Love, Mom: Poignant, Goofy, Brilliant Messages from Home THIS Saturday, May 2 at 2pm, at Brookline Booksmith. (279 Harvard St. in Brookline; directions here.)

Please join us–we would love to meet you! Plus, Doree’s mom will be in attendance, so you can also meet half of the inspiration for the book.

xo,

Doree and Jessica

In today’s Times, Postcardsfromyomomma.com and Love, Mom were featured in an article about blog-to-book deals. Click here to read about us! Thanks again to all our lovely contributors for making this book possible and remember: mother’s day is a few short weeks away and our book makes the perfect gift.

We’re doing a reading from our new book based on Postcards From Yo Momma–LOVE, MOM: POIGNANT, GOOFY, BRILLIANT MESSAGES FROM HOME–at the Books Inc. in Laurel Village in sunny (yes, can you believe it?) San Francisco this Friday at 7pm! Yes, that’s TOMORROW! Come on by, say hello, and get your books signed.

Hope to see everyone from the Bay Area tomorrow night!

More notices for Love, Mom in the press! We were featured in New York’s Approval Matrix this week in the brilliant and lowbrow quadrant — exactly where we like it. In addition, Doree blogged about the book in the Huffington Post, Jessica did an interview with the internet radio show On The HomeStretch, and their moms answered reader questions on Jezebel.com. Remember kiddies, Mother’s Day is only a month away and our book is the perfect gift for the discerning matriarch.