Type A with tots.Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard In the beginning, there was Eve. Then came June Cleaver, followed by Carol Brady. Then came soccer moms soccer mom n. An American mother living in the suburbs whose time is often spent transporting her children from one athletic activity or event to another. and yoga moms and even Mr. Moms, a completely different kind of mom altogether. But what do you call a 21st century mom on the go? One who is not only educated and tech-savvy, but a kid-oriented multi-tasker who still finds time for her own career? Alpha Mom. And, thanks to the tongue-in-check label courtesy of Eugene's Constance Van Flandern, that's what the marketing world is now calling them, too. "She's a modern, confident and informed mom," says Van Flandern, a free-lance graphic designer and branding artist. "You really have to stay connected. And you certainly have to have a cell phone." Dressing hip wouldn't hurt, either. "Marketers love Alpha Moms," says Van Flandern, 41, who will discuss the Alpha Mom concept on NBC's ``Today'' show on April 27. "Marketers think that Alpha Moms are the ones to watch. It's not that Alpha Moms haven't existed before, it's just a new name to describe them." General Motors, Nintendo, Procter & Gamble - they're all focusing on Alpha Moms. Nintendo treated 35 of them to an evening at the chic Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. last fall to promote its cool Wii game console See video game console. , the top-selling video game that uses motion-sensitive controllers to manipulate action on a TV screen. Van Flandern says she came up with the "Alpha Mom" term a few years ago while working on a logo for a new video-on-demand cable TV channel about how to be a modern-day mother. Names being considered included "The Mommy Channel" and "Mommy TV." But Van Flandern struggled with the whole "mommy" concept. It only seemed part of the equation of what her life was about, what the lives of some of her best friends were about. Thus, she suggested "Alpha Mom TV," and the channel now has 11.5 million subscribers. It's all about evolution, says Van Flandern, who led the life of a successful art director and production designer for film and television in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. for 12 years. She co-produced 1994's "Blood Ties: The Life and Work of Sally Mann Sally Mann (born May 1, 1951) is an American photographer. Mann was born in Lexington, Virginia in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She attended The Putney School, Bennington College and Friends World College, and earned a B.A. " - an Oscar nominee for best documentary, short subjects - before moving to Eugene in 2002. It's not about being a stay-at-home mom or a work mom, she says. It's about balance. "I'm at my Alpha-Mommyest when I have the most balls in the air," Van Flandern told USA Today USA Today National U.S. daily general-interest newspaper, the first of its kind. Launched in 1982 by Allen Neuharth, head of the Gannett newspaper chain, it reached a circulation of one million within a year and surpassed two million in the 1990s. for a March 27 story. "It's multi-tasking to the nth degree. It's like training for the Olympics. Most of all, it's fun." It's shopping online. It's using a BlackBerry. It's having a career. It's finding time to blow bubbles in the backyard with 4-year-old Julia and 16-month-old Marston. Along with her husband, University of Oregon The University of Oregon is a public university located in Eugene, Oregon. The university was founded in 1876, graduating its first class two years later. The University of Oregon is one of 60 members of the Association of American Universities. associate anthropology professor Phil Scher, they live in a 1925 university neighborhood home that they have remodeled into a stylish, kid-centric house. Alpha Moms would seem to be a case of past moms merging with future moms. Betty Crocker Betty Crocker, an invented persona and mascot, is a brand name and trademark of American food company General Mills. The name was first developed by the Washburn Crosby Company in 1921 as a way to give a personalized response to consumer product questions. meets Martha Stewart <noinclude></noinclude> Martha Stewart (born Martha Helen Kostyra on August 3, 1941) is an American business magnate, author, editor and homemaking advocate. She is also a former stockbroker and fashion model. meets Hillary Clinton. They are "mom-entrepreneurs," Van Flandern says. ``mompreneurs ... momneurs ...'' She laughs. "There's a new word for it." They can be at home baking cookies with their kids, cutting a business deal over the phone later in the day, and still find time to shop online for the latest, hippest fashions. They can also land at No. 9 on a top 10 list - along with "cultural lux marketing," "brand sluts" and "ads in Chinese" - of ``trends to look for in 2007'' in the Dec. 18 issue of Advertising Age. The term Alpha Mom is now even listed on Wikipedia, the online dictionary. Lisa Redford, an assistant linguistics professor at the University of Oregon and a friend of Van Flandern, understands it this way: "The word `supermom' has kind of acquired a sense of victimhood with it because she's compelled to do everything because she has no choice," Redford says. Somewhere along the line, such a mother loses her identity, she says. But an Alpha Mom does what she does by choice. Maybe she's had some success in life and now she wants to be a mother; she wants to bring it all together. Asked if she's an Alpha Mom, Redford - who manages to teach full time and still make room for hiking, heading to the mountains or the beach with her two boys, ages 6 and 4, and her husband - says: "I suppose so. A friend of Connie's must be an Alpha Mom." Alpha Moms are definitely type A, Van Flandern says. They're driven, energetic, successful and often drawn to one another. For example, Van Flandern designed a logo for Tottini, a Seattle store that specializes in modern children's products, from furniture to toys. There, she met Aimee Sher. Tottini sells toddler apparel created by Sher and her husband. ``Now we're friends,'' Van Flandern says. The couple's business, Eight3One, specializes in a line of screen-printed baby T-shirts and other tyke duds such as Tot Couture. Eight3one was borne of an idea that could only be alpha-mom inspired, Van Flandern says. Sher and her husband created the business after not being able to find any toddler clothes they liked. "I just think her work is amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. ," Van Flandern says of Sher. "This is the kind of stuff marketers love." Van Flandern isn't talking so much about Eight3One's line of clothing as she is the fact that an Alpha Mom designed it, and then connected with another Alpha Mom in the process. Another friend of Van Flandern's is Isabell Kallman, a former Wall Street executive who founded the channel that would become Alpha Mom TV. In fact, this whole Alpha Mom craze really took off not with Alpha Mom TV, but with a New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Magazine article from June 20, 2005, Van Flandern says. The article, titled "Empire of the Alpha Mom," was a long feature about Kallman's life as a new mother in New York City and how she came about her creation - a 24-hour on-demand cable cable channel where it's always "Primetime for Mom." It's a place where new "mothers seeking excellence" would be able to find "the latest, best-of-breed information" on everything from preconception pre·con·cep·tion n. An opinion or conception formed in advance of adequate knowledge or experience, especially a prejudice or bias. Noun 1. and child development to how women can maintain their style, sophistication so·phis·ti·cate v. so·phis·ti·cat·ed, so·phis·ti·cat·ing, so·phis·ti·cates v.tr. 1. To cause to become less natural, especially to make less naive and more worldly. 2. and sense-of-self upon entering mommyhood." Kallman described the typical member of this new breed as a "maven of mommyhood, the leader of the pack. Definitely dominant." But Van Flandern - whose home is filled with things such as the little kitchen table she created for the kids to draw on to homemade Play-Doh to the usual stuffed animals
A stuffed animal is toy animal stuffed with straw, beans, cotton or other similar materials. Some stuffed animals are very old – home made cloth dolls stuffed with straw go back to at least the and children's books - says it's not so much about that as it is having an enjoyable, modern-day life centered on motherhood. "You don't have to have a lot of money" to be an Alpha Mom, she says. "And you don't have to be from a certain socioeconomic background. You just have to have a certain exuberance. Being a mom is a lot of fun for me." TOP 10 SIGNS YOU MAY BE AN ALPHA MOM You have a BlackBerry in one hand and a toddler in the other. You're online an average of 87 minutes a day and spend 7 percent more than the typical Internet user Internet user n → internauta m/f Internet user Internet n → internaute m/f . You get up to breast-feed breast-feed v. To feed a baby mother's milk from the breast; suckle. at 3 a.m. and turn on Alpha Mom TV. You play Wii not only with your kids, but with other Alpha Moms. You peruse pe·ruse tr.v. pe·rused, pe·rus·ing, pe·rus·es To read or examine, typically with great care. [Middle English perusen, to use up : Latin per-, per- the Huggies Baby Network online not to buy diapers, but to look for "healthy baby tips" and nursery designs. You have a housekeeper and a personal chef A personal chef is a chef that goes to a client's home and prepares meals for their client based on their needs and personal preferences. Unlike a private chef that purchases the ingredients, prepares the meal, and cleans up after the dinner, a personal chef will leave meals but bake your own brownies and put smiley See emoticon. smiley - emoticon faces on them. You have a MySpace page so you can connect with other Alpha Moms You're in your bathrobe, using your personal digital assistant to conference-call from home at 7 a.m. while making lunches for the kids. You drop off the kids at day care while talking on your cell phone. When your husband drops the kids off at day care, the provider refers to him as a ``beta dad.'' |
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