“Well, it’s your first day.”
Those were the first four words Jill Smokler announced in Scary Mommy. It was March 21, 2008, and little did she know that this little corner of the Internet would become home to millions of mothers. Those four words changed her life, and the lives of many of us.
It is with great sadness that we announce that Jill, the original Scary Mom, passed away at the age of 48 on June 22, 2026, after battling glioblastoma for over two years.
When Jill started Scary Mommy, she was a stay-at-home mom with three kids, and she used that space to write about motherhood in a way no one else had done at the time. honestly. She shared both the joys and pitfalls of parenting when “mom blogs” were just a novelty. She said things we shouldn’t say out loud, and because she said it first, millions of women finally felt like we were allowed to say it too.
Before Jill was born, many of us were raising our mothers in solitude, feeling lonely, insecure, and more than a little angry. She built a place where that no longer needed to be true. Laughter, self-deprecation, and unwavering truth-telling are the norm here. It’s because of Jill’s vision for a place where mothers can feel seen and accepted.
“Jill spent her life telling the truth about motherhood, which is both wonderful and impossible. In doing so, she gave millions of women permission to stop pretending and feel a little less alone,” her family said in a statement following her death. “She was funny, fearless, generous and just who she was. More than anything she built, Jill was most proud of her three children, Lily, Ben and Evan. We are heartbroken by her loss and infinitely proud of the mark she left on the world.”
In addition to founding Scary Mommy, Jill new york times He is a best-selling author and a familiar face on shows such as: good morning america and today.
Almost two decades later, the community she built is still thriving, a huge testament to the woman who started it all. If Scary Mommy made you feel like it was okay to admit that being a mom is hard, or just feel like you’re part of a community…it was Jill. She was the blueprint.
In lieu of flowers, Jill’s family requests that donations be made in her memory to the Brain Tumor Network.
Jill, thank you as always. Please rest in peace.
