“Here goes. Day One.”
Those were the first four words Jill Smokler ever published on Scary Mommy. It was March 21, 2008, and she had no way of knowing that this little corner of the internet would become a home for millions of mothers. Those four words changed her life, and so many of ours.
It is with great sadness that we report Jill — the original scary mommy — passed away on June 22, 2026, at 48 years old, after a more than two-year fight with glioblastoma.
When Jill started Scary Mommy, she was a stay-at-home mom with three kids, using the space to write about motherhood in a way no one else was at the time: honestly. Back when “mommy blogs” were just a novelty, she shared both the joys and the pitfalls of parenting. She said the things we weren’t supposed to say out loud, and because she said them first, millions of women finally felt allowed to say them too.
Before Jill, too many of us mothered in a vacuum: alone, unsure, and more than a little pissed off. She built a place where that no longer had to be true. Here, laughter, self-deprecation, and unwavering truth-telling are the norm. And that’s because of Jill’s vision for a place where moms could feel validated and seen.
“Jill spent her life telling the truth about motherhood — that it could be wonderful and impossible in the very same breath — and in doing so, she gave millions of women permission to stop pretending and feel a little less alone,” her family shared in a statement following her passing. “She was funny, fearless, generous, and entirely herself. More than anything she built, Jill was proudest of her three children, Lily, Ben, and Evan. We are heartbroken to lose her, and endlessly proud of the mark she left on the world.”
In addition to founding Scary Mommy, Jill was a New York Times bestselling author and a familiar face on programs like Good Morning America and Today.
Nearly two decades later, the community she built is still thriving, and that’s a huge testament to the woman who started it all. If Scary Mommy ever made you feel like it was OK to admit motherhood was hard or simply feel like you were part of a community… that was Jill.
In lieu of flowers, Jill’s family has asked that donations in her memory be made to The Brain Tumor Network.
Thank you, Jill, for everything. May you rest in peace.
