I approached becoming a mother the way I approach everything in life. I jumped on the net and did some research. How moms in the pre-internet age managed I’ll never know. What with milk intolerances, babywearing, introducing solid foods, sleep training etc, etc, how did they know what to do? Little H is a touchy baby. We’ve been through it all, tried everything. If it wasn’t for the net, I’d have lost my mind for sure. So in a gettin’ to know you kind of way, I thought I would share some of my favorite ‘net hangouts.
#1 – Pregnancy.org
I joined when I learned of my pregnancy. The message boards are the best I’ve ever found. Women from all over the world bond through their pregnancies and the births of their children. I feel I’ve made some true friends there. As a first time mom, nothing is more supportive than hearing from many different experiences. I even found a mom whose baby slept as poorly as little H. Until then, I felt like I was the only one. We even discuss non baby related things (gasp!) These women are talented and creative souls.
#2 – Zoetrope.com
A place where writers post their work for critique. Need to know if a sentence works? Post it. Need to keep up on literary news? Check the message boards. Network, read, read, and read. I have to admit, I haven’t posted much for critique but I have been reading. There are a lot of inspiring writers who frequent the boards.
#3 – Etsy.com
Like ebay without the bidding and Ipods. Everything is handmade. Beautiful things. Beautiful photos and many creative Moms trying to make a buck from home while the baby naps. I’ll be featuring some Etsy moms soon.
#4 – Meetup.com
After being in the house for three months with a baby attached to me I needed to get out. Meetup has mommy groups that go for walks, coffee, play groups and movies. I’ve made a few friends and have also just found a writers group. When you live in a city of over a million people and don’t know anyone, this is a great place to start.
#5 – StumbleUpon.com
A remote control for the internet. Push the button and away you go! It’s an easy to use tool bar that helps navigate you to sites you might have never found otherwise. Set your interests and it shows you what you want to see. I love setting it to stumble blogs. So far I’ve come across a few creative mom blogs. Who doesn’t want more of those in the blogroll? When you find a site you like give it a ‘thumbs up’ and it will remember it for you. It also shows you sites with higher rankings in the areas of your interests. Check it out and ‘Thumbs up’ Maternal Spark! (you can do it through the bookmark image at the bottom of this post)
I hope you like some of the pages I’ve suggested. Feel free to email this post to friends. And chime in with comments and share your faves too. What sites can you not live without?
Heather,
A lot of people used to put down
Dr. Spock for spoiling a generaion,
But my former wife used to swear by that Anti-war medico–besides, Dr.Spock work.!
Give hime a read anway if you have time.
Tale out of school: Margret Atwood has has at least two children, says the first year after childbirth your brain seems like mush.
Rough go.
But obviously, she got it back.
I’ll forward this to a friend who is expecting.
Wonderful resources. I’m just like you a child of the internet. This post will definitely be passed around. Thanks for sharing all the info.
Ivan – yeah, my brain was pretty mushy for quite a while.
Charles – I hope she likes it!
Marissa – Pass it away, I’m glad you found something interesting here
The internet is hands down my #1 resource for parenting. I wasn’t online when I had my first almost 12 years ago and the going was much harder than when I did it a second time.
Msg boards are an amazing resource. The one I’m loyal too is a little bawdy but it is perfect for me.
I adore your blog, I can’t wait to poke around it a bit more.
Thanks for the sites. I will def. check them out.