Parenting via message board

Take a look at any new mom’s bedside table and you’re sure to find a state-of-the-art video monitor, an emergency paci, a sour bottle, and a mountain of parenting books piled higher than the lamp. “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child”, “The Happiest Baby on the Block”, “Baby 411”…

Unless she’s a caffeine-pill-popping freak of nature that can learn via osmosis while sleeping with her hand on top of the stack of books, no real mom could ever get through one of those reads from start to finish. Let alone 20 of them.

I’m sure many of the authoring medical professionals, therapists, and “experts” have lots of valuable lessons to teach. But I’m willing to bet that other moms in similar rocky boats can probably impart the same wisdom in far less than 750 pages.

A stranger to message boards before starting Two Blue Peas, I assumed all of them were places for weirdoes to lurk and zealots to press issues. I was totally surprised to discover a handful of mommy boards that were just the opposite.

These communities are chock full of ladies seeking and providing advice, empathy, and unbiased ears for venting.

In addition to invaluable first-hand accounts and brutally honest opinions, I found friendships that had formed completely online. Bonds that were created by going through like experiences and sharing about them.

If you’re late on the message board wagon and are sick of staring at that intimidating mound of books, whip out the laptop and see what TiredMommy911 has to say about her encounter with projectile green vomit. That subject is probably not covered in chapter 35 anyway.

My favorite boards:
> Mommies With Style
> BabyCenter