Meet The Parents (Who Blog)

I have to confess, before last Friday I didn’t know very much about “Mommy Blogs.” It wasn’t a world I inhabited, and I wasn’t sure what to expect.

The Silicon Valley Moms Group was in town for the annual BlogHer conference, a gathering for women entrepreneurs in the Web world, so we invited them to my office for a visit. There was no better way to learn who they were, and why they wrote about their lives online.

Many of these women blog from home while raising young children. Some have jobs outside the home and spend their free time online with their friends. All of them are smart, successful, and tech savvy.

Since the meeting I’ve been reading through some of the blogs to see what they’re like and what subject matter they discuss.

It is not just cookie recipes and potty training tips. These women tackle everything from the 2008 presidential election to who will win American Idol. They exchange ideas, boost each other up, and keep each other informed about the world around them.

The comments on the blogs are as interesting as the entries themselves. Real conversations are happening on these sites. As one blogger from NYC Moms Blog said, it’s like the world’s biggest college classroom.

This cyber sorority is a support group, a safety net, a virtual how-to handbook on parenting, and a back fence to gossip over. In other words, a lot of the components of that famous “village” it takes to raise a child.

For many professional women, the prospect of giving up a career to stay home and raise children is bittersweet. In my own experience, there is nothing more rewarding than the time spent with my daughters. But it can be tough for moms to leave the challenges and social interaction of the workplace.

These bloggers have found a way to stay engaged, to stay active, and, in some cases, build successful second careers in the online world. And, if and when mommy bloggers want to return to the workforce, the blogs are a natural networking tool.

It makes you wonder, how did we do this before the Internet?

I look forward to learning more about my new online friends! Moms Rock!

I posted a video of some of the highlights from the afternoon on my YouTube channel.

Here are some links to the blogs represented in our meeting:

http://www.svmoms.com
http://www.chicagomomsblog.com
http://www.nycmomsblog.com
http://www.dcmetromoms.com
http://www.newjerseymomsblog.com
http://www.lamomsblog.com
http://www.50somethingmoms.com
http://www.savvyauntie.com
http://www.blogher.com