Cool Sites for Moms

The abundance of choices on the net these days for moms is nothing short of amazing. New to motherhood? Well, isolation is a thing of the past, thanks to the thousands of quality sites that have popped on the mom-web galaxy. Nowadays, all geographic areas have mom sites that highlight that locales upcoming events and resources.

Boston Mamas, founded in 2006 by Christine Koh, (a Beantown Mom with a Ph D in music and brain science),   "is a one-stop resource for families in the Boston area and beyond". On Boston Mamas you can find out what's happening weekly from Arlington to Wellesley, and everywhere in-between. The easy to navigate search engine helps users swap baby gear, find families with similar age kids or adhere to the shop locally movement.

New York has Big City Moms created in 2003 by a pair of truly amazing sisters, Risa Goldberg and Leslie Venokur, as well as a more recent entry The Pregnant New Yorker, founded last year by Janet Markovits, a prenatal massage therapist.

Here in the Carolinas there's Charlotte Parent, a part of the Parenting Publications of America (whose members include more than 100 parenting publications and websites around the US and in Canada). 

Then, there are the huge sites like Cafe Mom which claims to be the # 1 Internet site for moms and is a virtual empire of motherhood.  Users can join online groups on Cafe Mom based on your location, religion, hobbies or hundreds of other criteria that meet ones needs.  

Or start a new group around a particular topic of interest to you with just a few clicks. When discussing Internet sites for moms, how could we ever forget the trio of slick commercial sites The Knot, The Nest and The Bump .  To prepare you for any life cycle moment a twenty-something can think of, these three linked sister sites are a vast retail encyclopedia targeted toward those who are marrying, setting up a home or expecting the stork.

And lastly a new personal favorite of mine, Babble which recently voted for their 2nd annual 50 Top Mom Blogs. Entries are categorized by type : funniest, best design, most useful, best written etc.... Babble is the 2011 version of your mothers Good Housekeeping Magazine, except so much more. It's linkable, clickable and updated continually instead of in monthly installments which were outdated by the time they arrived at moms mail box or the supermarket check-out counter.

The diversity is extraordinary so there's something out there for everyone in this vast world of mom Internet resources. As mesmerizing as it is though, don't forget to get to the park after nap-time to discuss your finds with the real live moms sitting beside you on the bench.