Women of all ages value social connection, emotional support, and validation from others. Mothers often especially desire to become friends with other mothers, connect with fellow moms who have children the same age as theirs, and feel a part of a caring community. Writing and reading mommy blogs helps mothers across the world to make contact with one another, learn from each other, and offer good advice and thoughtful encouragement. As you write your own mommy blog, you value the positive and honest feedback, questions and comments from other moms. Two-way relationships are developed as you write entries on your own mommy blog, read comments that other mothers make on your posts, and in turn read their blogs and make comments on their posts.

Blogging in general and mommy blogging in specific are excellent ways to build a strong network of friends and colleagues. “Social networking,” meeting and dialoguing with others on-line about various topics, has become very popular in recent years greatly due to websites including Facebook and Twitter. Facebook allows users to reconnect with former classmates from elementary school, high school and university, and stay in better contact with friends met through work, church, or leisure activities. Mommy bloggers are encouraged to set up a link to their blogs on their Facebook profile pages. Facebook is an especially popular tool for sharing photos and viewing family and friends’ photos. Although users are given space to write “Status Updates,” they are restricted to a limited number of words.

The social networking site Twitter has become immensely popular across the globe in the last several years. Twitter users, sometimes known as “tweeple,” write messages known as “tweets,” that are limited to 140 characters per message. Mommy bloggers are advised to begin a Twitter account to help promote their blog and allow other moms and dads to discover their existence in the blogging world. Each Twitter user has to select a special Twitter name for themselves, and mothers with blogs are encouraged to name your Twitter account after your blog’s name. For example, if your mommy blog is named “SmartMommy.com,” then you can select “SmartMommy” as your twitter name. Twitter is an excellent tool for getting in contact with other mommy bloggers. Hundreds if not thousands of mommy bloggers have twitter accounts, which they utilize to promote their blogs and develop their readership.

Although many mothers love using both Facebook and Twitter, mothers fond of writing, on-line journaling, and taking photos often prefer sharing their ideas and experiences with their friends and family through their own personal mommy blogs, where they have an unlimited amount of space to write posts and upload photos.

There are now several blogging networks that bloggers may join, some set up exclusively for women and mom bloggers. For those women interested in joining a blogging network, check out the very popular www.BlogHer.com. Thousands of women have joined the network, which allows women to list their blogs in a directory organized by themes, such as parenting, finances, and cooking. The network posts blog entries on a daily basis from a myriad of writers and editors. Members can message one another back and forth and design personalized profiles. Devoted bloggers can even consider attending BlogHer conferences to meet other bloggers in person.

After two happy years of marriage, my husband and I were expecting our first born child; a baby boy! Being first-time parents, we were hoping to capture every precious moment of my pregnancy. We planned on taking lots of photographs of our baby son during the first few years of his life, and recording his special milestones for prosperity. My husband and I brainstormed ways that we could document my pregnancy and our baby’s childhood memories.

We discussed the possibility of us keeping a journal together. I have been journaling since I was six years old, so I liked the idea of us keeping a pregnancy journal and babyhood journal. But what would we do with the myriad of photographs that we planned to take? Should we keep them in photo albums? We both enjoy our photo albums from our childhood and our years together, but we were hoping for something a little more interactive.

We thought about a baby scrapbook. I have several dear friends who keep beautiful scrapbooks of their children and vacations with their family. Yet the idea of spending time cutting out papers and trimming photos with fancy-edged scissors and decorating pages with stickers and mementos didn’t fully appeal to me and my hubby.

We both invested some time in doing some research. We talked to trusted family, friends, co-workers and neighbors. A fellow teacher mentioned how much she and her husband enjoys learning and being entertained by what she called “mommy blogs.” She recommended that my husband and I seriously consider beginning our own “mommy blog.” My friend made a good point when she shared with me that creating my own blog would combine to of my favorite interests; writing and taking photographs.

The following weekend, my husband and I took time to Google “mommy blogs” and were pleasantly surprised by our results. We discovered some very humorous, very candid, and very educational mommy blogs. My teacher friend was correct; most quality blogs featuring both written entries accompanied by photographs of family members, friends, family pets and so on.

After doing research together, my supportive husband and I realized that the term “mommy blogger” describes any woman who writes and maintains a blog (short form of “web log”), who is a mother; either a pregnant mom-to-me like I was, or a mother of babies, young children, elementary school children or even teenagers. A mommy blogger writes on a regular basis about family-related topics, such as marriage, parenting, favorite family activities, favorite children’s books and toys, humorous antidotes about her children and marriage. I was eager to get started with my very own mommy blog and found the mommy blogger community to be extremely supportive when I needed help! Now I make a a part-time income online from learning so much from other bloggers and Internet Marketers.

So, do you want to be a mommy blogger?

Being pregnant, having a baby, and raising children are precious periods in a woman’s life. Consider documenting parenting highs and lows, parenting milestones, stories about your family and fun antidotes about your children in your own mommy blog.

Step One

Decide on the blogging platform that you intend to use for your blog. Research the various options available to you. WordPress and Blogger are two of the most popular free options for blog hosting. In order to make the most informed decision, I suggest that you read several mommy blogs that use WordPress and several mommy blogs that use Blogger and decide which one has the most features that appeal to you.

Step Two

Decide on a creative name for your mommy blog. Brainstorm names with your husband, trusted friends and family members. Maybe turn it into a game and have everyone suggest two possible names for your blog. If you have any family members or friends who write their own blog, turn to them as your “experts,” share your blog’s possible names with her/him, and ask for honest feedback.

Step Three

Create an account on the blogging platform of your choice. Customize your blog. There are an amazing variety of blog templates available to choose from. Take time to discover the one that appeals to you the most. Look for a template that has easy-to-use features, colors that you like, and a format that suits your needs. Once you have narrowed your options down to your favourite three or four templates, ask your husband or friends to share their favorite with you to help you in making your final decision.

Step Four

Consider the issue of privacy. Remember that your blog could possibly be read by anyone who has access to the internet. I recommend that you do not share your last name on your blog. Some blogging experts recommend that you make up imaginary names for yourself, your husband, and children to further protect your privacy. Exercise caution as well when it comes to sharing photographs of you, your husband and children.

Step Five

Congratulations on selecting a name for your blog and setting up your blog account! Now for your first special milestone û writing your first blog entry! Brainstorm a variety of topics to write about and perhaps keep your ideas saved in a word processing document. Share fun and unique information about yourself, your husband and your child or children.

Step Six

A wonderful and effective way to allow your readers to get to know you is to create a special “About Me” page on your blog. Here is where you can share several favourite photos of yourself, you and your husband, your children and any family pets. You can share a little about your educational and work background, keeping privacy issues in mind. You may wish to share your favorite authors, favorite bands, favorite television shows, favorite parenting books, and favorite hobbies. Maybe include some words about your personal parenting philosophy.

Life as a wife and mother is filled with many joys and blessings, but also comes with many hardships and challenges. It’s important for a woman’s emotional and mental health that she can develop a support network of trusted friends, family, co-workers and neighbours whom she can depend on when days are long and energy levels are low. Devoted husbands attempt to support their wives emotionally and relationally, taking their partnership with their wives as co-parents seriously, and nurturing their friendship with their wives as well. However, even the most loving and nurturing husband cannot meet all of his wife’s emotional and social needs.

Women were born to be connected to others, and require friendship and encouragement beyond their marriages. Some women are blessed with caring and loving mothers, cousins, aunts and grandmothers who circle around them and help them with raising their sons and daughters. Some women are thankful to have a network of thoughtful and inspiring friends, from work, church, and the neighborhood.

No matter how much support a mother receives from her husband, children, family and friends, most women long to connect with other mothers who can understand the pluses and minuses of motherhood, women who can laugh and cry along with them. Mommy blogs provide an ingenious solution to the innate need women have for connection and fellowship. Mothers from the world over can connect with other moms and learn from their stories by reading their mommy blogs.

Mommy bloggers are witty, creative, humorous and intelligent women with a special gift of putting their unique parenting and marriage experiences and lessons into words. Mommy bloggers share with their readership, often consisting of other mothers, tips for parenting, tips for family finances, tips for new moms, and other nuggets of advice on a daily or weekly basis. Mothers from various countries can connect with one another through their blogs. Many mommy bloggers welcome comments and feedback from other moms. Moms can become good friends through their blogs, sharing the highs and lows of parenting and marriage with one another.

Mommy blogs are popular with readers because they provide a constant source of entertainment and enlightenment. There is an old African proverb that it takes a village to raise a child. Mommy blogs enable fellow mothers from around the world to gather around one another emotionally, dispense timely words of wisdom, share words of comfort, and help one another with the life-long responsibility of raising children.

Motherhood can be a lonely and discouraging place at times. Many women experience bouts of anxiety and depression throughout their pregnancies and during motherhood. Courageous mommy bloggers are not afraid to write about real issues that affect mothers, including postpartum depression, financial worries, and struggles with their husbands. A major cause of depression among women is social isolation, so connecting with other mothers through mommy blogs may help women feel more encouraged and less anxious.