Blogs: Not Just For Poop Stories Anymore

A common misconception about blogs is that reading a blog is like reading someone's diary -- but the kind of boring and badly-written diary some of us kept back in middle school.

Dear Diary, Today I went shopping with my mom and bought three shirts that were on sale and are sort of like the shirts Lauren wears. I like them alot. Hate Lauren tho. She thinks she so great because her mom lets her wear dangle earrings and a training bra. Anyway, then we came home and ate pork chops and I did my homework and thought about Mike F. and oh my God, I love him so much. If I don't marry him I will be so sad my whole life. Good night, Diary, I will talk to you tomorrow and tell you which shirt I wear.

Obviously, through the power of THIS VERY BLOG, I have probably shattered that misconception once and for all. After just two weeks of linkage, the entire world now knows that blogs are actually well-written, entertaining, informative and possibly the most important new media in the entire world.

But just in case there are still a few doubters, today I want to tell you about some bona-fide useful blogs that are way, way more interesting than my seventh grade diary, also known as "Amy's Earnest and Poorly-Punctuated Ramblings About Dreamy Boys, What She Ate For Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and Also How Much She Hates Lauren."

Ask Moxie: Got a parenting question? Go ahead. Ask Moxie. She knows. Moxie was kind enough to leave a comment on Friday's post with a link to her entry about the dreaded baby growth spurts and sleep regressions. And wow, it told me pretty much everything I needed to know, including the most important part: TEMPORARY. And then I got sucked into the vortex of her archives and read pretty much every entry about babies straight through to the toddler years. And now I am officially the world's greatest mother, or at least the most informed.

CoolMomPicks.com: Do you like buying stuff? Or looking at stuff? Stuff you would like to...buy? Then Cool Mom Picks is the blog for you. It's founded and maintained by a fabulous posse of bloggers who take breaks from talking about poop long enough to write about very cool kid and baby gear (and maybe some impractical stuff that moms need, because honestly. Buy yourself some jewelry with the Lamaze toy money and give the kid a box of tissues to play with.).

ChickenSpaghetti: Want to find books for your kids that they will actually read? And will not actually drive you crazy? Actual Real Life Writer Susan Thomsen maintains this blog about children's literature for all ages -- book reviews, industry news and stories about reading to her six-year-old son. So far I haven't seen her entry about Why Eric Carle Is A Baby Book God And Why Amy Will Buy Anything With His Name Slapped On It, Including An Overpriced Set Of Stacking Blocks This Weekend That She Loves Waaaaay Too Much To Let Noah Actually Play With Or Breathe On, but I'm still getting caught up on her archives.

Cooking with Whine: ClubMom blogger Becki has started up a recipe & cooking blog, where (in her own words), she'll "share recipes that I've found that work for me, and I'll tell or show you where I got them. I'll beg your help in my Quest for the Perfect Meatloaf. And I will provide graphic illustrations of why three year olds should be not be trusted to place the lid securely on the smoothie blender before you press 'frappe.'"

I am pretty darn excited about that last bit, but also with trying out her recipe for cappuccino muffins. Oh man, YUM.

Pretty commenter people inside the computer, what other blogs out there are your go-to sites for actual useful information? And is anyone out there like me, who considers the Celebrity Baby Blog an essential daily visit, because oh my heck, WHAT IS BRITNEY DOING NOW?

Comments

[Leah]

I adore Ask Moxie and may have used it as fodder in arguements with my husband from time to time. I then thought I won, but he still thought there was more to be said. Nope! No more!

[Lena]

I'm addicted to CMP and Moxie. I also checked out Cooking with Whine and.. hey!...there ARE other things I can do with wine occasionally, so I'll keep checking on that one.

And the Capp Muffins did make my mouth water a little more over my flax oatmeal.

Also, be glad you have a boy Amy because if you had the Country Critters Playset you too would set up all the little furniture and tell your four year old daughter to "Take a hike! You'll mess it up". It's that pretty.

Off to check out Chicken Spaghetti...

[Jen14221]

I like how you tied in the Poop Story title with your wonderful Noah's Poop at Brunch Story on Amalah.com.

Always, Always, ALWAYS take extra diapers, wipes and a fresh change fo clothes with you when you are going anywhere. That's the most important thing I remember from when Will was Noah's age.

And now that he is 2 and a half, brunch out with the husband and baby is a dim but fond memory.

[janet]

I'm not a mom, but this site makes me want to be a mom!

Kiddley (www.kiddley.com)

It's from Australia, which already makes it cool, plus it's got all kinds of little crafty and other ideas and projects for a range of ages. It's done by blogger Loobylu, who might be the cutest (very pregnant) illustrator and artist (and mom) ever.

(I tried to put the actual links in there with html but it didn't seem to work...)

[joy]

for now i am relying on you to dish it up for me, so i can seriously procrastinate while i sit here at my office computer and "work." coolmompicks is seriously dangerous though--and i MUST have the cocktail napkins. celebrity baby blog? is the devil's work.

[Becki]

Thanks for the love, Amy! I'll be posting tonight's dinner (enchiladas) as soon as I can get Lydia to sleep for an hour---which may mean not until bedtime.

[Elleana]

Yeah, Celebrity Baby Blog is a daily read for me. (Okay, sometimes I go there more than once a day, like maybe 2 or 3 times a day.) It IS the devil's work, but I love it so.
Thanks for giving me more blogs to check on a daily basis. Now, if you'll only tell me what to do with these darn children who keep insisting on being fed and played with. Can't they see I'm trying to read some blogs?!?

[Nancy]

Awesome that you gave props to Becki -- she's an amazing writer and I've long enjoyed her other blog (Adventures of a Nervous Girl.)

And I'm pretty partial to CMP because I'm an occasional contributer there. :-)

But Chicken Spaghetti is new to me -- thanks for the heads up!

[Susan Thomsen]

Amy,
that's too funny about the Eric Carle blocks! You know there's an Eric Carle Museum, don't you?

http://www.picturebookart.org/

Thank you for the shout-out. Very kind of you to mention Chicken Spaghetti. Can't wait to check out these others.

[Mom101]

Thanks for the CMP shoutout!

One of the sites we wrote up way back when is Rookie Moms (rookiemoms.com)--Wonderful tips, suggestions, projects for mothers of young children, grouped by age and interest.

Also thanks for calling me pretty. I'm having some major hair issues today and it's a relief to hear you can't tell.

[Mommy off the Record]

OMG. Did you say cappucino muffins?! I'm all over that.

[Contrary]

'Because, oh my heck, what is Britney doing now??'

Man, you are doing so good with the not cussing here. But that one sentence looked like it must have hurt with all the internal editing.

By the way, I just spent way too much time at the Celebrity Baby Blog.

[foodmomiac]

Ah... the misconceptions of blogging. Know it well. ;-)

Thanks Amalah for sharing all of these great resources! Oh, and if any of you have any nagging food dilemmas, feel free to email me via my blog at foodmomiac.com. I will tackle any food-related question. Throw 'em at me.

[the kim half of glamorouse]

Hey! If you're going to promo Cooking with Whine, what about our Eat Me blog (www.eatmeblog.blogspot.com) which does the same thing. Sure, some measurements are in that wacky system called metric, but it's all.about.the.food.

I have been a bit tardy of late with putting up new entries. I have 20 in draft format.

But I PROMISE, if visitor stats now go through the roof, I'll go back to updating every.single.day. Promise.

Just like that promise we all made as a kid to walk the dog every day.

[Moxie]

I think I should add a tag line to the Ask Moxie banner that says "It's temporary." Because whatever the problem is, someday the kid will leave your house and it will no longer be your problem.

The only thing I don't like about Celebrity Baby Blog is that I get sucked in by the posts about people I've never heard of, like Aussie Rules football players and their girlfriends having babies. I'll be all, "Oooh! Fergal McFerguson and his girlfriend Baz McKennough are having twin girls!" Even though I can barely even keep Posh and Becks' kids straight, let alone players from a sport I never watch. It's a sickness, this CBB.

I'm trying hard not to click on the cappuccino muffin recipe.

[mdvelazquez]

Thank you for the great sites. I don't have children, but those are good gift giving resources for me.

Here are two that I like
Mighty Goods Shopping Blog - http://www.mightygoods.com/
Manolo's Shoe Blog - http://shoeblogs.com/

Maria

[Sabrina]

Yes we have to read the dirt on the celebs, especially on Britney because it makes us feel SO much better. LOL

[Genevieve]

Chicken Spaghetti is indeed a fabulous site. Glad to see the plug for it!

Another great kids' book site is A Fuse #8 Production, at http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/ .

[Occidental Girl]

Celebrity Baby Blog is my religion!

Not really, but I do read it every darned day...

[Melissa]

I love Moxie and Cool Mom Picks!

So much so that I started my own nerdy-girl art historian/bibliophile go-to blog (warning, shameless pimping):

PenelopeRoom.com

Basically I like telling what you need to read and look at to be considered my friend. But wait, then you tell me what you dig!

The most fun for me is Sunday's The No List: shit you must not buy.

Come visit, enjoy, share!

[tina]

I am hooked on blogs too. if only i had more hours in a day. its hard enough to get a shower in. I do have to admit i love www.connectingmoms.com 's product review page where moms get the products for free to review. I also have met amazing women that have helped me discover and answer questions.

[sopitikoj]

Hi all!

Beautiful site!


G'night

[likopinko]

Hi

Best site I see. Thanks.


Bye

[lokimikoj]

Hello

Very interesting website. Keep up the outstanding work and thank you…A

[kewHeepeUneno]

You don't really need or want that lifestyle, it might hurt y'all slowly more.......Just tell him you
don't wanna repeat something your not too proud of z7uas.