Better babies through blogging

By Julie

Three years ago today, I began publishing DotMoms.

People often ask why I started this group momblog. Here's the answer.

I believe in the power of writing to help us understand our lives.

I want to encourage writers to tell the whole truth about parenting, and in the process I want to give them the opportunity to work with an experienced editor, receive feedback, publish their momoirs, and gain confidence as authors.

I also want to connect those writers with readers eager to see their real lives as parents reflected, so we could learn together that while each mother's experience is singular, motherhood doesn't have to feel like solitary confinement.

When we give voice to our struggles and successes, our trials and triumphs, we free ourselves from loneliness, from fear, from judgment. Telling the truth frees us from the prison of our perceptions and releases us into the world of possibilities. If knowledge is power, then knowing we're not alone gives us the power to connect with others. Knowing we're all flawed gives us the power to accept ourselves and others. Knowing who we are as mothers gives us the power to choose how we parent.

That's DotMoms, enlightening parents, one post at a time. Because enlightened parents are happier parents, and happier parents create happier childhoods.

When I first started DotMoms, there were a couple dozen mom bloggers and no single daily blog where you could read a collection of mothers' voices. I never promoted DotMoms, but readers, journalists, publicists, marketers and advertisers found us, wrote about us, asked us to promote their products. Now, there are more mom blogs than I can count, more sites that feature multiple mothers' voices, and more activity in the momosphere than ever before.

Still, DotMoms serves its purpose as a place where warm, witty, wonderful women write about their lives as mothers, and where readers can start the day informed about parenthood and infused with a spirit of optimism about family life.

DotMoms has been keeping mothers company since 2003. If it takes a village to raise a child, then you are our virtual village. Thank you.

Julie Moos is founder and editor of DotMoms. She lives with her husband and 10-year-old son in Safety Harbor, Florida.

Comments

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You need time to create that brilliant and in addition real effort to create a excellent post.

[Cheap New Era Hats]

thanks nice post,and thanks sharing!!!!

[lacoste observe]

I loved being apart of the start of this Julie!! Thank you SO much

[lacoste 2010]

i mis-read "we free ourselves from loneliness" as *we free ourselves from loudness*- there are some days where that's a tough choice! proud to be a member of this virtual village!

[vigilon security]

A very informative site with a wide range of interesting perspectives. I'll certainly continue to visit it. Well done!

[Print Gloves]

A very informative site with a wide range of interesting perspectives. I'll certainly continue to visit it. Well done!

[Susan Tordella]

This site is a cool place to connect with others mothers.

I'm looking for parents interested in reviewing my book, "Raising Able: how chores cultivate capable young people."

Also known as "Do I have to? How chores brat-proof families."

email me for a review copy. You'll learn how chores empower your children and you can retire as the house servant!

susan at susantordella dot net.

[Lexie]

Where are you all? I just found you, and its 2010?? anyone still there??

[cpap]

Thanks for this, Kudos to you and have a great day!

Sam Nisbett

[Kelly]

Dear Author of DotMoms

Hello.

This is Kelly from feedmil.com, a new search engine dedicated for fast feed discovery.
I am writing to invite you to submit a short informative description about the feed you publish at http://roughdraft.typepad.com/dotmoms/index.rdf.

At feedmil, we provide not only feed search but also individual feed pages so that users can conveniently examine more details about a feed before they decide whether or not to subscribe to it.
For instance, your feed page at feedmil can be found at http://feedmil.com/feedview?q=%22DotMoms%22&urlhash=a29e2509d20a912245a329c08739c081&v=g0haf

Description about your feed in your own words will be listed under the section titled "Words from the Author(s)" of your feed page at feedmil, and we believe that it will help your potential subscribers better understand what your feed is mainly about and what kind of feedback you want, possibly increasing the number of subscribers to your feed.

You can send me any content you like to be displayed under "Words from the Author(s)" for your feed by replying to this email, and any kind of additional materials in the form of attachments in the reply email would be welcome as well.

I sincerely thank you for all the great content you publish, which makes the service like ours possible.
Your attention would be highly appreciated.
Thanks.

Best wishes,
Kelly
The Feedmil Team

PS: More about feedmil.com

- Service launched: April 22, 2009

- Alexa ranking: 13,692 (as of May 25, 2009)

- Some recent articles reviewing feedmil.com

* http://lifehacker.com/5239005/feedmil-digs-deep-to-find-interesting-content
* http://svchronicle.com/2009/04/feedmil-long-tail-search-engine-for-rss.html
* http://www.searchenginejournal.com/feedmil/10166/

[Kimi]

Hello and Happy November, Junior Magazine!

There is a profound pressure placed on young girls in current day society based on their image: the need be thin, beautiful and appealing. Instead of looking to serve others, the focus is constantly on "me!" The struggle of peer pressure emerges and girls strive for whatever it takes to be well liked and popular. They fear walking the road less traveled because, to them, it appears to be the lonely road. Girls fear failure. Due to this fear, we oftentimes see far too many girls let life pass them by as they ‘go with the flow.' One will find that as you look back upon your life, the moments that stand out are the ones when you have done things for others. Oftentimes, people forget to think beyond themselves. It is our desire for "Megan Hearts" to empower girls to try new activities and as they gain knowledge and skills, learn to recognize the importance of using them for benefits that reach beyond themselves.

My sister and I just finished "Megan Hearts Baking," the first book of the Megan Hearts series devoted to helping inspire and empower young girls (ages 5-9) to explore new hobbies and create new goals.

In the book, Megan has been invited to a birthday party and she wants to bring her favorite treat-- cupcakes! But Megan is nervous about making them, for her last baking adventure sadly ended in a baking fiasco. What will she do? Join Megan and her mom on this sweet endeavor as, together, they learn how to bake the most delicious cupcake with just a few simple steps: finding a recipe, creating a shopping list, understanding measurements and measuring utensils, rules of kitchen safety, the finishing touches, and, at last, sharing the tasty treats with friends and family! Become engaged, as Megan gains confidence from working through mistakes, experiences joy while discovering her special strengths and abilities, and develops a love for learning- the sweetest treat of all!

At the end of the book are biographies of real life people that have used their passion for baking to open cupcake shops around the United States. The following cupcake shops are featured in the book: Cake and Art (West Hollywood), Sprinkles (Texas and Newport Beach), Magnolia Bakery (New York), Cupcake Project (online blog) and Frosted Cupcakery in Long Beach :) The reason for these bios are to empower young girls to dream big!

I'm writing to find out if you would be interested in reading some of the story story? I would love to get your personal opinion:) And if possible, is there a way of getting a review or mention of this book in your magazine.

Thanks for your time, I look forward to hearing back!!!!

Thanks,
KIMI

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[kelly]

Good for you! Follow your dreams. I enjoy DotMoms. ;)

[Anjali]

Thanks for all that you do. You and DotMoms were the start of a revolution of mothers who write about their experiences. Congrats!

[amy h.]

Julie-Thank you so much for creating dot-moms and being the driving force behind our success. Through this experience I have grown and built my confidence as a writer while learning, laughing and connecting along with the other dot-moms. Kudos to you!
~Amy

[Amy]

I loved being apart of the start of this Julie!! Thank you SO much

[chris]

i mis-read "we free ourselves from loneliness" as *we free ourselves from loudness*- there are some days where that's a tough choice! proud to be a member of this virtual village!

[Robin P]

It's amazing to think that when I joined DotMoms in April of 2004,I was the 15th DotMom.
I think this is a great place to write,share and vent. It's always helpful to get such positive feedback from the readers.
I've learned a lot over the years.