Building Community, One Mama at a Time

Building Community, One Mama at a Time
Published 2006 in Off Our Backs

Being a part of several mama communities has helped make my parenting experience enjoyable and fulfilling. Over the past four years, I have found that communities come in many different forms. By getting involved in local groups, taking advantage of online resources, and publishing a quarterly parenting zine, I have connected to other mamas in ways I never dreamed possible.

When I was on maternity leave with my first son, I spent most days at home watching the mind-numbing line-up of dating and makeover shows on TLC (The Learning Channel). When he would nap, I'd get online and chat with "synchro" mamas that I'd met at Hipmama.com when I became pregnant. The synchros were my main source of empathy, information, and entertainment. And thanks to the Internet, it was instant. Not instant in the sense that I could confer with them about my son choking, but instant enough that I could come back from lunch and have a handful of opinions regarding the weird rash around my right areola...(Read more)

Synchro-mama

Synchro-mama
Published July/August 2004 in Clamor Magazine

When I became pregnant in September of 2001, I officially stopped lurking on the Hipmama.com discussion boards (the online companion to Ariel Gore’s zine Hip Mama) and became a member. I had heard about the zine through a friend in town and found the website after ordering a subscription for my sister. I knew that if and when I became a mama, I wanted to be a hip one...(Read more)