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Sunday Review, 3rd Oct 99
Mom and
dad online
The honeymoon is long over and morning sickness has started raising its ugly head every now and then. That's a telltale sign that you'll be a parent soon. Welcome to the brand new world of parenting! If you're overwhelmed about the changes that will occur from now on, you need some nice soup to help you through it. And ParentSoup (http://www.parentsoup.com) is just what this online doctor orders. The site is one of the best sites as long as online parenting resources go, catering to everyone from the pre-pregnancy stage and expecting parents, to parents of toddlers, school kids and teens. ParentsPlace (http://www.parentsplace.com) is another sister site for parents to visit on a regular basis to participate in moderated chats, ask questions with experts, listen to a parenting radio show and learn more about the art of parenting. Before the baby makes its wailing entrance into the world, there are quite a few skills you need to add to your repertoire to make life easier for you. Picture the mobile tyrant trying to get its hands on anything and everything within its reach. Are you prepared for the casualties that will ensue? If not, its time you logged on to Learn2 (http://www.learn2.com), a site that offers illustrated in-depth tutorials on topics like shaving your legs and tying a tie knot. They also have a family and pets section, with crucial tutorials like making your home child-proof, burping a baby, changing diapers, cope with a crying child and soothe a teething baby. Each of these tutorials are handy online step-by-step instruction manuals you'll find invaluable in your quest to raise your kid in the early years. And a dozen years later, when that kid grows up, you can turn back to Learn2.com to figure out how to set an allowance for the demanding brat. While Learn2.com has tutorials related to bringing up kids, there are sites like About.com that bring to your desktop a great collection of online resources. The site's parenting/family section (http://home.about.com/home/parenting/) is a guide to parenting resources online and it covers an entire gamut of subjects with features, discussions groups, chatrooms and links to online resources for everything, ranging from infertility to single parenting and step-parenting. Mothers and mothers-to-be have sites created specially for them, to help them through the sudden changes that motherhood brings in its wake. Moms Online (http://www.momsonline.com) covers aspects of motherhood on all fronts - home, family, career, dished out with help, guidance and a dash of humour. Older mommies can take refuge in Midlife Mommies (http://www.midlifemommies.com), a site that helps them with the double whammy, the infamous midlife crisis and delayed motherhood. If you're looking for that Indian touch to parenting, there are a few sites closer home you should let your mouse loose on: Indiaparenting (https://www.indiaparenting.com) is an excellent Indian site. There's plenty of help for women's issue, pre-conception, pregnancy, new-born babies, baby's diet, development and healthcare and answers to your questions by a panel of doctors. In Johnson & Johnson (http://www.jnjindia.com), there's an online magazine, a baby's guide, a lost of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about babies, baby name selector, gift section and an online contest where you can share your baby story with the rest of the world. In Indolink parents (http://www.indolink.com/Parents/index.htm) site you could learn a thing or two from the kids recipes section, where a few crazy drinks and snacks lie in wait to catch your child unawares. So if you're
a new parent, share, discuss and learn with other new parents on these
sites.
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