It's Up!!!

Today marked the official unveiling of (the beta version of) ParentsConnect.com, the often-mentioned-but-never-really-explained parenting website for which I now work. There are actually PEOPLE there now...and not just people I invited to the pre-beta site who gloated but never bothered showing up. (Yes, I'm looking at you, Rich.)

Here's the official 'word' on what ParentsConnect really is:

ParentsConnect is a new online community where parents, prospective parents, and other caregivers can quickly find and easily share advice, ideas, opinions...even laughs. At ParentsConnect, it's the parents who have been there and done that who are the real experts.

Key features include: personalized home pages that update dynamically, Host Parents who help keep discussions lively and blog on the site, and local advice and kid-friendly listings powered by GoCityKids.

ParentsConnect is for all parents--and grandparents and caregivers. It's not just for moms, or for people who share one particular philosophy or experience. ParentsConnect is also for parents of all kinds of kids. You won't feel ignored on the site if your kids are over 6 or even if they're over 16.

You should come by and check out the site (at http://www.parentsconnect.com) just for the fun of it, because getting in on the ground floor is awesome and makes you feel super cool (even if saying things like super cool and awesome is neither of those things). But you should also come by to hang out with ME, one of the aforementioned Host Parents. There are 21 of us (16 moms, 4 dads, 1 grandma), and we each have multiple roles on the site. My screen name is...oooh, abandoning some of my carefully cultivated anonymity here (if you've never followed links to my book, that is)...LoriO, and I host the various boards on the Health & Wellness subtopic and the Life/Work Balance subtopic. Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease come and comment on a thread or two there. I want my boards to look busy. I NEED my boards to look busy. This is how I feed my kids, people!

You can find my boards listed in the drop-down menu which will show up if you click on the green "Discussion Boards" tab at the top of the personalized home page.

And then there's my pride and joy, my other blog, called The Mom Report. (You didn't know I was cheating on you all, did you?) It's my look at and take on some of the parenting news that's fit to print. (The tag line, which is currently missing on the newly redesigned board, reads: "Dispatches from the front line sof parenting: The good, the bad, and the you have got to be kidding me.")

Right now, there's no one-click way to get to it on the site, unless I happen to be the "Featured Parent" on the left hand side of your screen when you go to your homepage. HOWEVER, if you click the "Meet the Team" link (which is part of the box talking about whoever IS the Featured Parent of the moment), you will be able to find me in the sea of faces and then click on the link to my blog there.

And if all of that is too confusing for you (it is for me), try this:

http://www.parentsconnect.com/home/profile/blog.jhtml?username=LoriO

Did I mention that I *need* you guys? That I need your comments? That this is how I feed my kids? And my ego? Well, consider it mentioned. Again, and again, and again...