Today I know about message boards

I have decided that I want to write about book. So I figured that the best way to get into the habit of writing would be to start blogging. Here goes nothing.I have repeatedly been told that you should write about what you know. While I know about a lot of things, at the moment I seem to the reigning expert on parenting/pregnancy message boards through ivilliage. I got into them when I was pregnant with Noah and became hooked. For the record, while I will admit to checking the boards several times a day, my goal in life is NOT to have "1,000 posts to the September Snuggle Bug 2004 Playgroup." But right now I do have 387 posts since I started posting in January 2004. And I also REFUSE to get a paid membership to the boards. As far as I can tell, the only reason people shell out money is so they can get a schmaltzy signature (siggy) that says "Mary, loving wife to Joe and proud mommy to Harmony, Symphony, Melody and Baby Orchestra EDD 5/13/05" with a cheesy picture of the happy (and musical?) family. And if you are going to pay for a membership and get someone to desgin you a siggy you will also need to get a few tickers that say things like "My baby is six months and 3 days old" or "361 days until our anniversary." And let us not forget the newest ticker on the market "My baby has been breast fed for 64 weeks and 3 days,". . .so we can brag about our accomplishment and make other mommy's feel bad for only breastfeeding for a few months. Now that I think about it, if you're going to get a siggy and a few tickers, you would be remiss if you didn't also include with your signature a minimum of 25 blinkies that tell people about yourself. You can find blinkies online that say just about anything. Now that the babies the message board are 6 months old, people are starting to talk about when they are going to start trying to conceive (TTC) their next child. So there are now a slew of blinkies that say things like "On Hold, TTC #6 Summer 2005," as if trying to conceive is anyone's business but your own. Or "I love my baby boy" or "Proud SAHM" (stay at home mom). And for the record, why doesn't anyone have a blinky that say's "Proud Working Mom?" Another popular blinky is "Jesus was breastfed." Speaking of breastfeeding, my personal favorite blinky is a photo image of this woman's child being breastfed that flashes between the baby on her breast and the length of time he has been breastfed. To me, this is more than I EVER NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT ANOTHER MOM AND HER SON! Why do I post on the boards. . . .that is another entry.