February 28, 2010 — FROSTBURG — As a stay-at-home mom, Jessie Staggs can sometimes go weeks without mingling with other first-time mothers.
That means a simple problem like finding new snacks for her14-month-old daughter, Sophia, can be difficult to solve.
“There isn’t too much interaction with other moms out there, especially in this area,” said Staggs, 22, who is using “attachment parenting” techniques such as breastfeeding and co-sleeping. “It’s kind of hard to find women who have my ideals about parenting.”
Enter: The Blogosphere.
Staggs, who started her own blog just after Sophia was born, threw the snack question out there a couple of weeks ago and received more than a dozen ideas.
“Cheese sticks, diced apples, diced pears, diced banana, fish crackers, applesauce, yogurt, granola bar, fruit snacks,” a blogger known as “Night Owl Mama” said.
“My little guy (almost 3) could live on cheese with a little popcorn tossed into the mix from time to time,” a blogger called “The Angel Forever” said.
Added blogger “I Am Harriet:” “Peanut butter and about anything works for me.”
Such is the power of social networking. And Staggs, whose “MomaLoveBug” site has about 270 followers and gets about 2,000 hits a month, is working to stay on the cutting edge of new technology as she continues her journey into motherhood
“I’d say it’s a hobby — I wouldn’t call it a job,” said Staggs, who recently attended a conference in Nashville called “Blissdom,” which offered workshops on social media, storytelling, marketing, photography, and Vlogging, or video blogging. The conference is for women who “find and express their bliss by publishing online,” its Web site says.
“It was really to help you find your voice, help you get your name and find a niche,” Staggs said.
That part has come pretty naturally to Staggs. En-thralled with motherhood and eager to exchange ideas with others, she started out writing tidbits for family and friends, and has ended up writing reviews for a variety of baby products, offering give-aways and other contests for her readers.
She’s sampled and reviewed everything from chewable jewelry to fabric baby carriers, spill-resistant snack cups to digital day counters.
“It just sort of evolved,” Staggs said. “I was in search of products I could use with my daughter. When you’re a new mother you’re always looking for products to use. We are eco-friendly in this house, so we cloth diaper, and there are thousands and thousands of cloth diapers in the world. Not all of them are great.”
The Internet helped Staggs connect to a larger “attachment parenting” community, as well — a term she wasn’t familiar with until encountering others who shared her views. Attachment parenting involves techniques that nurture strong connections between parents and children, such as the mother “wearing” the baby in a sling much of the time, and the baby sleeping in the same room, or even the same bed, as the parents.
“(Blogging) opens up millions and millions of women who share the same ideals we have for parenting,” said Staggs, whose husband is a massage therapist in Berkeley Springs.
Staggs, who calls Sophie “Lovebug,” learned the term from her grandfather.
“His nickname for all the grandchildren was ‘Lovebug,’” she said. “That’s something that stuck with me and stuck with me. When we decorated Sophia’s room we did everything with lady bugs ... I love being a mom. It’s something I always wanted to do.”
Contact Kristin Harty Barkley at kbarkley@times-news.com
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Related Photos
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Jessie Staggs works on her Web site Thursday afternoon at her home in Frostburg as her 14-month-old daughter Sophia is nestled into a sling that Jessie wears. John A. Bone/Times-News
New mom blogs her way to parenting
Site gets about 2,000 hits a month
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