Blog On

Not that you’ve got five minutes to yourself, but if you did, you’d like to find a way to chronicle life as a new mom and get out all your frustrations to boot. You could start a journal—or hop online and start a blog.

Many parents have done it as a means of keeping family and friends up to date on developmental milestones and daily goings-on. A few have even made them into a full-time jobs, such as Heather Armstrong of Dooce.com . The stay-at-home-mom probably didn’t have fame in mind when she began rambling about everything from her raw battles with postpartum depression to her lovingly geeky hubby, but she’s got about 4 million page views per month and makes a good living just being herself.

Blogging is a great way to work out your feelings during the early days of motherhood, and an easy way to record this moment in time. Before you go putting all your stories out there for the world to see, though, know this—Armstrong isn’t always loved by the public, and some of her posts have alienated her family. The internet is broad and public, so make sure that whatever photos, video or words you share are ones you don’t mind the entire world viewing. The internet is also forever, and many mommy bloggers are asking how much is too much exposure.  After all, you may think little Susie’s endless repetition of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” is adorable, but it doesn’t mean she'll be excited that you shared her whole life with complete strangers when she's old enough to read it.  [Wall Street Journal]