Featured Blog: A Parent's Life to Behold, Through the Eyes of Insanity and Bliss

A tongue-in-cheek look at her, experiences in mommyhood, A Parent's Life to Behold, Through the Eyes of Insanity and Bliss is our newest Ask Baby Kid featured blog.

Parenting Tip: Laugh, and your children will laugh with you. Love, and your children will do the same. And most importantly, hide your own stash of cookies, cakes, or whatever sugary substance you love in a secret compartment, and eat it when they aren't looking...

Blogging Tip: Write down every idea and/or theme you get the minute you get them, even if that means getting out of bed at 2am and banging it out loudly on your laptop, or using lipstick to write on your arm while driving, or writing it on the back of the cereal box you are about to buy, or, just have pen and paper handy. Writing is a passion of mine, and now, with my lap top attached to my, lap, I am indulging my obsessive blogging hobby to the point of promoting a new-found independence in my children, which is uh, something they need to acquire anyway.

Find On: Facebook

Baby Kids' Thoughts: I agree wholeheartedly with Kim's blogging tip. I sometimes wish I could have a recorder with me every second of the day since ideas come in all shapes and sizes and at different times. Other thoughts, I dare you to not play with the scroll feature on this blog..so cool. Check it out and you'll see what I mean.

How do I use Twitter?

First of all, what is Twitter? On this social network, microblogging site, you can send mini-updates, connect with friends, promote posts, or get & give advice. I will admit to Twitter confusion when first jumping on the bandwagon last year, so hopefully this tutorial will answer some of your basic questions about Twitter.

1. Create an account using the name you'd like to publicly appear as you Twitter.

2. First stop, change your avatar. Go to "Settings" and change your picture. Later on you can personalize your Twitter even more by customizing the background. Also be sure to update your profile by including a one line bio and your blog or business URL.

3. Find friends by clicking on "Find People" and using your email to see who you know that is already connected with Twitter. If there are people or businesses you suspect may be using Twitter, search for them using "Find on Twitter." You can try this out by searching for "coolbabykid." :)

4. Go back to the homepage by clicking "Home" or the "Twitter" icon on the top left of the page. Try it out by sending a message with what you're up to and clicking "Send." This update can be anything from "Using Twitter for the first time," to "Making a grilled cheese sandwich with my daughter," or "Looking for someone to help me figure out vlogging." Twitter is versatile and can be used to connect with friends (virtual or otherwise) or network for business, but usually ends up being a combination of both.

5. When you scroll over others' responses a screen will pop up with a little envelope and an arrow below it. The envelope is for "Direct Messages" which only the person you direct message, or DM, will see. Clicking the arrow allows you to respond to that person, or @ them, but everyone will see your response. On the right sidebar you can see your @ messages and direct messages as well as a list of the people following you and other goodies.

6. The most confusing aspect of Twitter for me when first getting started was understanding who sees what messages...only your followers will see your updates, and in order to DM someone they must be following you. One way to find people to follow and converse with is to click on others people's @ messages and read their profiles.

7. Confused yet? Take it step by step, try a few updates, send me a message and let me know what you think!

Featured Blog: LA Story

Laura from L.A. Story writer about her toddler daughter and explores Los Angeles one baby step at a time.

Best Parenting Tip: When traveling by car to a vacation spot, be sure to have your digital camera handy. If you get stuck in traffic, keep kids occupied by having them point out interesting parts of the scenery, and click away. For bigger kids, test their memory of what was in the picture they wanted you to take. For younger kids, have them describe the colors and shapes in the photos.

Best Blogging Tips: Be pro-active. In addition to scouring the web for new and interesting blogs/mom blogs, join in the discussion. Leave comments and questions. Often, other webbies will see your name/URL and want to investigate your site, too.

Baby Kid Thoughts: As a senior editor at Variety, Laura's super cool job and unique blog style are always fun to check out. From LA? Then it's a must-read!

Introducing the Ask Baby Kid Expert Panel

If you see this logo around the blogosphere, it either means you're visiting a blog once featured on Ask Baby Kid or you're in the company of an Ask Baby Kid expert! With so many questions to be answered, despite what I tell my husband, I actually don't know everything...or even close. After searching high and low for the perfect panel of moms to help answer questions about parenting and blogging, I'm happy to introduce the Ask Baby Expert Panel who will be tackling your questions:

• Ask a Teacher: Cecelia, Baby Kid Blogs

• Ask a Shrink: Elizabeth, Parenting Pink

• Ask a Gear Extraordinaire: Victoria, Life Starring Ellie and Eve

• Ask a Mom of Multiples: Liz, Goddess in Progress

• Ask a Family Travel Expert: CanCan, Mom Most Traveled

• Ask a Blogging Expert: Courtney, Mom Giveaways
  

I am so happy to have these talented ladies on board...be sure to ask a question; it can be for a specific panelist for in general and we will do our best to answer!