Cindy

Droog

Read Cindy's bio and previous columns

February 12, 2009

Four Go-To Friends: Great; 75 Go-To Web Sites? No.

I have a few go-to friends when I need an ear. I have a go-to babysitter when I need a date night. A go-to colleague who always has great advice; a go-to neighborhood between home and work with four decent take-out restaurants; and a go-to stress-buster called vodka tonic.

Oh, and when I run out of tonic, I’ve also got a few Billy Blanks Tae Bo tapes and a vivid imagination of who’s on the other end of my left hook.

But when I have five minutes between meetings and want to spend some quality time reading an article that will make me a better working mom, just where do I go to?  

Minti – for conversations that prove I’m not as crazy as I feel? CafeMom – to find a humorous blog about someone else’s 14-month-old saying “duck,” only it sounds like something that rhymes with “duck” instead?

If I go to BabyCenter.com, I can find out how to improve my eldest’s vocabulary. Or maybe I should hit my account at Samsung’s Moms Like Me for a laundry tip? One of my kids did look like a ragamuffin when he left the house this morning.

In my Circle of Super Moms on Facebook, I can see some pictures of friends’ kids and compare the cuteness of my kids to theirs. That’s always a mood lift. Or should I go to iVillage and see what Meredith Vieira has to say about how she manages to get to work at 4 a.m. every day and still be sure her kids get a healthy breakfast?

Inspiring. Yet somehow depressing at the same time.

I could go to BlogHer, where they’ll help me decide if I should be Facebook friends with my ex-boyfriends, and I could go to Mommy Track’d to find out what children’s books don’t reinforce stereotypes of girls and women.

Maybe I should take my five minutes and sign up for the Mom 2.0 Summit, where I can meet more confused moms who don’t have a roadmap. Or I could go to PNN.com because I am rather desperate for a Valentine’s Day gift idea for hubby.

I could improve my fashion sense (always something I’m in need of) at Glamour.com or Elle.com, or get a recipe that helps make eating broccoli just as fun as going to Chuck E. Cheese at Parenting.com or CookieMag.com.

By the time I’ve made up my mind, my five minutes are up. I’m off to meeting number four for the day, with nary a recipe, new friend, cleaner clothes or a desperately-needed mood lift.

It is both the beauty and the curse of the Internet. For every tidbit of information I want, there are no less than a hundred places to go.

Imagine if I had 75 go-to friends to choose from. I’d never know who exactly to call. I’d have to keep a running list of each friend’s specific area of expertise, not to mention a very robust system for changing their contact information each time they moved or got a cheaper cell phone contract.

If I had that many stress-busters to choose from, I’d be stressed just trying to pick.

I actually like having fewer choices. F.E.W.E.R. But in nearly every meeting I’m in, businesspeople want more web sites. “We need a micro-site for that!”; “Let’s start our own social network”; and “that product needs its own Facebook identity” have all been uttered just in the last week.  

I cringe. And that doesn’t mean I’m habitual or non-adventurous or non-supportive of anyone’s marketing objectives. It just means I’m busy as heck and as a consumer, I can’t take it anymore.

I don’t have time to Digg my favorites; Del.i.ci.ous any blog posts; or Flickr last weekend’s trip to the beach. Unless I stop sleeping. And while that’s always an option, I’d rather be a trendsetter. The one working mom who breaks her addiction to BabyCenter; stops being so reliant on Kraft Foods Online, and never – ever – goes to YouTube for advice on how to buy a bra that fits.

And then, my only “go-to” place in between meetings will be the important one. The Ladies’ Room.  

© 2009 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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