Although conversing with my older daughter can be more fun than conversing with the other mothers at playgroup, I have to admit that I long for adult interaction - the back-and-forth banter that I used to enjoy at the office with my co-workers.

So I call my husband at his office.  Predictably, he is annoyed at being interrupted several times a day simply because I need to hear some multisyllabic words.

While I do love to read blogs, we bloggers tend to write essays.  And while there’s some exchange of ideas in terms of comments and follow-up posts, it rarely happens in real time.

Message boards can be fantastic outlets and a great source of support, especially among women (and men!) who share certain interests or have children at the same developmental stage.  However, I’ve frequented quite a few (and lurked on many others) and the drama was a real deterrent.

In light of those drawbacks to traditional online communites, I’ve been especially pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere at Maya’s Mom, a new online community for parents.  Within only a day or two of joining, I had multiple friend invites from people I already knew - and from people who “found” me thanks to our common interests (personal tags associated with my profile).  Such camaraderie!  I was immediately smitten.

Since then, I’ve gone back to update my profile with a few “tidbits” - short and sweet snippets of info that are much easier to digest than an entire blog post - and I’ve been sending new friend invites left and right.

But I’ve only scratched the surface of what Maya’s Mom is all about.  Some of our bloggers here at PBN were kind enough to share the reasons why they’re smitten with Maya’s Mom too:

“I can join groups for people who have similar interests, like the Battlestar Galactica group, as well as groups for Moms whose kids are the same ages as mine.” - Table For Five

“The thing I love the best about Maya’s Mom is you get e-mail notices when there’s a new post in your chosen forums, or a new post from your friends — so much better than traditional forums where you have to check to see what’s new.” - Growing a Life

“Making friends has never been so simple, I can cruise people via their Personal Tags to find like-minded individuals - This is WAY easier than cruising the local playground wearing a sign that says “I love Jack Bauer and never miss an episode of Lost (and “have you seen how cute my kid is?”).” - Mother Bumper

“I love the “Sandbox” at Maya’s Mom. We’re always discussing interesting and sometimes controversial topics. It’s a place to have an intellectual and respectful conversation about all sorts of parenting questions and issues.” - The Delaney Diaries

“My favorite feature on Maya’s Mom is the opportunity to import my blog posts to their website so I am able to reach a wider audience.  I’ve met more mommy bloggers on Maya’s Mom in a couple of months than I have in all of the 3 years I’ve been blogging.” - The Domestic Diva

“I have found Maya’s Mom very accessible and easy to navigate.  The caliber of women over there is top notch which makes it a fun and stimulating community to be a part of.” - Mother May I

But I think Her Bad Mother’s assessment - which I quoted in the title of this post - is the best that I’ve seen.  The blogosphere is a fast-moving place - with a little drama now and then to spice it up - and sometimes parents just need a break from the rat race.  Maya’s Mom provides that break - friendly faces, stimulating thought, and a lot of laughs.  What’s not to love about that?

If you’d like to join Maya’s Mom too (and how could you NOT?!), click here to be taken directly to the sign up page!  And then go send me a friend invite.  See you around!