There’s no doubt that the internet has helped parents become more informed. Perhaps it’s even made us better parents. But for what it might offer us in information, it’s certainly made life more complicated. Instead of calling your doctor for his or her opinion, you search Google for your kid’s symptoms, only to come up with anything from cough medicine advertisements to some weird blog post about a guy who contracted Malaria on a trip to Africa. And really, what parent has time for that (or the nerves to stand it?).

That’s why we were excited to learn about a new website for moms called Light Iris. Founded by father of two Kevin Burke (who I’ll be talking with tonight on Motherhood Uncensored Radio), this website is to help moms make life easier targeting moms as women and not so much as baby holders, feeders, and breeders.

Its first exciting feature is a specialized Google search engine that allows parents to search only the best parenting resource and blogs. It’s a way for you to still have information at your finger tips without getting bombarded with useless tidbits from the depths of the internet.

And it’s meant to save you time. So you can go to Blogher, or get out on a date with your partner/spouse.

And so, after our wonderfully successful Blog Blast #1, for the last week, our bloggers have been putting the Light Iris search engine to the test. And here’s what they have to say:

From what we can tell, so far our bloggers are smitten. “It’s like Google without the spam” shared a blogger. “I’ve already used it more than once.” I had to chuckle when the same mom mentioned how it was nice to get detailed non-explicit information when she searched for “breastfeeding.” No kidding. “You take Google, remove all the crap you don’t want, and deliver search hits pertaining to parenting that are ACTUALLY about, of all crazy things, parenting! It’s like getting the meaty part of the crab without having to crack the shell and all that other nasty messiness. MMMM crab.” 

While one of our blogger found fairly similar results with Google and Light Iris, she felt Light Iris’s presentation was much easier on the eyes. Because Light Iris and Google are both using the same basic search engine, you aren’t likely to find substantially different results. What Light Iris does is cull down the returns and organize them in a clean, less-overwhelming layout.

One mom searched “Separation Anxiety” and was very happy with the results. “No fearful dogs or panicking adults here (unless they sit at the computer), only good information pertaining to separation anxiety in children and what to do about it.” Another, while somewhat hesitant on the color scheme of the site admitted to using it more than she thought she would. “Since I started using Light Iris a week ago, I have been surprised how often I have already used it for my personal needs. Overall, it is an excellent tool, worthy of much attention and investment on the part of people like us who want to provide other voices and perspectives on the experience of parenting.” Additionally, she had hoped more blog posts would come up when she did her search but concluded that more blogs need to be entered into the database (Yes, you can go enter your blog right now) and we often don’t use “correct” terminology when we discuss issues on our blogs. Something for us all to think about.

So, what do you think? Check out Light Iris for yourself. Submit your blog! Enter their contest and say tuned for more reviews. And make sure to participate in our final Light Iris Blog Blast on June 8 – with a 2-day Blogher Pass up for grabs!

5/31 - Buzz Review Blog

6/1 - The Rookie Moms

6/2 - The Cheese Party Reviews

6/5 - Soul Gardening

6/6 - Toddler Planet

6/7 - Final Round Up

6/8 - BLOG BLAST (all are invited) 

And if you haven’t noticed, we’ve got a ton of giveaways and Blog Blasts happening (one this Friday), so check back often. Put our site in your reader so you don’t miss a thing!