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.  

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