Techno Mums

I read somewhere (on the Internet so it must be true) that stay-at-home-mums are some of the heaviest web users. I can well believe it. Along with my recordable digital box my laptop is my most important tool in dealing with motherhood.

Otis' poos recently turned green. Poo, and its many shades and textures is, as any mother knows, an obsession. Cue typing in "green poo" to Google and discovering from a paediatrician in the US that its probably nothing to worry about, from a UK website it could be caused by too much foremilk and from somewhere else on the Internet ether that as long as Otis is well hydrated and happy there's nothing really that can be done.

Of course I still took him to the doctors, who must be sick of looking at babies poo, but I was very well informed and much less panicked than I was when I first saw it (doctors must hate Google).

Thanks to the marvellous Internet any knowledge I need about Otis' progression and problems can be found and I can even talk about them with other mums - I started one talk "What do you do to keep your baby entertained" on Babycentre and people came up with some fab suggestions.

I honestly think I would have been driven insane, and maybe even have had to resort to watching Jeremy Kyle, if I hadn't had the web to surf in the many hours while feeding Otis and with him sleeping on my lap.

However now Otis is feeding quicker and sleeping less which means less Internet time. I'm being forced back into the real world and into meeting up with real people, but that one-handed typing expertise will be of use for a while yet...