Site-Seeing -- ''Moms Online''

Web site review XXX "Moms Online" Moms Online http://www.momsonline.com

Good morning.

It's Mother's Day.

Oops - you forgot??!!

Not to fret. Here's a gift the hard-working, underappreciated mom would like. And best of all it's free:

"Moms Online."

How should we characterize "Moms Online"? Put it this way: Parenting and child-care sites are one thing the Web excels at and, judging by this week's Internet Stops on this page, there's no shortage of them. "Moms Online," based in Port Townsend, may be the best.

Parenting sites pack power for one principal reason: They're able to build community among people with a common interest. Moms Online" succeeds because it takes full advantage of this ability.

The site's community building, moreover, is underscored by a prevailing ethic, that the information conveyed comes from a parent and is directed to a parent. This peer-to-peer communication is the Web's greatest strength. For "Moms Online" it gives the site an inimitable authenticity.

"Moms Online" has been a staple of America Online for a little more than a year (and a good enough reason to subscribe to the service, especially if you're a new parent). About three months ago, it began migrating its content to the Web.

One feature of the site is Daily Alexander, essays about raising 2 1/2-year-old Alexander, son of site editor-in-chief Katharine de Baun. The essays exemplify the site's value: A mother

offering observations, insights and epiphanies to other mothers about those difficult and endearing early years.

Another feature is Hot Tips, little tidbits of advice offered from mothers about an assortment of issues, from ear infections to limiting TV time. You can offer your own wisdom by making a submission.

There's a also opportunity to engage in chat sessions with other moms and parents through an Internet Relay Chat connection.

On AOL, these chat sessions are said to be the site's most popular feature, which squares with one of de Baun's observations: People online are seeking community more than information.

Among other features to be added to the Web site over the next month are Ma'Zine a weekly publication, Moms of the Week and Time Out, billed as a "virtual spa." One thing to look for in Time Out is Merion's Reality Check, a down-to-earth, quirky advice column by Merion Jones, a grocery checker at Stock Market Foods on Rainier Avenue South. You can't get more peer to peer than that.

Only because the site is still being built does it rate three stars. When it mirrors the AOL site - in about a month, de Baun says - be sure to bookmark it; it will deserve the highest rating.

For now, as a Mother's Day gift, "Moms Online" will last long after the roses have wilted. And it will only get better.