This post is from from my other blog here

So now comes the time for us to start trying again for bub 2. I thought I was pregnant but it was a false alarm. I am a little nervous about starting again, but I know that you can’t live in a bubble. I just hope my body is ready and I don’t do crazy things like thinking I am the everyready bunny and not listen to my body to rest. Anyway, we will see how it goes. I may just try and chill and enjoy my time with Codi and not get impatient.

• One thing that is useful is having a look at photos you have taken on your journey of parenting. It may jog your memory of the issues you where dealing with, easy or challenging, happy or sad times.
• You may also review the parenting books you may have read at the time and remember what worked for you, as it may have been a mix of things.
• Try and remember when you canvassed for advice from other parents, and what you actually ended up doing. Each parent has their own formula and everyone is different with parenting styles, so this type of advice is very useful.

It's pretty exciting to write advice and find moments after publishing your article, you have gotten visitors to your page!!! Where do I see how many visits you ask, right at the bottom of the article page... for more info go here... http://claycook.minti.com/blog/655/Visits-to-your-advice-is-displayed-and-rising-fast-/

I have noticed after an hour of an article going live, there are roughly 22 visits, after a week about 100 visits..and longer, over 250. Pretty exciting how you are able to voice your advice and have people read it almost straight away.

This post is from from my other blog here

Melissa from The Parenting Weblog, “Why not do something different and give the new parents something to make them ooooh and ahhh even more?” “Gifts for New Parents”….Cool yummy cookies…What a great idea in welcoming them into parent hood. Not only is a first birthday a special achievement and milestone, becoming a parent for the first time is mind altering. I love this idea, it is also lovely to do something different and unique with very important gifts.

1. Try and link other Minti articles that are relevant - your readers may get inspired about what you are writing and want to take part in knowing more about the topic.

2. External links also provide the extra text book type resources and links back to blogs are also a great way for visitors to know more about the author.

3. Pictures, parents love pictures especially cute ones, that really support your article and give it a visual aid as well as feeling to the article.

4. Tagging, the best way to promote your article, by making sure it's relevant to your topic and your intended audience (other parents) who want your advice and find it easily.

5. If you are responding to a requested advice, copying the request first and giving it a title, like "The Issue... The Problem..." is really useful as it helps other visiting parents see if the issue is relevant to them and they are able to read the problem and solution, advice or experiences. Remeber that you are talking to an entire audience, where many parents are experiencing similar problems...

This post is from from my other blog here

In a meeting as usual for a Friday and I got a phone call from Codi’s daycare centre…the little one had a tumble from great heights (not really) just from the top of the toddler slide That was a big one, but he’s okay no concussion. I have noticed in the last few days his eagerness to run as fast as he can, attempt to walk down concrete stairs by himself and fall down hard to the ground as many times as I can count…is this the beginning of the two’s stage I wonder…oh well off to pick him up now and give him lots and lots of cuddles.

I have a personal mommy blog called Time4mom ( http://time4mom.com )..it's just a place where I can talk about things I do with Codi and any funny revelations I have on parenting when I read other parent blogs out there in the blogosphere...here's one funny revelation I had http://www.time4mom.com/2006/04/20/we-are-changing-views/

As the 'unoffical' Minti blog, I feel compelled to talk about the motivation behind Minti from a parenting point of view. Here's a snip from the article I wrote about this...

"Upon becoming a “first time mom“, I became so passionate about the need to create a powerful voice for parents. Why, I thought in business, do we eagerly read about great business icons? Why don’t we also read about great icons who silently “build the next generation in society”, of which we expect to be better and more advanced than the last? Is it because it’s to simply called parenting?"....to read on...

http://www.minti.com/parenting-advice/164/Passionate-Parenting/

When becoming a mother for the first time, I discovered motherhood was actually about trial and error. I sought ways of finding information to alleviate the downsides of this method. I discovered how little concise, detailed information was available to be passed down from experienced mothers and fathers, particularly on what methods worked and what didn't, in bringing up children. Gaining this tried and proven advice was a constant challenge. The really good advice appeared to be spread via word of mouth or on an ad-hoc basis. There was not enough advice and experience captured to choose alternatives from and it was tough to get the 'good advice' spread around the world to other parents.

I researched the space for over more than a year and discovered that a single place where concise, clear advice and experiences from parents and targeted at the modern parent was lacking. The industry 'appeared' to be fragmented and I found mounting evidence of an influx of parents requiring more depth and understanding to the advice. Magazine articles and books were great sources of information but they could not be thoroughly discussed and expanded on. In many situations where serious help was required only those families with high disposable incomes could gain access to expert 'hands on' advice implemented in the home.

If this was the situation in Perth, Western Australia, then what was it like in the world's biggest economy, the U.S. I searched for a site that offered parenting advice "first hand" from parents but could not find one that solved the problem without excessive advertising, "experts" rather than real parents and difficult to search information.

The desire to create a place for parents to share advice on a global footing fuelled the vision to pull a team together to make Minti happen.