Welcome to the Playground! What would you like to do now?

[Team Babble]

Hi everyone! This is the Babble edit staff posting, and we're thrilled that you've decided to join us here at the new Ning community. But, obviously, the swingsets at the Babble Playground are pretty lonely right now. Which brings us to the question: what would you like to see on the Babble Playground? How can we help turn it into the online parenting community you've been waiting for? We'd love to hear what you have to say, and we'll do our best to make your ideas happen. So... thoughts?

(By the way, we all have personal profiles on the site, too, and we're looking forward to getting to know all of you!) - Gwynne, Ada and April

[Mary Ann]

I feel like there are lots and lots of resources for basic parenting and health and development questions out there, but the reason I like this site and babble.com is because it just seems more fun. It's hip and current and feels like a cool club that I want to be a part of. I like the photo contests and agree that other interactive "games" (quizzes or polls - good idea) will keep me coming back and laughing. I guess what I'm saying is I'd appreciate it if the playground continued to be a place to play and not turn into anything too heavy.

[Mary Ann]

p.s. I also like the idea of the babble people coming up with topics, etc. I usually only have a few minutes at a sitting, and it's easier to respond than it is to come up with topics -- that requires too much thought!

[christa]

When I click on the Health & Development topics on Babble.com, it takes me to the Ning site, but I don't see where there are discussions on the topic I clicked on? Am I overlooking something obvious?

On that note, I love the Ning site, but it seems like there's a lot (maybe too much?) happening on the homepage...

[Vera]

Hi I'm really glad that I found Babble.com
I had been searching for a parenting site that doesn't seem like a nagging / overparenting parent or a cutie oh so cutie baby for a few months and finally I found Babble.com by accident. I love many things about this site and my first suggestion is please make it easy to find by advertising more or mailing to families with newborns etc.
Something else that would be very useful (to me at least) is to set up a section for parents to "unload" the clothes or toys that their kids have outgrown of. It would also be very positive to Babble.com image. Reuse = Green. (I understand one can do it at Craigslist or eBay... but sometimes it really feels more comfortable to buy used stuff from some one "you know"... espeically when it's something that going to be touched or even chewed by your baby!)
One minor suggestion is you probably want to ask information on baby's birthday instead of the age at sign-up... so one can search the member section for potential play group by specifying location and baby's age.
Thanks. I sincerely want to see this site grow bigger and become commercially successful!

[Denise]

I'm not a parent of young children. Mine is grown, but we were homeschoolers back in the late 70's & early 80's and I run some family-friendly home businesses. My hobbies in art, gardening, and traveling (hiking) are family-friendly, too, so I might have something to contribute. I'm available for adoption as an "aunt"! *LOL*

[Zicea Becks]

There are a lot of spammers on here. Which I believe runs a lot of moms off. I probably can name the moms who are actually active on this site. I come back because this site is the least cheesy (compared to the other parent sites). But if no one is on here, then why bother?

I'm not really into quizzes, but I guess polls with a discussion are a great way to get moms to start talking.