Being a mother (or an expectant one) comes with its trials and tribulations no matter where you're from.

And, whilst there's a whole host of information available on the internet to answer the many questions you'll undoubtedly have, it can be a great comfort to be part of a community that's geographically local to you as well.

That's how then American mother of one, Liora Pearlman, felt when she lived in Shanghai.

Luckily, she found a Yahoo Group called 'Shanghai Mamas', which not only became a valuable online source of family-related information but also gave her access to other mothers in her neighbourhood.

However, on relocating to Beijing a few years ago and having two more children, she found that she missed the Shanghai Mamas set-up.

Each of the online groups available here had a drawback.

"One simply had too many members to be a feasible forum for deeper discussion. One was great, but is a public forum".

Also, she appreciated that other mothers might not be keen to post their personal information on the internet and so 'Beijing Mamas' was recently born.

"We, as mamas, are involved with some nitty gritty subjects: birth, breast feeding, health concerns, feelings about best friends repatriating, etc., and generally people do not want that sort of info to be 'out there' on a Google search. So now we have a Yahoo group (the spiritual sister group of Shanghai Mamas) where posts remain private (for members only) and we invite Chinese mamas to participate as well, providing support and camaraderie on a wide range of intimate subjects related to mothering in China."

So if you're interested in sharing resources, asking questions and growing as women and as mothers, help is at hand!

Liora invites you to sign up by sending a short request (with descriptive info) to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Beijing_Mamas

She adds, "(Beijing Mamas) is a friendly place. We are here to support each other -- we get enough headaches from life in China as it is, so please keep this in mind while writing -- and while reading. Please give other mamas the benefit of the doubt. Feel free to post questions, concerns, ideas or interesting events."

So far there's been useful information posted on a wide variety of subjects including children's vaccinations, toilet training, pain-free bandage removal, home schooling and Playstations.



"No matter what age your children are, if you are a mama who wants a safe place to ask questions, hang out, start playgroup meetings or mama nights out, get gear recommendations, etc....come and join us!" urges Liora.



And, of course, for free delivery of your weekend guide for families in Beijing, don't forget that you can sign up for the City Weekend 'Parents and Kids' newsletter here, if you haven't already:

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