Mommy Chats is a live chat community that is just for moms! Oh, I know, there are plenty of other online communities for moms out there...but Mommy Chats does not include forums...only chats.

Also, this site does not include a lot of content...This is because, for me personally, I find that I get overwhelmed when I go to a website that is so busy I don't know where to begin! I much prefer simpler sites. I figure there must be others out there that feel this way too. And anyway there are already some fantastic sites out there for moms that are full of all kinds of great info, so why reinvent the wheel? Instead, I want to create a simple place for moms to meet and chat live.

I do, however, have a mommy biz directory to enable moms to shop from moms and for mommy biz owners to get more exposure. I am a firm believer in mommies supporting other mommies...so please take the time to browse through some of the many online businesses listed in the directory.

Why did you create Mommy Chats?

Because mommies need mommies!!

I thought of creating this site when I found out that a very popular women's online community I used to belong to stopped doing casual chats. That had been a wonderful place for me to be able to pop into, night or day, and find other moms to chat with. In fact, I popped in there when I was in labor in the middle of the night with my daughter! It was wonderful to get support in the middle of the night!

I always enjoyed those chats, because it was almost entirely adult women. So I was able to carry on mature conversations (a majority of the time) and not have to worry about getting hit on by some guy or harassed by a trouble-making teeny-bopper (aka teenager). I find that both of these things ruin chats for me elsewhere (yahoo and aol chats are the worst for both of these problems!), and this other chat community was a refreshing change in this respect. But, alas, the chats no longer exist!

What to do? Well...I'm not the kind of person to sit around and lament something that I'm perfectly capable of recreating! I'm a very can-do type, so I started my own chat community!

So how does Mommy Chats work?

First, register an account by clicking "Create a New User Account" in the chat applet on the chat room page and submitting the form. Or go here to get to the form directly. Then you will need to verify your account before you can log in. Check your spam folder if you don't see the verification email in your inbox. Optional, but highly recommended: Join the egroup so you can receive email announcements/reminders about upcoming chats and changes. Then when you want to chat, just go to the chat page to log-in. The link to the chat room is also in the navigation bar at the top and bottom of every page (it says "chat"). If you have any problems getting the chat room to load, make sure your browser has the latest Java virtual machine from Sun Microsystems enabled (or the latest OS if you're on a mac) and read the "help" file for more information. Before logging in your first time, you must read this, as you are agreeing to it by logging into the chat room...and I highly recommend reading the help file (you can also find this link by clicking on the question mark button inside the chat room) and reading through the features of the chat room. The help page will open in a new window, so you don't have to worry about losing your place.

There are a lot of fun features for this chat program, including graphic emoticons (smileys) and audio emoticons (sounds)...Use these in the chat to liven things up! There's also features such as private message, creating subrooms and ignoring users that you will want to know about. I won't go into it all here because its all detailed well on that help page. So I highly recommend reading the help page first!

Then, you will simply log-in and CHAT AWAY!! :)

Is there a chat schedule?

Yes, there is a calendar on both the bottom of the homepage and the bottom of the chat pages. And I also maintain a calendar on our yahoogroup that sends out notices when chats are coming up.

How do I host my own chats?

Please email me if you would like to host a chat, and we can discuss it.

Can I password protect my screenname?

Yes you can! Just click on "Create a New User Account" on the chat room page and follow instructions. Or go here to get to the link directly.

Are there any rules I need to know about?

Yes, please read the "Terms Of Service" (TOS).

Anything else you want to tell me?

Please pass along word about Mommy Chats to all your friends! Here's some graphics you can use on your website:

  Email me if you have any problems, suggestions or questions!