Mom Blogger: Whitney Moss of Rookie Moms

No longer a "rookie" herself, this mom is an expert on how to have fun as a mom

Forget their 76,000-plus Twitter followers and inspiringly “carpe diem” attitude, the self-titled “Rookie Moms” are also self-declared geeks. “We've always been interested in the data side of motherhood,” says Whitney Moss, who constitutes one half of the power team in question, founders of a blog geared towards first-time moms. Of her partner in crime, Heather Flett, Moss even points out: “She has an addiction to tracking numbers: ounces of milk, length of naps, minutes between feedings.”

And while this might explain the scientific-like authority with which Flett and Moss advise their fellow moms (the site is categorized, somewhat meticulously, by how old your child is in months), rest assured—these moms have a more qualitative side as well. We never did uncover the perfect amount of minutes to wait between feedings, but Moss shed light on plenty in the meantime. —Lucie Alig 

How would you describe what you do?
Rookie Moms is a resource. Sometimes Heather and I accomplish this by sharing an idea for an outing or activity; sometimes we do so by opening a topic for discussion. But our goal is to inspire women to have more fun during the first years of motherhood. 

I love how the site is arranged by the child’s age. What’s the idea there? 
We’ve broken down the activities by month. The simple act of going to a café with your baby for a hot chocolate is a great accomplishment in the first month, whereas doing it with a toddler is a completely different type of challenge. It’s fun to watch your toddler view fish in a large tank for the first time (head to a pet store for that free entertainment!), but of course, a baby of four to six months won’t get anything out of it. 

Your book, The Rookie Mom’s Handbook, is subtitled "250 Activities to Do with (or without!) Your Baby." What advice would you give to moms about doing a few things without their kids?
The most important thing is for women not to beat themselves up about not doing it “right.” Everyone has a different degree of comfort with leaving their child at home, and we all derive different types of pleasure and energy from a night out. Heather and I enjoy a night out, but if you don’t, there’s nothing wrong with you! At the same time, we want to encourage women to do things that make them happy during early motherhood. Hobbies, careers, and social lives must go on! 

How did having a child—and becoming a rookie mom yourself—change your own life?
I hope my child-free friends don’t want to punch me in the face when they read this, but honestly, it has made me feel more important. To be needed, to be irreplaceable, and to be responsible in this way. I feel grateful—a bazillion times over—to be allowed the experience of raising my two children.