Online Family Groups for Boston Moms and Dads: Virtual Villages

They say it takes a village to raise a family, but few parents these days live in such small, tight-knit communities. Fortunately, the wonders of technology can help create a virtual village where parents can turn to other parents for support, information on events, and even gently used clothes and toys.

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While online forums and email lists may not be able to take the place of actual face-to-face interactions with other parents, they can be a good way of finding other parents in your neighborhood, or parents who share interests with you. Parents post questions for each other about everything from the consistency of infant poop, to changes in the Boston Public School assignment system, to off-topic questions like where to find a handyman. Many also have calendars of events in the area, day care and other business reviews, and classified sections for reselling all those tiny clothes babies grow out of so quickly. Note that many of these groups are called moms groups, however in most cases fathers are also more than welcome to participate.

Neighborhood based groups:

  • JP Moms-- Serves parents in Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, West Roxbury, Roxbury, and Mission Hill.  Features: a main discussion forum as well as sub-forums for different age groups of children, and specific interests including queer parenting, crafty parenting, political discussions, cooking, and even a book club; business reviews, calendar, and classifieds.
  • Somerville Moms: Serves parents in the Somerville Area. Features: discussion forums (including classified-type dicussions), calendar of events.
  • DOT Parents-- Serves parents in Dorchester, South Boston, Quincy, Milton, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and other nearby parts of Boston. Features: discussion forums, member pages, a calendar of events, referrals, and classifieds.
  • CambridgePortParents--Serves parents who live or spend time in the CambridgePort neighborhood of Cambridge. Features: discussion forums, links, and a member created database of resources.
  • Waltham Families--Serves families in Waltham, MA.  Members discuss issues regarding parenting, share information, publicize/recommend family related events in the area, buy and sell items, arrange play dates and other get-togethers.
  • Cambridge Single Parents--Serves single parents in the Cambridge area. Features: meet-ups.
  • North Suburban Parents of Multiples--Serves parents of twins, triplets, or more in the Northern Suburbs of Boston.  Affiliated with Massachusetts Mothers of Multiples Association (MMOTA) and the National Organization of Mother's of Twins Clubs (NOMOTC).
  • Arlington First Time Moms and Pregnancy Meetup--Serves new mothers and pregnant women in Arlington and the surrounding towns. Features: support and social opportunities.
  • Quincy Area Moms of Infants and Tots--Serves the Quincy area. Features: activities for moms where kids are welcome as well as child-focused play groups.
  • Parents and Babies of Belmont--Serves Belmont and surrounding towns. Features: playdates and activities for babies to kindergartners.
  • Belmont Family Group--Serves the Belmont area. Features: listserv with discussions of community concerns, kids items for sale, referrals, and and a monthly book club.
  • Local Chapters of the International MOMs Club-- Unlike some of the other neighborhood groups, the MOMs club is open only to stay-at-home moms. There a small yearly due to join the club. MOMs club has chapters in Brookline, Medford and Cambridge in the Greater Boston area as well as chapters in other areas of Massachusetts.

Religious and Cultural Groups:

  • OUSRA--"Ousra" means "the Family" in Arabic. Serves Arab-American families in metropolitan Boston surrounding suburban communities.  Addresses a wide range of parenting issues, provides networking,  and serves as a resource base and platform for open parenting discussions
  • Boston Muslimamas  -- Serves parents and guardians of Muslim children in the Metro Boston area. Addresses concerns about parenting Muslim children.
  • Boston Anneleri--"Anneleri" means "Mothers" in Turkish, so this group serves Turkish families in the Boston area.
  • Families with Young Jewish Children in Boston--Serves families raising Jewish children age 0-5 in the Boston area. Features: Jewish holiday celebrations, parenting groups, story times, Shabbat sing-alongs, and weekly drop-in meet-ups held in many locations in the Boston area and at Temple Israel of Boston.
  • Jewish Moms in the Brookline Area--Serves Jewish families in the Greater Boston area. Features: songs, art, dance, movement, play time, exercise, mommy yoga, baby massage, parenting tips, stories and various forms of sensory stimulation. The group describes itself as "Mommy and Me with a Jewish Twist."
  • Asian American Families of Greater Boston--Serves Boston area families committed to imparting a strong sense of Asian heritage.  Features: monthly dim sum get-togethers in Chinatown, weekly playdates in Korean and Mandarin, mothers' nights out, lunch dates and playdates, outings to zoos, parks, museums, festivals.
  • Family Spanish in Boston--Serves Boston area families raising bilingual Spanish speaking children. Features: sing-a-longs, yoga classes, playdates, arts & crafts, and more while instilling passion and respect for various cultural backgrounds.

GLBT Groups:

  • GLBT Parenting in Greater Boston-- Serves Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender parents in the Greater Boston area. Addresses the unique social and emotional needs of GLBT parents and those who are considering becoming parents.
  • Boston Area Gay Dads--Serves Gay fathers in the Boston area. Features get togethers for the whole family and Dad's Nights Out.
  • Parents of Gender Variant Children--A group of parents with bio-boys who identify as female. Bio-girls who identify as boys are also welcome. The group gets together to provide safe, non-judgemental play spaces for their children, and support for each other.

Parenting Style and Family Type Groups:

  • Attachment Parenting of Greater Boston-- Serves parents in the greater Boston area who practice attachment parenting. While the groups is not officially affiliated with Attachment Parenting International for bureaucratic reasons, they share API's values.
  • VegParent- Boston--Serves parents of vegetarian children in the greater Boston area. Provides information on what to feed vegetarian newborns, infants and toddlers as well as discussion on how to support vegetarian children into their teens and 20s.
  • Single Mothers United--Serves single mothers in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, and Malden. Features: monthly meet-ups, babysitting exchanges, carpooling, and male mentors.
  • At Home Dads-A small group for stay at home dads in the Boston area. Features include meetups with children 1-2 times weekly, plus a Dads Night Out once per month.
  • Only Child Playgroup--Serves families in the Boston area, primarily the Metrowest who have only one child. Features: social opportunities for only children to spend time with other kids, opportunities for parents to discuss the challenges and joys of raising an only child.
  • Boston Blended Families--Serves remarried or cohabiting parents where one or both partners has a child from a previous relationship. Features: activities for adults and children of all ages.

Whether you are looking to meet other parents in your area or looking to find other parents that share your specialized concerns about parenting, the internet can provide a sense of support and community.