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The TODAY Parenting Team community: What it is, and why you should join

Do you remember how you felt when you walked out of the hospital (or birthing center) with your first baby?
/ Source: TODAY

Do you remember how you felt when you walked out of the hospital (or birthing center) with your first baby?

If you’re anything like me, it was a mix of massive joy, nervousness and incredulity: “You mean you're really letting me take this tiny little baby home? But I don’t know anything!”

And yet we all learn, make mistakes and experience the wonder as our children transform us into the parents we are meant to be. If we’re lucky, we find a few friends along the way who help support us.

That’s what the TODAY Parenting Team community is all about: support.

It’s a place to ask and answer questions, to share your thoughts and to support other parents. Nobody is the perfect parent, but all of us have something to offer, whether it’s a practical solution, inspirational advice or just a funny story to get us through the day.

The TODAY Parenting Team is all about YOU… and we need your help to make it work.

So, seriously, you're just going to let me drive away with this newborn baby? OK, let me check his car seat for the 947th time....
So, seriously, you're just going to let me drive away with this newborn baby? OK, let me check his car seat for the 947th time....John Dube

Every month, we’ll post a new question. Anyone can register and share a post or video in response. You can also vote up and comment on other parents’ posts.

The rules? Be kind. Be the sort of friend you would like to have. Everyone is welcome.

You’ll be posting alongside TODAY parents like Savannah Guthrie, Natalie Morales, Willie Geist, Sheinelle Jones, Jenna Wolfe and Jenna Bush Hager, as well as bloggers like Glennon Doyle Melton of Momastery andJill Smokler of Scary Mommy. TODAY will feature community posts online and on air every month, so you might see your contributions on the show!

Hang in there!
Hang in there!Rebecca Dube

Our first month’s question is: What do you wish you’d known before bringing your baby home?

We still want to see you on TODAY.com. We still want to be your friend on Facebook. But the TODAY Parenting Team is where we take the conversation to the next level. TODAY wants to hear from you!

Many TODAY anchors and parenting writers have joined the community already. Here’s some of what they have to say — go to today.com/parentingteam to read more, vote and comment, and add your own post! Then spread the word... share your post and our community with other parents. We're all in this together!

Top six things we've already learned from the TODAY Parenting Team community:

1. It's OK to feel like you don't know anything as a new mom. Really.

Savannah Guthrie: If all the things I didn’t know were stacked on top of each other like diapers, there would be a pile of Pampers at my house reaching toward the heavens. Fast forward six months. Vale is here, she is healthy, she is happy and she is quite deliciously round. So I am living proof that you can manage as a parent even when you feel (and are) clueless and incompetent and inadequate.

2. The Internet is a wonderful thing and also a terrible thing. Don't overthink.

Siri Pinter: I wish I wouldn't have been so stuck in my head constantly over-thinking, worrying and comparing. I read books, I called my pediatrician and I GOOGLED. Oh, Internet, you are so wonderful and terrible at the same time.

3. You don't have to give up your identity to be a parent.

Jenny Fenig:Love yourself so much that you’re not willing to lose yourself. Because when you lose yourself, everyone loses. Your family needs you. Most of all, you need you.

4. Two magic words: Yoga pants.

Jill Smokler of Scary Mommy: Buy more yoga pants. Seriously. Invest in some great yoga pants.

5. Relax, it's just a phase.

Natalie Morales: From the toddler tantrums to (someday soon) teen tantrums, I know now that through it all my kids love me with all their hearts, even though they don’t always show it.

6. Learn to laugh (especially if you have multiples)

Sheinelle Jones: When both babies are screaming at the same time, and your 3 year old is pulling on your leg because he too wants attention, you just have to smile, breathe, and get through it. One child at a time… address their needs, and know they will be OK. YOU will be OK!

Sheinelle Jones with her big boy
Sheinelle Jones with her big boyCourtesy Sheinelle Jones