• by Rachel Fishman Feddersen , September 23, 2011

The smart phone, with internet connection (duh) is today's mom's number one, can't-live-without-it item. Take away my TV, my laptop, my land line, but don't take my mobile. That's what over a thousand moms told us on a survey that my site, Parenting.com, conducted this summer, in collaboration with BlogHer.

The numbers showed that nearly 40% of moms can only go a few hours without that smart-phone/internet connection. I'm surprised that number isn't higher, given who most moms of young kids today are. Today's moms are actually your peers - or possibly a couple of decades younger than you are, depending on your demographic. (You may not think of them that way because when you think "mom" you're thinking of your OWN mom, who of course was way old and totally out of touch.)

We're digital natives, just like everyone reading this. The only difference is that we may actually be more digitally savvy than you are, and we've almost certainly got less free time. I will say, though, that unlike some parents, I never let my son hold my phone (except maybe on an extremely long plane ride). That phone is MINE. It cost me a chunk of change, and I don't trust him not to accidentally drop it and step on it at any moment.

And it's essential. If I can't have a wife to keep everything organized, at least I have my iPhone. Today, I used it to:

• check site traffic stats

• email my boss about numbers; email my husband about dinner

• check the weekend play date schedule

• text a friend about lunch

• scroll through my Twitter feed

• listen to a podcast

• call the preschool

All before 9 a.m.

All this to say: if you're not planning to reach moms through mobile, you're missing the boat.

Rachel Fishman Feddersen Editorial Director, Digital Content, Strategy, & Design The Parenting Group