91大神

One late night in early August, Kate Baer 鈥�07 received the email that every writer hopes for. This one was from an editor at the , asking for permission to share Baer鈥檚 recent blog post, 鈥�.鈥�

The attention from one of the most heavily trafficked blog curations on the web wasn鈥檛 totally unexpected. Baer鈥檚 July 9 post about the stresses of balancing career and parenthood had gone viral, with more than a million hits on her blog, .

But still, at a time when Baer says she was struggling, more than she usually does, to be patient with her professional goals and the fact that she wasn鈥檛 achieving them due to 鈥渢rying to get a toddler to poop and an infant to sleep,鈥� well鈥�here, at last, was an email affirming that the former English major and aspiring memoirist was, indeed, moving forward.

鈥淚 sat and stared at the screen, trying to figure out how to write back in all capital letters, 鈥極BVIOUSLY, YES, YOU ARE MAKING MY LIFE,鈥� without sounding desperate,鈥� Baer remembered.

Then the mother of two, tired and tightly wound herself, didn鈥檛 fall asleep for several hours.

It鈥檚 exactly that feeling she describes in the post, an anti-paean to motherhood that begins, 鈥淚t is the unwashed dishes. The dirty kitchen sink. The four baskets of clean laundry being scattered over the crumb flavored carpet by a drunk toddler鈥︹��

So stressed she cannot sleep or find the energy to think, let alone to write, Baer finds solace in the multitudes of other mothers facing the same challenges.

We shame ourselves into thinking we鈥檙e the only ones who are overwhelmed, who cry in the bathroom, who sit in the grocery store parking lot as a 鈥榲acation.鈥欌�� I see you鈥�We are in this together. You and me and the 42-year-old mother at the library who has finally had that baby after twelve years of trying but still feels tightly wound at the end of the day.

The post eventually garnered more than 216,000 likes and 15,000 shares on Facebook. The comments from her readers equaled hers in honesty. One mother wrote that she was sitting in her car in the driveway, reading Baer鈥檚 words and sobbing. Another asked, 鈥淎re you living in my house?鈥� Many older mothers shared both joy at being parents, but guilt at wanting to be free from responsibility.

鈥淚 think parents want their feelings validated,鈥� Baer said, reflecting about her post from her home in Pennsylvania which she shares with husband, J. Austin Baer 鈥�06, son Waylon, 3, and daughter Eva, 8 months. 鈥淭here’s a lot of glorification of 鈥榙oing it all鈥� despite what everyone knows is the truth, that we can’t do it all. There is also a loss of community in many circles that has left a pretty deep void and it is always a relief to know we’re in this together.鈥�

鈥淚n this together鈥� are three important words for Baer, who first started blogging (and graciously answering every reader鈥檚 comments, until recently) in 2011 with a 鈥渕ommy blog鈥� called Motley Mama. Thirty weeks pregnant, she had just been let go from her job at a bankrupt non-profit.

鈥淪o I did what any other millennial girl with an would do,鈥� she writes in a celebrating her three-year anniversary. 鈥淚 started a blog.鈥�

鈥淢otley Mama鈥� provided the stay-at-home mom with a reason to practice her craft. When Baer felt like she鈥檇 outgrown its title and format, she created the current forum, where she writes about the highs and lows of parenting, from trimester tips (鈥淗ow to Dress a Large Mammal,鈥� 鈥淗ow to Eat Your Weight in Sandwiches鈥�) to bonding with a second child, postpartum depression, potty training, and television for kids.

But she makes regular and humorous observations about life with a perpetual student (her husband is in his fourth year of medical school), books, writing, holidays, swearing, church and technology.

Baer says her recent success on Huffington Post briefly threw her off balance: she didn鈥檛 write for two weeks after the 鈥淭ightly Wound鈥� post went viral, 鈥減aralyzed鈥� by the pressure and fearful that her 鈥渢iny success鈥� was a fluke.

Yet her first post back, about her experience with daughter Eva called 鈥�,鈥� was picked up by Huff Post Parents. She is now a contributing writer.

With her readership now blossoming to 30,000 hits a day, Baer is realistic about her sudden notoriety. She still hasn鈥檛 made a penny from her three-year-journey into the blogosphere, though she鈥檚 now selling ad space on her website.

鈥淚f my goal was to make any money writing, I would have surely given up by now,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he amount of time, effort, and physical turmoil it takes me to write a sentence would never be worth a paycheck.鈥�

Reflecting on long-term goals, Baer says she鈥檚 bound and determined to publish 鈥渙ne measly book, so I can die an author.鈥�

And in the meantime, there鈥檚 manna to sustain her: the she gives鈥攁nd gets鈥攆rom her growing community of readers 鈥渋n this together.鈥�