Mom Blogger: 'It's Like We're 'The Brady Bunch,' Without Alice'

Oct. 15, 2007— -- Dawn Meehan was born to multitask.

She navigates her toy-strewn living room with the grace of a ballerina, vacuums up piles of pet food her son has spilled in the hall, and then -- with her squealing 18-month-old tucked under her arm -- begins to make dinner.

She jokes, "It's like we're 'The Brady Bunch,' without Alice."

That is because Dawn Meehan is Alice.

She plays housekeeper, chef, laundress and chauffeur to a family of six incredibly active children, ages 1 to 12.

Her funny and unvarnished tales of the daily drudgeries of motherhood have made her the author of an incredibly popular Mommy blog -- the name given to the expanding number of online child-rearing blogs written by moms.

"Last night I wrote how I accidentally washed a diaper -- not a cloth one but a real diaper went through the washing machine and exploded. There was gel and fluff everywhere," she reads from her blog, which is titled "Because I Said So."

From a desktop computer stuffed into a cramped corner of her bedroom, Meehan chronicles her family's many mishaps, like the assortment of wildlife her 3-year-old has tried to bring into the house. His latest acquisition had fur and teeth..

"I get up and look outside and lo and behold my 3-year-old is indeed carrying a squirrel by his tail," She reads from her blog.

She took a picture of the startled animal and posted it with the story on her site.

An Accidental Blogger

Meehan's entry into the blogosphere came by accident, four months ago, when she was trying to sell a packet of Pokemon trading cards that her children had snuck into her shopping cart on eBay. She wrote about it, and the response was so good she began blogging.

Now nearly 30,000 moms log in to Meehan's site every day to read and respond to her daily column. This newfound Internet fame is incredibly surprising to a woman who spends most days filling sippy cups and wearing spit-up stained T-shirts, which Meehan believes is the key to her appeal.

"I think moms all over can relate to that. They say, 'She's not perfect, I'm not perfect, we can be not perfect together,'" Meehan said.

One of Meehan's many readers, Trish Berg, an Ohio mother of four, agreed.

"Moms often put on the pretense of having it all together," she said. " What moms need to know is we don't have it all together and we are all a lot alike."

Berg also said that many mothers also crave a social life that may not be possible with the demands of young children.

"I think motherhood can be very isolating, " she said. "Blogging gives moms a way to connect. It's kind of like talking over the backyard white picket fence, without the picket fence. You don't even have to leave your house."

Berg has launched her own blog, making her part of the mommy blog trend.

"There is an explosion of mommy blogs," said Lisa Bain, the executive editor of Parenting Magazine. "One reason is that moms now turn to other moms for advice more than they turn to the experts."

There are about 15,000 blogs written by and for moms on everything from potty training to college prep. And with mothers making trillions of dollars worth of spending decisions every year, advertisers have taken notice.

Meehan makes about $4,000 a month from the ads running on her site. She has also been offered a book deal, though she's not sure exactly what kind of inspiration she imparts.

"I think I provide birth control for some who say, 'We were thinking about having a big family, but maybe we'll stop at two,'" she said.

Hollywood is also calling. Producers have asked Meehan to write a sitcom based on her family misadventures -- proof that sharing even the messy side of motherhood can be very rewarding.

Dawn Meehan's blog, "Because I Said So," can be found at http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/. You can find Trish Berg's blog at http://www.trishberg.com/index.html.