Growing up in my house, we were die-hard, unreconstructed thank you note writers. Even if I had just gushingly thanked a blood relative — in person — in his or her home — every year for Christmas and birthdays, we wrote thank you notes ASAP. So, nearly two months later, I thank the good folks at Rants From Mommyland for running a guest post I wrote.
Two months ago.
What can I say. Summer ate my brain.
Before the snarky snarks of Mommyland ran my “Domestic Enemies of the At-Home Dad” post, you could count my daily web traffic on your fingers and toes. A Big Day meant more than 50 hits. Then they ran my post, and my readership went through the roof. For me, that is. The next day, I got 1,599 hits or page views or reads or whatever you call it. That’s more than in the previous year and a half put together. I picked up 17 subscribers. I gotta write for them more often!
The solidarity and support was overwhelming. When my 8-year-old had a Wii meltdown, you folks told me I handled it well! (Except for the at-home dad and self-described “gamer” who lives in my neighborhood, who praised his 6-year-old’s computer skills and told me I was too harsh. Fair enough.) You expressed thankfulness for your own husbands who stay home with the kiddos. You inspired me to write more. Maybe I can turn all this into a book and make a dollar or two.
It was as if the internet gave me a big hug.
I felt like I’ve been discovered.
The next day, my blog traffic was about 500 hits, still epic for me. Then about half the day after that and half again the next day. And then school let out, and my workload went way up, and the writing went way down. (People ask if it’s easier being an at-home parent in the summer. Umm, no. Try breaking up squabbles every 12 minutes and dealing with purposely contradictory children who never want to go to the pool at the same time. Never mind that we actually have a pool membership this year.)
The wax and wane reminds me of a story I read in elementary school, “Flowers for Algernon.” In it, a lab mouse and a low-IQ janitor undergo some experiment that temporarily triples their intelligence. It wears off eventually, and both return to their limited mental state. Rants from Mommyland gave me a big run, but now I’m back to being just regular old me.
Thank you, Mommyland!
The B-More Dad Blog 
I love your blog! Came via mommyland and I check you out every few days. Keep writing… I love reading a man’s take on parenthood!
Keep on writing. I found your blog via mommyland and I stayed. My husband stays at home with our children too.
Web popularity is fickle, but I still check on you every day, posts or no posts. I enjoy hearing about parenting from the Dad’s perspective, helps me be more empathetic to my husband.
I came via mommyland too, and I am glad that I did. It is nice to know that there are more at home dads out there than the handful I already know of. I’m looking forward to your next post.
I’m writing from Mommyland, too! I love your perspective!