The following essay has been written for Mommybloggers.com by Carmen of Mom To The Screaming Masses.

Back, oh, about 7 years ago, there was a woman who bought a computer. She cajoled and begged her husband for it, promising many (mostly empty) favors, if ONLY she could go online, with this new thing called “The Internet”. So, the husband grew weary of her voice and bought the computer, and hooked it up so that she could spend time online. He could be heard, muttering under his breath, on his way to work, “WHY does she have to go online? To meet people? She already knows gobs of people, and has bunches of friends.”

The first few days were not exciting. MSN, Yahoo, and a few random web searches turned up little in the way of thrills. And then, one magical day, the woman, who had three children already and was expecting her fourth, happened on a website for hip and fashionable maternity clothing. She perused the site and ordered some shirts, but she felt strangely drawn to the discussion boards. After a few weeks of lurking in the background, she decided to introduce herself.

Thus begins the tale of how I met my bestest ever friends, and how I became the weirdo that I am today. The women who figuratively held my hand during my pregnancies – two more after the first one that they went through with me – the women I could, and did, ask just about anything. We talked about pregnancy, and breastfeeding, naturally, but there was so much more. Any questions were open for discussion. Want to know what types of jeans were flattering for the postpartum figure? There was a thread for that. Looking for a good mascara? Post away, baybee. We dished about sex, food, cameras, preschools, discipline, husbands, decorating, and the all famous, ever needed vent.

The discussion board quickly became my life line, and I found myself checking the boards several times a day. At night, while I gave my asthmatic child breathing treatments every three hours, I sat in front of the computer and read the archives. We had originally begun posting with our names, but due to a scare, we decided to choose screen names. For some reason unknown, I became Batgirl. Why, I have no idea. I was the farthest thing from Batgirl – overweight, under rested and incredibly out of the realm of the with-it. But, Batgirl I became.

There were discussions about local get togethers, since many of the posters lived in California. I felt left out, and so decided to fly all the way from the right coast to the left, just to meet all of those women who I had gotten to know so well. I bought new clothes and obsessed about what I was doing. FLYING all the way across the country, to meet some people I had never seen before? I acted cool and relaxed with my family and friends. Of COURSE I knew what I was doing. No big deal to fly across the country. Even when the woman who was due to pick me up at the airport told me that she’d dyed her hair purple the day before I was due to arrive – even that didn’t sway me.

Until I walked down the runway in California, mere seconds from my first ever face to face meeting with an online friend. I had my first, actual, honest to God panic attack, and had to sit down and breathe. I thought I knew these people, but did I really? What kind of an IDIOT flies 3000 miles to meet with someone she’s never seen?

I needn’t have feared. The women, all my friends, took me in and welcomed me as I’ve never felt welcomed in my life. Even when I took one of the mamas into another room and lifted my shirt to show her my bra. Even when I wanted to show how close of a shave my razor gave, and asked everyone to feel my legs. We played games and drank all night, and shopped and talked the days away. I felt, for the first time ever, that I truly belonged.

Five years later, I’ve met with these same women three more times. These women, these strong, bright, incredible women, have made me who I am as a mother and a woman. Thanks to them, I started my blog, and have met some of the most amazing people on the planet. I’ve criss crossed the country to meet up with all types of women. Now, when I’m explaining something, I speak about my friends, and I never distinguish between my computer friends and my in real life friends.

For, you see, my internet friends ARE my real friends.

For more writing by Carmen, head on over to Mom To The Screaming Masses.

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Mommybloggers: Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat with us! Your blog is called "Mom to the Screaming Masses" - for the benefit of our readers, exactly how many kids are we talking about here? Is it really the "masses" doing the screaming?

Carmen: HA! It depends on the time of day and how much sleep I've had. Mostly, I named the blog for my kids - 6 kids who canNOT ever seem to be quiet. I really don't notice it much, but lots of people tell me that my house is pretty loud. It's the music of our lives, as my oldest says. Now, I just notice when it's quiet. Too much quiet is a very, very bad thing.

I've got six kids of my very own (ages 13.5, 11, 8.5,6,3.5 and 2) and I also have three step kids. I do afternoon day care for two other kids as well, so they've been mentioned a time or two lately.

Mommybloggers: You've been blogging for several years now. How did you get started? Have you always been a writer?

Carmen: I was an active member on an attachment parenting website, and one of the other women started a blog. I read hers for a week or two, all the while thinking "I can do THAT!". I went to the Blogger website, read the fine print, and boom! I was up and typing. I haven't always been a writer - the vast majority of the writing that I had done before my blog was complaint letters. I can write an EFFECTIVE complaint letter. I've been really amazed, though, by how much I've come to love writing. It's become a big part of who I am and how I want to progress in my life.

Mommybloggers: How has blogging changed your social life?

Carmen: Social life?? I'm supposed to have one of my own, and not just live through my kids? Well, I haven't met many bloggers in real life - at least not those who I knew after I started my blog, those who read me or whose work I read. (I have met a few, though, and those people are still talking to me, so I must have not looked too weird.) I hope to change that this summer when I attend BlogHer - I think I'd wet my pants if someone looked at my name tag and could say with a straight face, "Hey, I've read your stuff!" and they weren't someone that I owed money to.

Mommybloggers: We've been enjoying your joint project with Chris of The Big Yellow House - tell us about what you are doing, and why:

Carmen: Both being mothers of a larger than typical size family, we hear the comments over and over and over. The most common question we are asked, though, is "HOW on earth do you do it?" We decided that it would be fun, not to mention give us each something to write about, if we picked a topic each week and explored it. That way, readers could hear two different spins on the same subject - my boring one, and Chris' incredibly gifted version. So far, we've done organization - in which it was determined that my upcoming tattoo should be the word "rubbermaid", sleep, chores, morning schedules, and a pictoral view of big family stuff. Other bloggers have joined us on those days, with those topics. It's really been a fun thing to do, and I hope it's been interesting for others as well.

Mommybloggers: As the mother of a large family, what are you sick to death of explaining to people with smaller families?

Carmen: How my family is no different from theirs, how I DON'T always have it together, and I don't have any more patience with my kids than they do. I'm not a saint, and by the same token my kids shouldn't be referred to as "those poor kids, with so many siblings". Oh, and the fact that, yes, we do know how all those kids got here.

Whew. Maybe I've got a chip on my shoulder, eh?

Mommybloggers: Dealing with preteens is a tough subject. You seem to balance the demands of parenting so well! Do your older children read your blog? What do they think about your writing? Have they ever forbidden you from writing about a subject?

Carmen: Yeah, my oldest reads my blog almost daily. It annoys the snot out of me, but I can't seem to get him to stop. My kids all know that I blog, but they seem to be pretty cool with it. I don't think they've ever told me not to blog something, but there are, of course, some things that I just don't discuss.

Mommybloggers: Do you consider yourself to be a Mommyblogger? Where do you think this whole Mommyblogging phenomenon is going?

Carmen: Well, I'm a mommy, and I blog. You know, the whole MommyBlogger phenomenon really cracks me up. Women have power, women are a strong presence in so many ways. All of a sudden, we are using our blogs to shape the way things are happening, and it's waking the world up. Scaring some people, too. I don't think Mommyblogging is going to go away - in fact, I think it will really take off in the next few years.

Mommybloggers: You've taken on insurance companies, the nuns at your children's school, and taken over the soccer team. What's next?

Carmen: I'd LOVE to just have some time off, and not have to worry about any troubles right now. I think that's wishful thinking, though! Seriously? I'd love to lose 20 more pounds - I'm really working hard on that right now and have ten gone. I'm up to walking about 3 miles a day, 5 days a week. And hating every minute of it.

Mommybloggers: Let's talk about books - we know you are a voracious reader. What are you reading now? We also hear you have a novel in the works - wanna tell us about it?

Carmen: I just finished the Agnes Browne trilogy, sent to me by the bestest friend evah. I think it's about time for an Outlander re-read, and I've usually got a few other books going on at once. You know, one for the van, one for the bedroom, one for the kitchen - and then of course, there are the magazines..... I love to read. I could cheerfully do it all day long. To the detriment of my house, my kids, and my laundry.

Mommybloggers:We also hear you have a novel in the works - wanna tell us about it?

Carmen: I'm about 25,000 words into my book, and I've hit a bit of a stumbling block. I love what I've done though, and will NOT give it up. I can't wait to see where it goes, and then the pressure will be ON to try to do something with it.

Mommybloggers: Tell us something that most people would be surprised to learn about you.

Carmen: Hmm, the revelation that I want to get a tattoo took a TON of people by storm. I was really shocked by that! Maybe the fact that I can't decide what I want to be when I grow up?

Mommybloggers: And here are the questions we subject all of our featured bloggers to (With apologies to Bernard Pivot and Inside the Actors Studio):

1. What is your favorite parent related word? School

2. What is your least favorite parent related word? Tummyache - it can mean so many things. All of which are yucky things and keep people home from school. Hmmm, maybe I should change it to STREP though - we've had it FOUR times here since November.

3. What is your favorite creative censored curse word used around children? Um, I have a potty mouth. When my oldest was my only, I was very creative and used words like "sugar" and "fudge", as well as the eternally popular "fiddlesticks". But, um, I have long since lost my creativity and just let it fly. It's a bad, bad habit I have, and one that I can't seem to stop.

4. What is your favorite hiding place within your home when you need to get away from it all? I don't have a hiding place - they follow me everywhere. I can't go to the bathroom without little fingers under the door, a few sets of eyes watching me from the tub, and bloodcurdling screams leaking through the walls. I have been known, though, to go sit in my van to make a c
all on my cell phone, just so I can hear.

5. What hiding place have you been found in too often and can no longer use? The laundry room. Of course, I'm always there, so maybe it's not such a good place to hide.

6. If Oprah exists, what would you like to hear her say when you arrive at the Oprah Winfrey show when she features the Mommybloggers? And, here is the author of the newest New York Times Bestseller, the book that's spent a record breaking length of time in the number one spot...........

Be sure to check back tomorrow to see what Carmen has to share in her guest essay! We know you'll love it!

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Here at Mommybloggers.com, we've all had those days. You know which ones. THOSE days. We are delighted to introduce you to the wonderful Carmen of Mom To The Screaming Masses, who manages to inject honesty and humor into any situation, even THOSE days...and brings it all to life in her blog.

A former ballet dancer, Carmen juggles the needs of her large family with the help of her local, drive-through Starbucks, iPod and ever-present laptop. Whether taking on coaching her daughter's soccer team with two toddlers in tow, or squeezing in work on a novel while managing drop-offs and pick-ups in her 15 passenger van, Carmen gives readers a glimpse into the real life of a busy mom.

We love Carmen's wit and obvious love for her family. We've learned not to drink anything while reading, for fear of spitting coffee at the monitor as we cheer Carmen on through her adventures. Whether she's taking on her insurance company, balancing the emotions of her preteens, shopping for a new bra or recounting her latest adventure at the grocery store, we're always entertained.

We put out a call to some of her readers to see if they would share what makes Carmen so special. We were delighted with the responses. Carmen is one admired blogger. But don't just take our word for it...see for yourself:

Jaime, who writes the fantastic blog Selkie shares her admiration for Carmen:

Whenever I feel tempted to complain about my life with four sons, whenever I despair of getting all their socks paired, I can consider Carmen, who has 50% *more* socks to deal with and still seems to manage with aplomb. I love the window Carmen's blog offers into life in a large family. She is real about the difficulties and frustrations of life with six kids, but she makes me wish I could stop by for a cup of coffee (or maybe it would be a white mocha) and a chance to chat.

The lovely Mary of Owlhaven is mom to 8, and appreciates the honesty in Carmen's day-to-day accounting of life:

Carmen's blog is great because she keeps it real. I can recognize my life in her blog. I'm not the only one who forgets to restock my van with extra clothes for the preschoolers! It's comforting to know there are other moms out there beating their heads against the same stuff I am.

Kelsey of Holy Mama! is inspired by Carmen's example:

I'm so glad you asked! Carmen is one of my favorites. Why? ( Have you read her the last few Wednesdays? )

She has a lot of kids. They say and do funny things. She writes funny stuff about the things she and her kids say and do. And? Even better? She will take pictures and also tell you the reality of what it is like when you dump coffee on your kid's head or need to go shopping with too many kids. She tells you how she stays organized in a way that will crack you up and inspire you all at once. She brings humor to the less than glamorous side of motherhood. And I, for one, adore that.

Annika of Through the Looking Glass kept it short and sweet:

Where to start about Carmen? She is, simply, amazing. She's an inspiration, always taking life in stride and making it funny.

Dollymama tells us why she is an avid fan:

I've been an avid fan of Carmen, Mom to the Screaming Masses, for as long as I've been a part of the blogosphere. I loved it that she dared to tell us that her kids scream. Carmen and I both have six children in the same basic age range, so I can appreciate and identify with a lot that she has to say. Her humor and whit make her blog shine!

Chris, of The Big Yellow House goes off on a momentary tangent but recovers nicely to sum up Carmen's appeal:

I lurve Carmen. She never fails to take an experience and make it funny.

When I came across her blog I felt immediately like I had met a kindred spirit. Someone who has lots of children, loves having lots of children, and feels comfortable enough admitting that it is hard and sometimes overwhelming work mothering a huge crew. But at the end of the day, being immensely thankful and grateful for each and every one of them.

Well maybe not thankful for every one of them every single day.

Just kidding. Maybe not.

What do I love about Carmen. She doesn't grow her own wheat, harvest it, grind it, and then bake all her food from scratch. Nor does she keep goats and turn their milk into organic cheese. Neither does she grow her own cotton and spin it into thread and then weave it into material from which she sews her family matching clothing. So many large families you hear about seem to do all those things. And I always felt wholly inadequate and frankly like a freak among the already freakish, because I would rather poke my eyeballs out with a butter knife than do any of those things.

Oh wait, I was supposed to write about Carmen, not myself. Ahem.

She is funny and writes with honesty. She is organized. She lets her children eat ice cream in her van and paint with pudding inside her house. That gets an A on the mommy report card for sure.

She likes good music, good coffee and has a fabulous sense of humor. And when I meet her at Blogher I fully intend on stalking her and forcing her to hang out with me. That hump you'll see on her back... that will be me.

Be sure to check back later today to read our interview with the funny and really quite organized Carmen of Mom To The Screaming Masses.

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