Mother Lode

GOMSTYN CLAIMS SHE IS “PRETTY MUCH THE opposite of the mom you desperately wish you could be.” The mother of two shuns Instagram and promises to “dance on the rooftop drinking sangria” when her boys start school. In the meantime, the former reporter and news producer covers parenting-related topics with a hilarious spin on her blog, mildly Inappropriate mommy, and a number of online media sites including Babyzone, Babble, NBCNews.com and The Huffington Post.

Gomstyn, who left a job at ABCNews.com to become a freelance writer after the birth of her second child, consid- ers herself different from the typical mommy blogger in that she combines actual journalism with personal insight. After questioning whether chasing a 2-year-old would keep her in shape, she researched a story comparing the health of parents to non-parents (parents are worse off in multiple ways). Gomstyn also enjoys injecting her per- sonal sense of humor into her blog posts, such as an April Fool’s story announcing her selection by NASA to pilot their MILKMAN device (Modified Infant-Like Kinetic Mammary-Appropriate Nurser) as the first breastfeeding mother in space.

While breastfeeding is a perennial topic, Gomstyn looks to general news stories and parenting coverage on major news sites, including The Washington Post and The New York Time’s “Motherlode” blog, for inspiration. “One of the exciting things about being freelance,” she says, “is that you never know what the next day will bring. I just hope it will bring something funny!”

Gomstyn’s irrev- erent parenting blog combines personal experi- ence with solid journalism.