I ran a panel this weekend at the Grub Street writer’s conference in Boston called, Moms Who Write. It was fun looking out over the audience and seeing all these women — most with little kids at home, and two who were pregnant — and watching their rapt faces. They soaked up all the information, eager to hear how to balance a life too short on time and too full of passions.

I felt pretty darn old among that group of bright-eyed women. Old in the sense of experienced. I’ve been about as low as low can get in terms of parenting. I have scraped poop off the walls. I have deloused my daughter (this just last week, by the way, in between the five interviews and another TV shoot!). I have cried in frustration more times that I would care to admit. I have raced across the desert with a child with 103 degree fever certain that he would die in my arms (I had no idea that fever this high is not a biggie in infants…!). At this point, what haven’t I experienced with my three kids?

It felt great to give hope to these women. To say: yes, you can do it if you want to! You can carve out a life for yourself and still be a great mom. You will sometimes want to pull your hair out, but who doesn’t? Life is by no means perfect, but it’s our responsibility to make it as good as it can be, not only for our families, but for US too.

There is nothing better in the world than being a writer. It is challenging, creative, intense and fun. When I’m in the throes of work I love, I am so deep in the zone there is nothing else in the world that I want to do (except kiss Svenja who is just irresistable).

But sometimes, the writer’s life makes me feel blue. Why? Because we put so many hours into our work, and so many of those words fall by the wayside. The hours and hours and hours of intensity feel great when you’re in them, and then not so great when they go nowhere.

See, that’s the thing about writing: it takes a lot of going nowhere to get somewhere!

I see a strong parallel to mothering. It’s many hours of work, with a huge upside, but sometimes it just feels like you’re throwing yourself heart and soul into something and you can’t count on the outcome you want. It’s hard to give so much energy to something when the results aren’t guaranteed.

That’s why enjoying the moment is so key. If you can enjoy the process — the sitting at the keyboard, the chatting with your child — then every moment has value in it… and it’s not just about the end result.