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At a recent college reunion, Irish-American author Donna Conaton Baer won first place in her Brown University class of 1982 – and likely atop every Ivy League class of the last 50 years – for bearing the most children. On St. Patrick’s Day, her new book Strong Happy Family: Unexpected Advice from an Ivy League Mom of Ten, becomes available via Amazon and other booksellers to answer 10 frequent questions she gets on her less-traveled path, as a double-digit mother with a brood to rival those of sprawling Gaelic clans past.
Raised near New York City and regarding herself a feminist when she arrived as a pre-med student at Brown (the Ivy school affectionately known then as “The Democratic National Day Care Center”) along with other Irish Catholic Democrats like schoolmate John F. Kennedy Jr., she imagined having just a couple of kids. But, shortly after becoming an investment banking officer, a baby came: “Then it dawned on me: if one child could create so much joy, what could two children do?” After number three, “We pulled the goalie for good…. For over twenty years straight, I was either pregnant, nursing or both.”
Although her breezy, 116 pages are salted with recipes for corned beef, cabbage and her mom’s Irish Soda Bread – plus quips Irish icons like Vice President Joe Biden, JFK Jr. and actress Patricia Heaton and have said to her – Baer’s book deals with practical, year-round FAQ’s she gets like,
- “How do you get children to do what you say?”
- “How do you raise happy teens or tweens?”
- “What do you do for struggling learners?”
- “How do you organize the home?”
- “How do you keep them all fed?”
- “What do you do about laundry?”
- “How do you get through a miscarriage?”
- “How do you handle the holidays?”
- “How do you give your kids a sense of meaning and purpose?”
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David L. Marcus says of Strong Happy Family and its author, “She writes about parenting the same way she approaches parenting: in a cheerful, practical style, with surprising tips on everything from assigning chores to dealing with ADHD.” After teaching for a time at Baltimore’s elite Oldfields School – Larry King’s daughter was one of her students – Baer has home-schooled two daughters and eight sons, five up into college and five to go. She said, “I wanted to write something warm to remind all of us, in this rapid-change society of ours, how truly vital our homes and families are, and to offer some kind, practical advice, especially to younger moms or frazzled parents, on how to make it all work.”
The granddaughter of “a Fighting Irish Notre Damer who played ball for Knute Rockne,” Baer added, “There are many books on families and homemaking in religious bookstores. But, I wanted to write one that’s accessible for caring moms and involved dads of any outlook, whether secular, progressive, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, or none of the above.” The book includes the friendly Irish blessing, “May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back… May God hold you in the palm of his hand.” For any busy parent, that may be a lot better than “Good luck!”
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About the Author: Donna Conaton Baer, a 1982 graduate of Brown University, home-schooled and tutored her eight sons and two daughters, five up into college and five to go. With her husband of 30 years, they reside in the Chicago area. Donna’s book Strong Happy Family: Unexpected Advice from an Ivy League Mom of Ten will be released on St. Patrick’s Day, Monday, March 17.
About Strong Happy Family
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Strong Happy Family: Unexpected Advice from an Ivy League Mom of Ten
by Donna Baer
