Because I Said So

33 Mothers Write About Children, Sex, Men, Aging, Faith, Race, and Themselves

edited by Kate Moses and Camille Peri

I nurse Calder to sleep at naptime.  Not at bedtime, because Ari insisted that we not go down that road again, but no one else it home at naptime, and I love cuddling my little boy off to sleep.  So we rock, and nurse, and I read.

In my life before kids, I read one book at a time.  I focused, I concentrated, I finished one thing before starting another.  Now I am the queen of multitasking.  In addition to the laundry, the construction projects, the dog walking, the playing, and the constant tidying, I have a book in each room.  

They’re carefully chosen: a novel in the bedroom, where I unwind at the end of the day.  A parenting book in the living room, where its very presence will supposedly remind me to breathe, be consistent, avoid setting us all up for sibling rivalry.  And a book of essays tucked into the pocket of the glider, to read while I nurse my baby.

This one is perfect.  Some of the essays resonate so strongly with my life, my experience of motherhood.  Others are so far from my understanding that they are unimaginable.  But all are beautifully written, heartfelt, and powerful.  They remind me, each day at naptime, of the trials and joys we all share on some level, and of the rich material motherhood provides.