Seeing 3AM

Most of us know that for a parent to be up at 3AM someone in the house is probably needing a dose of Tylenol or possibly a little back rub to coax a kid back to sleep. (Or maybe you are up because you have been receiving a back rub by another grown up and....) At any rate, it's not an hour I myself often find myself returning to my house, but this is exactly what happened on the evening of MotherTalk.

Being in a room with over 50 moms (and one RebelDad) listening to Marion, Miriam and Andi read from their essays found in It's A Girlis something all of us need to do. We all need to get together and talk about the trials, tribulations and especially the joy of parenting as much as we possibly can. As each woman shared their essays, I watched the expressions of the mothers in the room as they took in what they were hearing. Marion read an excerpt from her 1996 book The Lunch-box Chronicles . I realized the first time I read that book my son was a little over a year old and I had skimmed the parts of the book which describes parenting older kids. Suffice it to say, I came home and dug out the book again for a second read!

don't' dismiss the idea of reading Andi's book It's a Girl because you only have a son or two, let me put that thought to rest. Being that I am a daughter, I was intrigued by the essays written by mothers of daughters. I found it intriguing as to what my own mother may have been feeling/thinking about having a daughter. So if you are a daughter, this is reason enough to read the book!

Another benefit of attending a MotherTalk is who you might find after you mill around with the other attendees. Tracy Thompson, added wonderful insights to the discussion, it was also pleasure to meet the mother behind the blog Half Changed World. Elizabeth and I shared a conversation which she in turn blogged about here. The Internet is so vast yet still we find one another. Amazing!