Synopses & Reviews
According to Andrea Buchanan, "mother shock" is the state in which many new parents exist during those first confusing, chaotic, and often comical years of parenting. It is the clash between expectation and result, theory and reality; a twilight zone of 24-hour-a-day living where life is no longer neatly divided into day and night. It is the stress of trying to acclimate quickly to the immediacy of mothering; of formulating a new conception of oneself, one's role in the family and in the world; of shouldering a fearful new level of responsibility and a new delegation of domestic duties.
In this much-needed and delightfully funny collection, Buchanan shares the insight she gains as she moves through the stages of mother shock. From "Fear of the Double Stroller" and "Confessions of a Bottle Feeder" to "I'm an Idiot" and "Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in Playgroup," Buchanan details the unimaginably difficult and unbelievably rewarding process of becoming a mother.
Review
"Buchanan writes fluently and with both feet on the ground, always aspiring to show readers her way of mothering not as a model but as an example. Her commonsense, nonjudgmental approach is especially praiseworthy." Library Journal
Review
"Buchanan documents the anxiety and thrill of new motherhood...in a way that's as entertaining as it is brave." Philadelphia Weekly
Review
"Potently honest....Buchanan's...capacity for self-reflection paves the path for all mothers...to explore the complex feelings that accompany motherhood." Big Apple Parent
Review
"Buchanan writes in a graceful, down-to-earth style." Brain, Child Magazine
Synopsis
According to Andrea Buchanan, "mother shock" is the state in which many new parents find themselves during those first confusing, chaotic, and often comical years of parenting. In this much-needed and delightfully funny collection, Buchanan shares the insight she gains as she moves through the stages of this new-mom syndrome.
About the Author
Andrea Buchanan's work has been featured in the collection Breeder: Real Life Stories from the New Generation of Mothers and in on-line parenting magazines, including Oxygen.com's "MomsOnline" and hipMama.com. Her syndicated column "The Dark Side" runs on various websites, including the site she created for Philadelphia mothers, PhillyMama.com. Before becoming a mother, Andrea was a classical pianist. Her last recital was at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, back before she knew how to play the Teletubbies theme song. She lives with her family in Philadelphia.
Table of Contents
Introduction ix
I Mother Love
Birth of a Mother 3
Birth of a Mother: Part 2 12
Misconceptions 24
Mother Love 32
Pretty on the Inside 41
Separation Anxiety 46
II Mother Shock
Giving Birth to Ambivalence 53
Loving Every (Other) Minute of It 60
The Invisible Woman 66
Mother Shock 72
Motherly Advice 81
Fear of the Double Stroller 87
Letters to Emi 93
III Mother Tongue
Wednesdays in the Park 105
Confessions of a Bottle Feeder 112
A Fine Mess 118
Sleeping Like a Baby 123
I'm an Idiot 131
What's in a Name? 136
Mother Tongue 143
Everything I Really Needed to Know I Learned at Playgroup 151
Learning to Speak 162
IV Mother Land
Not Like Mozart 171
Fall Back 176
Forgetting 180
Changed World: Mothering After September 11 186
The Concert 191
Zen Mom, Beginner Mom 196
Piano Lessons 205
Mother Land 217
After Shock 222
Notes and Credits 229
Acknowledgments 233