Quiet Reading Corner

This weekend, when I was off at a friend's wedding, I had the chance to finish What Mothers Do Especially When It Looks Like Nothing by Naomi Stadlen.

In reading this, I was thrown back to a couple of years ago when Jack was small. I would be at home and wonder, what did I do all day? I'm sure that I did something but when Jon came home, all I could mutter would be things like, "Totally exhausted. Here's son. Must sleep." God love Jon, he would ask with genuine interest in helping me cope better, "what made this day so exhausting?" I had no way to tell him why I was so tired.

I wish back then, someone had given me this book. This book was the voice that I did not have three years ago when dealing with my newborn son.

Told through interviews with mothers in London, Naomi Stadlen shows us exactly WHAT we do during the day. I swear, she must have heard me speaking to my friends at some point because so many of the quotes sounded just as if I had said them.

She makes many points in the book but one that really struck me is the uncertainty that so many mothers have about raising their children and the fact that so many books have conflicting information in them. Of course, we put so much pressure on ourselves to be the best parent we can. So, to whom do we turn for advice? We turn to books. This can be the most frustrating course of action.

What Mothers Do is a calming force in the sea of parenting books. It shows us how we are terrific parents and that we are not alone. It does not try to give us advice on whether or not we should let our babies cry but rather shows us that no matter whether or not we let our babies cry, each tiny decision we make on behalf of our children during the day is definitely not nothing.