On Motherhood, Wherein a Few Musings Leave the Nest
For some reason unknown to me, this summer I have more friends and co-workers expecting babies than has been true in all my years of parenthood. And while not all of these mothers have sought my advice, a surprising number have asked me to share my wisdom. I admit, gentle reader, to no small amount of alarm in thinking that I have reached that silver-frosted age where people assume I have wisdom worth imparting on the topic of childrearing. I'm not so humble as to keep my opinion to myself about many other topics, but motherhood? Oh, honey, are you sure you want to hear from me? This week, the child who made me a mother turned 16. When I think about this statement, I feel as though I need to follow it up with a comment about how the second born made me a different kind of mother, the third; a third, and the fourth; again another. And then, honesty compels me to think about the one I never got to parent and how this one, too, formed me as mother. Lest you get carried away thinking t...