Better late than never.

I meant to post this days ago, but I'm a bit late because I’m a mother. That happens these days.

A while back my brother-in-law sent me a link to this new book called "Sippy Cups Are Not For Chardonnay." It is supposedly a compilation of essays that "deliver the straight dirt on parenting" (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12204538/). He asked for my feedback, thinking that I could easily write something better than this. While I think he may have been overly nice to me with that comment, if it gets me interviewed by Matt Lauer, I just may make a go at it!!

So my feedback on the excerpt I read is that it was just okay. One part made me laugh out loud, but I’ve now forgotten what it was. The issues that she wants to discuss are, apparently, not the issues I would want to discuss, but that doesn’t make her writing bad. Her point was definitely good. I can’t count the number of times I’ve lost my dignity for my daughter—and not just during labor and delivery—already, and I know that will only continue. That said, she felt a bit cynical to me, I guess. It’s probably because she is a comedian . . . I don’t get comedians. Maybe the full book is better, but I don’t think I would pick it up and read it based upon this excerpt.

I thanked him for sharing, though, because that one part made me laugh really hard. I remembered later that it was the swimming part—seriously, who would enroll their one-day-old baby in swimming lessons?! Who even knows that they HAVE a baby when it’s only one day old? It was also inspiration to write down some of my own thoughts.

And that's where this was born. So maybe it's a good thing after all.

That's a TALL order!

It's a high calling on life, to be a mother. It's an even higher calling to be a mommy. And while my ability to be funny may be subjective and I may only be a writer in my head, I am definitely a mother. And the little girl in the laundry basket chewing on a purple flower finger puppet and occasionally looking up at me to offer me a tongue-sticking-out, gummy smile seems to think of me as mommy. So there you have it. And that's a fine identity for now. Let's see what I can do with it.