Mommies Who Drink

I just finished a birthday present to myself, the book: Mommies Who Drink

At first I was really turned off because she talks about cocaine and how a friend can't do it with her because she has a playdate with a difficult child the next day (I'm thinking I would be horrified if someone was "hungover" from cocaine and responsible for watching my child). And from the Friday night happy hours to wine at every gathering to her always making martinis the book is permeated with alcohol. But I figured, ok, this is probably a valid experience for plenty of mothers, so I'll just ignore that part of it and continue reading. And I'm glad I did.
The book overall is about her search for a way to retain her prebaby self and also to cope in a world where most mothers seem perfectly fulfilled by immersion in their child-centric lives. While I occasionally found it off-putting, her musings on what life would be like-minus the husband and kids-is honest and something every mother's probably wondered about from time to time. I read reviews on amazon.com and one woman complains that in the book motherhood is all about YOU-the mother. Well, I think that's the point. Nevermind that the book is written from her point of view, so logically it would be largly about HER (duh!) Motherhood is not entirely about the kids. You do have to find a way to be a good mother and still retain parts of your old self. Which isn't as easy as it sounds.

Also, LA seems a very strange place to raise a child, it was interesting to read about. And she is quite funny, I enjoyed her reflections. There were several passages in the book that inspired thought, so for that alone I would recommend the book. It was a good read overall. I post this here not as a book review, but as a reminder, to myself and anyone else, that it is ok, necesary even, to cultivate that part of your life that doesn't revolve around care-taking(the kids or the man). (Now if only I could find a way to do that!)