Finding Your Inner Mama: Women Reflect on the Challenges and Rewards of Motherhood

by Eden Steinberg (Editor)

Overview

Motherhood can be one of the most intense and transformative experiences of a woman's life. While there are many books that offer the "do's and don'ts" of effective parenting, few offer guidance on navigating the tumultuous inner experience of being a mother, with all its joy, pain, change, and uncertainty. This collection of writing by psychologists, poets, novelists, spiritual teachers, and everyday moms explores the rich, transformative journey of motherhood.

   •  Poet and novelist Louise Erdrich captures the sheer wonder and awe of early motherhood.
   •  Self-described "hip momma" Ariel Gore reflects on the challenges of dealing with her daughter's adolescent rebellion.
   •  Journalist Joan Peters highlights the rise of the "Power Mom" and the risks of overparenting to our children and ourselves.
   • Zen teacher Cheri Huber shares a spiritual perspective: sometimes it's us parents who need a "time out" so that we can be more fully present and loving with our children. 

Previously published in hardcover under the title Your Children Will Raise You.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781590304235
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	07/10/2007
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.75(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

Eden Steinberg is a graduate of Swarthmore College and Harvard Divinity School. She works as a book editor and lives in the Boston area with her husband and two sons.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     ix
Introduction     xi
The Reality of Being a Mother
Writings from a Birth Year   Louise Erdrich     3
A Crash Course in Vulnerability and Other Lessons   Harriet Lerner     13
Anger and Tenderness   Adrienne Rich     26
Giving Birth to Ambivalence   Andrea J. Buchanan     32
My Daughter at Fourteen   Carolyn Magner Mason     39
The Way I Dreamed It   Ariel Gore     43
One Week until College   Sandi Kahn Shelton     50
The Inner Work of Motherhood
Dawn   Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer     59
Children as Spiritual Teachers   Cheryl Dimof     68
Responding to "Bad" Behavior   Wendy Mogel     76
Parenting with Mindful Awareness   Myla Kabat-Zinn   Jon Kabat-Zinn     90
Recognizing Our Hidden Wounds   Harvilk Hendrix   Helen LaKelly Hunt     99
The Sacred Chaos of Parenthood   Carolyn R. Gimian     114
"Exceptional" Mothering in a "Normal" World   Miriam Greenspan     126
Why Is Being a Mother So Hard?
Guilt-What It Does to Us   Anne Roiphe     147
The New Momism   Susan J. Douglas   Meredith W. Michaels     157
Power Moms and the Problem of Overparenting   Joan K. Peters     176
Claiming the Joy   Daphne de Marneffe     189
Finding Balance
Tell Your Secrets   Ariel Gore     203
Simplicity   Katrina Kenison     207
I'm Breathing, Are You?   Nancy Hathaway     214
Good-bye Herd   Muffy Mead-Ferro     225
Time-Out for Parents   Cheri Huber   Melinda Guyol     235
Sitting in Happy   Denise Roy     244
Contributors     247
Credits     253

Editorial Reviews

Grab the tissues and let the dishes pile up in the sink—at last there is a book that speaks to a mother's heart.”—Publishers Weekly


“For all current and prospective mothers, this assembly of motherly sagacity will prove indispensable as both a reference and a much-needed dose of soul food.”—Kirkus

“This is not your average parenting book, but a distinctive collection of writings about the emotional and spiritual landscape of motherhood. . . . Essential reading for every mother.”—Library Journal (starred review)


“A satisfying collection of essays on the exquisite emotional complexities of life as a mother.”—Mothering

“This has become the book that I will give to every new mother. It is written by women of courage, insight, and vision who are putting into words a realm of experience that has traditionally been left without language.”—Juno (UK)

“Seeking the inner Mama turns out to be as much fun as it is spiritual. Witty and erudite, the book is a delight.”—Portland Book Review

From the Publisher