Motherhood and Other Natural Disasters

Book excerpt: Jan Blackburn grew up watching Harriet Nelson, June Cleaver, and Marion Cunningham. These women, who joyfully cleaned their houses in pantyhose and heels, embodied the characteristics of the wife and mother Jan believed she would become one day. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, Jan thinks she may have been misinformed. Unlike her television heroines of the fifties, she is perpetually late, constantly dieting, and always busy; she cannot remember the last time she enjoyed a bubble bath. Luckily, she is not alone. Apparently millions of parents never received a complimentary instruction manual with their little bundles of joy either. Covering a span of more than twenty years, Jan offers a humorous and sometimes poignant look at the joys and sorrows of parenting while comparing a simpler time with the realities of todays world. As she reveals her secret battles with culinary mishaps, dieting, and parenting her children through changing times, Jan helps women realize that we are all in this together, even as Mom-isms, school fundraisers, and guts that leave an eighteen-hour girdle quaking in its Spandex begin to take over our lives. Motherhood and Other Natural Disasters shares one womans journey through the mythical, magical mystery of motherhood, proving that none of us are alone as we navigate through the roller coaster ride called parenting.