Send Me Into the Woods Alone

Book excerpt: Dispatches from modern motherhood by a reluctant suburbanite Send Me Into The Woods Alone is an honest, heartfelt, and often hilarious collection of essays on the the joys, struggles, and complexities of motherhood. These essays touch on the major milestones of raising children, from giving birth (and having approximately a million hands in your vagina) and taking your beautiful newborn home (and feeling like you've stolen your baby from the hospital), to lying to kids about the Tooth Fairy and mastering the subtle art of beating children at board games. Plus the pitfalls of online culture and the #winemom phenomenon, and the unattainable expectations placed on mothers today. Written from the perspective of an always tired, often anxious, and reluctant suburbanite who is doing her damn best, these essays articulate one woman's experience in order to help mothers of all kinds process the wildly variable, deeply different ways in which being a mom changes our lives. Reading Pepler's essays is like hanging out with your best mom-friend--the one who puts it all out there, makes you feel normal and has you laughing so hard you pee a bit."--Kim Shiffman, editor-in-chief, Today's Parent "Easily the most validating book you'll read this year."--Ann Douglas, author of Happy Parents, Happy Kids and The Mother of All Pregnancy Books