What Mothers Do Especially When It Looks Like Nothing (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781585425914)

Instead of preaching what mothers ought to do, psychotherapist Naomi Stadlen explains what mothers already do in the course of any exhausting day's work. Drawing from countless conversations with hundreds of mothers spanning more than a decade, What Mothers Do provides lucid insight into the true experience of motherhood and answers the perennial question common to mothers everywhere: What have I done all day?

Stadlen's wise reflections, threaded throughout with the voices of real mothers, explore unsentimental reactions to motherhood-resentment, guilt, splintered identity, crippling inefficiency, and deadening fatigue. Yet the overriding sentiment is one of empowerment and wonder, as Stadlen illustrates how seemingly insignificant skills such as responding to a baby's colicky cry, being instantly interruptible, or soothing an overstimulated child to sleep profoundly contribute to an individual's socialization, self-worth, and curiosity. Remarkably perceptive and heartening, What Mothers Do will resonate with mothers everywhere in search of understanding and wisdom.

Author: Naomi Stadlen
ISBN-10: 1585425915
ISBN-13: 9781585425914
Publisher: Tarcherperigee
Language: English
Published: 09/06/2007
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.69lbs
Size: 8.41h x 5.81w x 0.94d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 10/15/2007