Just in time for Mother’s Day, the editors of Wilton-based Brain,Child magazine have published a new book, This is Childhood: Book & Journal, that takes an honest look at the first ten years of a child’s life from a mother’s perspective. The collection of essays, each written by a different author, focus on a single year of childhood, from age one to ten, and provide a tender and moving recollection of those early years or glimpse into what’s to come.
The writers share their most intimate thoughts and feelings about motherhood, capturing the essence of each memorable year in exquisite detail. In “This is Five,” Alison Slater Tate poignantly writes, “Five goes to kindergarten, to the world of big-kid school: a graduation for both child and (often sniffly) parent. We spend years wishing for maybe just another hour of preschool, for just a little more time before the overtired and needy chaos returns home. Suddenly, we find ourselves in the thick of full-time school, and we miss that chaos. We miss the endless questions, the “Mommy, look at me!” We miss PBS Kids providing the background soundtrack of our weekday mornings (just me?). We mourn the loss of the majority of our children’s waking hours. We feel, more acutely, the ache of the passage of time. Five shows us how fast it goes…”
The collection of essays originally appeared as part of a series on the Huffington Post. Upon discovering the series, Marcelle Soviero, Brain,Child‘s Editor in Chief, and Brain,Child Editor, Randi Olin, felt that it had broad appeal – both to new mothers who were anticipating each stage of childhood, and to mothers who wished to remember and reminisce. After connecting with the writers, Soviero and Olin asked them expand upon their essays, adding notes and prompting them with additional questions.
“Working alongside these ten extraordinary writers, and mothers, has been an honor,” said Soviero. ”
This is Childhood includes prompts and places to write your own memories – turning each age into a conversation and a keepsake. Kristen Levithan, author of the “This is Two” essay, shares her hope that this book will inspire other moms to write down their experiences, “In this day of Instagram and 140 character communications, I hope that readers will see real value in the act of slowing down to record the details of a moment in a child’s life. I hope that the collection inspires other parents to tell the story of who their own children were at each age. I’m a writer so I’m probably biased, but I’ve never been persuaded that a picture is worth a thousand words. I think a thousand words can be worth quite a lot indeed.”
Whether you are a new mom just starting on the journey of motherhood, or a mother who has gone through some or all of the first ten years, these essays bring insight – or bring you back.
Would you like to win a copy of This is Childhood? Simply leave a comment telling us what age has been your favorite and why! A winner will be chosen at random.
