On Motherhood
Being a parent is hard. I think everyone knows that but nothing really prepares you for how hard and how much you are likely to find yourself second guessing every decision you make. Humans are designed to be raised in a village, with many pairs of hands and many generations of wisdom to ease the transition into parenthood. For a variety of reasons, few parents today have this village and the impact of this, along with the glossy lies of social media, mean that new parents often find themselves convinced of their own failure at this all important task. We are sold a fluffy, Instagram curated, “it’s the best thing you’ll ever experience” view of parenthood, motherhood in particular.
This gap between expectation and reality is part of what inspired the character of Maggie in The Cuckoo Sister. She expects that she should know what she is doing and she should be enjoying it all, because that’s what we tell new parents. She hides what she considers to be her failures, to the detriment of everyone until it all becomes too much. I took this scenario and asked questions of it. What would happen if you did walk away? And what would happen while you were gone?
In The Cuckoo Sister I look at what it is to be a mother-what you gain and what you lose, but also how family isn’t always what you expect.
The Cuckoo Sister is out now! Start reading here: 🇬🇧 https://amzn.to/3GYBV7a 🇺🇸 https://amzn.to/3QRYcs2
