Early morning coz I couldn't sleep!

A friend told me after reading my last post that she wanted to slap me, hey I wanted to slap me too! That's was kind of the point I was trying to make, hormones do crazy things and having a baby seems to shoot women back into 50's housewife mode faster than you can say "My name is ...blah... and I am a feminist". I think that's been the hardest adjustment of having a kid for me, trying to keep a hold of my feminist identity. I had been an independent woman for so long, and when I did finally move in with my partner, insisted everything be shared out equally. Why did this suddenly change almost overnight??? And it's not like I have a completely useless partner, he will do lots for bubbadoo, and cooks a couple of nights a week, but it's the way I almost have to beg and bargain for these things that makes me feel totally degraded.

Something I realised after my conversation with said friend yesterday is that there will be a lot of people reading this blog who did not know me in my pre-mummy existence... uh oh....

I finished Misconceptions last night, and I was right, the 3rd part went back to that more personal approach I was hoping for. She talked a lot about the effect of babies on relationships and the kinds of stuff I was exploring myself, it's scary how the traditional gender roles become to apparent after becoming a parent, I just hope it's a temporary thing... I said hope, i'm not holding my breath.

She discusses her own struggle with Post-partum (post-natal) depression, the Cesarean she felt she was forced into and friends struggles with feeding. I get a lot more out of memoir's than anything else I read, I like the bravery of someone who's putting their story out there. If this book sounds of interest you might also like Brooke Shields Down came the rain, her own memoir of post-partum depression. (and the one that she copped all the flack from Tom Cruise about!). I've also seen another one in my library, Marie Osmond's Behind my smile, but couldn't bring myself to read that one... find her just way too cheesy and annoying!