Favorite parenting reading

When my son was born, my life was bisected into seemingly unrelated halves: "before kids" and "after kids." More than six years into it, I can look back on my evolving life as a mother with some perspective, but during the early years, I often felt bewildered by my new role, and unsure where to turn for camaraderie. Reading didn't help much; I didn't see myself reflected in most of the parenting books or mags.

Since then, much has been written in print and on the Web about the realities of 'modern' parenting. A growing body of literature -- I include blogs here -- comforts and instructs parents, not by offering expert advice, but by providing a window into the real-life experiences of other parents.

Here are a few of my current favorites:

In print:

• The Andrea Buchanan oeuvre: Mother Shock: Loving Every (Other) Minute of It, It's a Boy, Literary Mama: Reading for the Maternally Inclined (print anthology). It's a Girl will be out soon, and I don't doubt it will be fantastic.
• Brain, Child magazine
• Hip Mama zine, edited by Ariel Gore
• Writing Home, by Cindy La Ferle
• Mothers Who Think, edited by Camille Peri and Kate Moses

Online:

• Literary Mama
• Mothers Movement Online
• Mamazine
• Babycenter and Parentcenter
• The Imperfect Parent
• urbanMamas (I blog here, too, but only recently -- before that I turned to it for local mama community)
• Salon.com Life has a good essay on family life now and then, but I miss its original incarnation, Mothers Who Think, including the fantastic columns by Anne Lamott.

What parenting books/sites/blogs do you find yourself turning to again and again?

Technorati Tags: Baby, Motherhood, Parenting

Comments

[Sara in Austin]

During the first month of my daughter's life, I really enjoyed Anne Lamott's Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year. (I was already emotionally overwhelmed, so I laughed and cried throughout the whole book.)

I also really enjoyed Callie's Tally by Betsy Howie. (She keeps track of every baby-related dime she spends for an entire year... I really enjoyed the story told by the numbers, as well as her dithering over whether to "charge" her daughter for a particular expense. Fancy dress for baby -- no charge, that's for Mom's vanity. Weight Watchers -- charge!

Brooke Shield's Down Came the Rain was not a great read, but was a reassuring and honest look at post-partum depression.

For more spiritual reflection, I've enjoyed My Monastery is a Minivan by Denise Roy -- although it also makes me cry. (Motherhood has made me very sentimental...)

For fun vegging-out murder-mysteries, I like Ayalet Waldeman's Mommy-Track Mysteries and Jennifer Weiner's Little Earthquakes and Goodnight Nobody.

[Jon Henshaw]

I of course like my own - FamilyResource.com

I just hired a full-time blogging mommy, so the blog should start to get much better.

http://www.familyresource.com/blog/

[caitlin]

Without a doubt:

The Three-Martini Playdate: A Practical Guide to Happy Parenting

by Christie Mellor

Not for the earnest parent and completely devoid of preciousness. Hilarious and made me wish with each page that I could write half as well.

[Twinmama]

I second the Three Martini Platedate. I'd also recommend "The Mother Trip: Hip Mama's Guide to Staying Sane in the Chaos of Motherhood" by Ariel Gore. I was thrilled to get her to sign my copy so I could tell her how much it meant to me and gave me hope.

[Kate]

blogs:
The venerable www.dooce.com
www.joyunexpected.com
www.daddytypes.com

I'll put in a third vote for the Three Martini Playdate.