Mother Talk - It's a Girl

Last night I was finally able to attend my very first Mother Talk here in Philly and meet Andi Buchanan , writer and also blogger, in person! I was looking forward to meeting Miriam Peskowitz as well, but she wasn't able to make it.

I felt a little lost at first, because I didn't know anyone there and most people seemed to know each other, but I was able to talk with a few mothers. I had read the essays beforehand, but the readings were fantastic!!

Yvonne Latty made everyone burst out laughing many times with hilarious anecdotes about her family, particularly about their participation in the Rosie O'Donnel cruise (that she and her family - two Black gay women from Philly, one Hispanic, another Jewish, with two daughters conceived through IUI - were utterly "boring" suburbanites as compared to most of the other GLBT families' stories of hardship to conceive, etc in the cruise) and the Disney World Breakfast with the Princesses (she and her oldest daughter were criticising/questioning the princesses, particularly Snow White - as to why she would take an apple from such an ugly witch - they actually asked the "princess" that! :)

Kim Fisher was shy and cute, and read her great essay titled "Shining, Shimmering, Splendid" about her triplet girls' identification with the Disney Princesses - which became a central theme of the evening discussions. Many women, I 'd even say most of those who were there, shared their experiences and their opinions about raising girls, there was also quite a bit of discussion about how girls are/aren't different from boys that I learned quite a bit from, since I have only boys and not girls.

Andi read her piece last, and had to stop before the end before she got too emotional. Her essay is about her daughter learning to write, and "daring" to write "I don't like you mommy," even though she can't yet spell "don't" and how Andi had to figure out that she had to allow her daughter to express herself even though it might hurt her feelings -- a really beautiful essay, and the discussion that followed was very meaningful.

I'm delighted I was able to finally make it to Mother Talk and will probably be able to go to others, now that my husband is successfully putting both boys to bed every night!! Well, in two weeks I'll be back with my very own review of It's a Girl, since I'm participating of the Blog Tour - Yay! Watch this space then.