I Wish Someone Had Told Me

A Realistic Guide to Early Motherhood

Academy Chicago
Nina Barrett
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There's no shortage of "expert" advice for the new mother: books, doctors, and well-meaning grandmothers liberally give opinions on what you should be doing and how you should be feeling. But I Wish Someone Had Told Me is not a book of shoulds: it is a book about how women really handle the joys, the challenges, and the problems of being a mother. During the course of her interviews with more than sixty new moms, Nina Barrett made an important discovery. No one knows the secret: we are all putting our motherhood together from scratch. This collection of tales from the front addresses universal topics from labor (yes, it hurts), to marriage (babies may create a strain rather than a bond), to daycare (there is no Mary Poppins), to everyday life with a baby (what exactly does a newborn do all day?). This book by mothers for mothers will instill confidence in all new mothers who fear that every other mother knows something that they do not.

Contributor Bio

Author of three books, Nina Barrett has published articles, essays, and reviews in many national publications and won two James Beard Awards (2012 and 2013) for her radio food reporting. She currently owns an independent bookstore in Evanston, Illinois called Bookends & Beginnings.

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