Double Lives

Sewing, knitting and creative projects for pregnant friends have usurped my blogging time over the past few days, and I'm really enjoying the break. I wanted to pop in, however, to recommend a book that's captivating my attention lately as well: Double Lives: Writing and Motherhood. It's a hot off the press collection of personal essays by numerous authors, one of whom happens to be my "cousin-in-law." As a visual artist and a mother, I've found so many connection points with these writers and their descriptions of the tremendous challenges and joys of attempting to combine two demanding creative pursuits.

Double trouble on the home front as well as my younger son masters crawling and the older one shifts into an intensely possessive phase around "his" toys, "his" chair, "his" everything. While Baby Boy gesticulates gleefully whenever a bird flies by our window, Toddler Boy was recently overheard admonishing robins who were snacking in front of our house: "Dat's my lawn! Birdies go away!" (Insert amused head shaking here.)