Rockabye

I know I am late to the party on this one- I read about this book all over the blogosphere awhile ago but just finished it myself. For anyone who has not yet read, Rockabye: From Wild to Child, by Rebecca Woolf, go get it- right now.

My wonderful writing teacher, Lisa Garrigues, has been telling me for months to underline while I was reading- I fought her tooth and nail on this one- I just couldn't do it. It ruined the story for me. Rockabye is such a wonderful story but also such a beautifully written one that I couldn't stop underlining- I was underlining faster than I was reading- I wanted to make sure these lines stayed with me forever.

Rebecca tells the story of her unplanned pregnancy at age 23 or 24. While not everyone's story, I believe that many of her feelings are indeed universal. While many of us planned our pregnancies, many of us were equally caught off gaurd when the baby arrived- I know I was! Rebecca's honesty is refreshing in this "everything is fine" world. This book should be required reading for all new moms- it is hard but it is ok.

The one part that I want to the remember the most is a story that Rebecca tells about playing in the rain with her son.

She writes, "I join him. Because it is a lot more fun to say yes. And I start to think maybe it's just as important to cross the lines as it is to draw them...There is no such thing as messing up if you go with your heart, and it's a whole lot easier to let go and enjoy the ride, singing along with makeshift microphones until the rain goes away or the traffic clears. You can't learn that from a book or the Internet or an overpriced class or seminar. That you learn from falling on your face in the sand, from spinning the kaleidoscope and splashing puddles in the rain. Wisdom is for sale everywhere, but the real answers are inside."

While my book is covered in underlining, it is only that last line above that was also starred- if only I could remember this all the time- parenting is a big game of trusting your gut- go with it, do what seems right, stop buying the books and just do it. Maybe it would be a lot more fun that way....