Why This Blog?

I am the mother of three boys. My first son was born when I was just 19, so obviously my whole life was changed. My last two, much younger boys entered my life when I was 33 and 35, respectively. I felt much better prepared for them, and in some ways, I was. In others, less so. I had fourteen years between my first son and my later two to get used to being able to go places and not watch someone every second, cook dinner uninterrupted, and most importantly (to me, at least), get some quality reading time in. The arrival of the younger boys threw all that out the window.

I am a lifelong reader. I did go through a bit of a dry reading spell after the birth of big brother, but recovered quickly with Twilight. At the time, I was a stay-at-home mom with only one child, so reading was still possible. Between his birth and middle brother’s, I found my way into a career in bookselling at my local indie bookstore: all the books I could possibly want and full-time hours. I had just worked out some reading time with a little one at home when, less than two years later, we welcomed little brother to the family. I have one book club book a month that I finish most of the time, and that was the extent of my reading, outside of picture books at storytime. As a bookselling professional and a reader, this was not acceptable.

I have been struggling to get back to what I consider an acceptable number of books to be reading. No judgement of anyone else’s reading habits; I just need a certain number of books in my life to feel even. They are my “mommy time” and my safe haven, and I need them.

In some ways, this blog is just to give me extra motivation to make time for my reading. But in others, it is because I know there are other moms out there who struggle to balance motherhood with their “reading”, whether that actually is books for them or represents some other hobby that they set aside for time for their children but now feel like a fundamental piece of them is dying.

So, what can you expect on this blog? Book reviews, obviously. There will probably be more picture books than adult titles in the beginning, both because you go through them a lot faster, and because I am still working on building in my reading time; little brother just turned three months. But I’m also hoping to write about how making time for self-care, which looks a lot like reading for me personally, makes me stronger for my boys. I’m hoping as these little ones grow to be able to share how seeing me read has encouraged their love of reading or passion to pursue whatever their loves are. I’d love for this blog to have the balance of books and motherhood that I’m trying to achieve in my life.