Description
Book SynopsisAlthough motherhood writings are rich and emerging, the available literature on midlife motherhood and mothering is incomplete and often presented from a narrow perspective. Middle Grounds: Essays on Midlife Mothering fills this gap, widening the lens on a sociological phenomenon that is expanding in the twenty first century. It brings together scholarly and creative essays from diverse disciplines and cultural perspectives to reflect a more contemporary viewpoint — that motherhood and mothering is not limited by the stages of life or chronological age. It echoes distinct voices speaking about experiences that represent a global reality for midlife mothering practices. In essence, this collection demonstrates that everything can transpire in the middle period of a woman’s life. Thus, in midlife, we encounter a broad range of mothering experiences and practices, and ways of rep- resenting and expressing them.
Trade Review“This powerful collection of essays explores the timely and important topic of mothering and midlife. One of the strengths of this collection is the variety of voices and genres, including scholarly chapters, personal reflections, and graphic narratives. Women today face professional responsibilities and caregiving pressures from multiple directions, and the chapters of Middle Grounds: Essays on Midlife Mothering offer scholars important insights and reassuring narratives to those working to reconcile competing demands. As the contributors poignantly demonstrate, mothering from the middle poses challenges as well as exciting possibilities.”—Abigail L. Palko, co-editor of Mothers, Mothering and Globalization and Cul- tural Representations of Breastfeeding // “Middle Grounds opens up the possibilities that so much transpires in the middle of mothering between joy, suffering, tensions and limits. In reading these authors from diverse perspectives and forms, we are beckoned to conscious mothering, as their tales dance us between light, shadow, dark and colours. This is a book that calls forth a turning from scared to sacred, reaffirming the connection between the personal and universal. These authors caress the details with depth, nuance and wisdom and sing into the world; shifting midlife out of the doldrums of predictability. Packed with insights and wisdom, artfully crafted, I am beckoned to once again honour every moment.”—Celeste Snowber, author of Embodied Inquiry and Wild Tourist
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Kathy Mantas and Lorinda Peterson On a Collision Course? Feminist Ideals and the Mothering Professional in Middle Age Kerri S. Kearney Falling Back, Springing Forward: An Older First-Time Mother’s Experience of Time Kathy Mantas Balancing Motherhood, Work, and Mental Health in Midlife: One Mother’s Personal Struggles Amy Leisenring Beyond Grasping for Straws in the Dark: Hospice as a Model for a Team-Oriented Approach to Mothering in Midlife Pamela K. Coke Into and Out of the Fire: A Retrospective Journal Cara L. Preuss Institutional Mothering: Middling between University, Home, and Jail Tobi Jacobi Parenting through the Fog Niki Kaiser Lilia’s World Suzanne Kamata Grief Catherine Moeller Mothering Myself: A Journey with/to the Inner Child Amy Lee The Benefits and Injuries of Midlife Mothering through an Autoethnographic Lens: Or, Don’t Call Me Grandma Nicole Willey Midlife Burnout: Mothering, Multiple Roles, and Multiple Losses Victoria Team Failure Is Not an Option: Learning to Succeed at Parenting in Midlife Erin Doering Rock-a-Bye Baby: Mothering in Midlife Elisabeth Hanscombe Mother Unmoored: Letting Myself Be Lost, I Got Found Sheila Martel My Mother’s Mother Margaret Kent Bass Caricaturing Single, Midlife Motherhood in Vanity’s Brief Encounters Penelope Mendonça Taking Custody Lorinda Peterson Home Economicus: Some Disjunctures in Midlife Mothering Lois Klassen When Story Time Is Over: Mothering Adult Children by Practising Productive Silence Fiona Joy Green and Jaqueline McLeod Rogers About the Contributors
