Mothers' Day Writer Mama Guest Post: Lindsay Eland

(Guest writer-mama # 2, Lindsay Eland, is the author of Scones and Sensibility. I believe this is one of the times where less of an intro is more, so I'll be quiet now and get to her lovely words...)



To all the mothers buried under mounds of laundry and dishes and homework

To all the mothers that kiss their kids good-bye…sending them off to school, to college, to their own families, to war

To all the mothers whose hearts have ached at every scraped knee, every broken heart, every good-bye

To all the mothers who have worried and prayed and stayed up until the car pulls into the driveway…no matter how late the clock struck

To all the mothers who aren’t the same in the mirror as they were before…but who are so much more beautiful and full of life and wonder and love because of having a child
To all the mothers who have a hidden lion underneath their soft skin and gentle touch…a ferocious love that doesn’t go away or diminish as time goes on

To all the mothers who do it all alone—the cooking and cleaning and crying and loving

To all the mothers who have taken children who aren’t their own and sewn them into their hearts forever


To all the mothers who loved their child enough to give them a better chance

To all the mothers that have cried over the babies that left them too early but were loved a lifetime over

To all the mothers still dreaming dreams

To all the mothers reawakening old dreams

To all the mothers laughing or crying, singing or skipping, reading or sleeping, old or young or in-between…

Happy Mother’s Day!


(You can visit Lindsay at http://lindsayeland.com/)

Mothers' Day Writer Mama Guest Post: Rosanne Parry

You're in for a special Mothers' Day Weekend treat (not of the chocolate variety, though I hope you mothers will get plenty of that at home)... For each day this weekend, I will be posting a guest post by a writer/mother who has inspired me; I am sure their posts will give you much inspiration as well!
Today we have Rosanne Parry, author of Heart of a Shepherd, discuss her own mother's influence on her writing...and I know it has already had influence on mine as well. Thanks, Rosanne!

I could say any number of things about my mother and my writing. I could tell you how she taught me to read when I was four, had the chicken pox, and was bored out of my mind. I could tell about her love of poetry, how she always had a table just my size with paper, pens, paint, scissors, and glue. How she almost never interrupted me when I was working. But when I think about what she did that made the most difference in my life as a writer, it’s this: my mother never said a negative thing about herself in my hearing.

She had plenty of negative things to say to me which is why I had oatmeal for breakfast instead of brownies, and I wrote a thank you note this morning, and I am not picking my nose as I write this. But she never had a critical word for herself. I’m sure it’s not that she’s never had regrets or felt dissatisfied. But in a world that expects a woman to be self-effacing, she chose to remain uncritical of her appearance, her work, her relationships and her life choices. It is, in its silence, as bold a feminist statement as any I’ve heard.


And it has had an important impact on my own writing process. We all have our inner critic. The difference is that mine has never been one that says: “You have no talent. You are never going to finish this. You will never be good enough.”


I get my share of doubts and self-criticism, but they sound more like this: “This character is too much like this other one and needs his own voice. This scene needs more specific and detailed action. This work needs more time to develop.”


It’s a subtle difference but an important one. One that helps me stick with a story until it’s done, look at the story dispassionately when I revise, and receive the critique of my writers group and editor in the spirit it is intended.


I’d like to say that I’ve done the same for my own daughters. I’ve certainly tried but it takes a measure of self-discipline to swim against a cultural expectation so ingrained most of us never think about it. So my Mother’s Day wish, beyond a lifetime of thanks to my mom, is that my own girls will learn to speak of their bodies, their choices and their work with respect and without excuses.


So how about you moms out there? Chime in on the comments with one thing about your work that makes you proud. Or maybe lay to rest for good a self-defeating phrase you hear yourself using. It’s the Mother’s Day gift that only you can give yourself—a gift that endures in the lives of your daughters. Happy Mother’s Day!

You can visit Rosanne at her website: http://www.rosanneparry.com/