Firsts - A Writing Motherhood Post & Chat

Today is the Writing Motherhood Post & Chat - a day when a circle of blogs will be blogging about "firsts" - first words, first steps, first days of school, first days without kids... in response to a writing prompt in Lisa Garrigues' book Writing Motherhood.  You can win a copy of the book, by linking your firsts at any of the blogs listed at Mom Blog Marketing.

At my house, firsts are as important as they've ever been, but their recording has dwindled.

I chronicled all of Bella's first dutifully, as I imagined my mother in law did with her sons. First smile, first tooth, first word - nothing was too trivial - I have them all neatly documented, often with pictures in Bella's baby book. I have a wrinkled and grease-stained piece of paper with dozens of words and dates as I tracked Bella's expanding vocabulary, early proof that I had given birth to a genius. Pictures capture her first carousel ride, her first birthday party. My camera captured my adorable little Bella on her big day, but my more experienced mother eyes now see a baby in a purple gingham smocked dress obviously overwhelmed by all the fuss. It's all in the book, painstakingly documented.

Jack has a book too. He actually has three, but two are blank. Only one has any writing or objects in it. The hospital gave it to us, all personalized with his birth information. I filled it during my last morning there, waiting for Steve to pick us up to take us home. Jack was already dressed in his gender neutral preemie onesie and sleeping soundly in Bella's hand-me-down car seat. I took the matching picture to Bella's hospital departure shot, packed our bags, and then used the rest of my free time, the last I would have for a long long time, to start his baby book. I filled out all I had learned about him in our first 72 hours together: his name, his birth weight, and his birth length. I slipped in the ink print of his tiny little feet and the hideous sample of his nursery picture. Then I closed the book. In the next few months, I hurriedly tucked in a few items so they wouldn't get thrown out: his rainbow-striped hospital cap, our hospital bracelets, and even a couple of pictures from his birth, but I never wrote in it again.

All of Juliette's books are blank. I just carry in my head the certainty that most of her firsts were earlier than her siblings. I celebrated Jack and Juliette's milestones just as much to their face, but I only captured my first's firsts.

You're Invited... to write about motherhood

Last September I signed up for a writing class at our local Y called Writing Motherhood. I had known about the class for years, and had always been intrigued by it, but the timing was never right for me. I also had a big obstacle in my way, keeping me from exploring writing. Although I was busy taking care of my kids and getting pregnant, but that wasn't my issue. My hang up was that I was scared that I would have nothing to say. I always said that I wanted to write a book one day, but I kept postponing starting.

I don't know what possessed me to sign up for the class, but it changed my life. I met Lisa Garrigues, the teacher and author of Writing Motherhood and she empowered me to write ... about everything. From dirty diapers to divorce, she showed me the poetry in my life.

Since taking her class, I've filled four notebooks with my scribblings. I've started this blog and have met wonderful people across the world. I've submitted a few articles for publication - have gotten rejected a bunch of times - but recently found out that our local Parent Pages is going to publish a piece I wrote about becoming a Jersey Girl. And suddenly I have a new goal to work towards as I emerge from the infant years - freelance writer. I wouldn't have done any of it if I hadn't signed up for Lisa's class.

Lisa's book has recently come out in paperback (I did a giveaway of it a few months ago), and I'm helping her to get some blog buzz by organizing a special event next Tuesday: the Writing Motherhood Post & Chat. A dozen or more blogs are going to be giving away a copy of Writing Motherhood to all their readers who write about Firsts - first words and other firsts - first shoes, first day of kindergarten, first day of college, any piece of writing that begins with the words "the first time..." To enter to win, just go to one or all of these blogs and either share a link of your post on your blog about firsts or comment about it on their blog.

The best part of the event is that Lisa is going to be commenting on everyone's posts all day on Tuesday - sharing some of her empowering feedback and great writing tips.

I'll be posting about some firsts on Tuesday - I hope you will too! Here is a list of the participating blogs - just go to any of them, or all of them on Tuesday and link to your post or just enter your "first" story in their comments. Good luck!:
- A Frog in my Soup
- It's My Life
- Monkey Business
- Laura Williams Musings
- Mama Bird Diaries
- Mommy Vents
- Not Just a Working Mom
- The 3Rs - Reading, 'Riting, and Randomness
- Role Mommy
- This Week for Dinner
- Nouvelle Blogger

Writing Motherhood Giveaway & Book Club

Today is book club day at NJ Moms Blog and its sister sites. We're talking about Lisa Garrigues' book Writing Motherhood, which has just come out in paperback. Lisa Garrigues has had a big impact on my life: through her book and the class she teaches in town, she inspired me to pick up the pen and start writing last September. I had always wanted to write, but I kept waiting for divine inspiration to strike. The topics I thought about never seemed interesting or important enough. Lisa showed me that my life is full of rich material and empowered me to begin writing about it. With the help of the writing invitations throughout her book, I am now on my fourth mother's notebook and my pen is still flowing every day. In addition to writing starts, Writing Motherhood is also a moving memoir of Lisa's journey through motherhood.

GIVEAWAY! I'm going to be giving away a signed copy of Lisa's book to celebrate this day. To enter, please write a comment to this post letting me know whether you are a writer or would like to be a writer someday. Do you have a story you've always wanted to tell? You can comment about that too. I'll pick the winner at random next week.

Definitely check out the posts at NJ Mom's Blog. All the participants have written about their worst mothering moment or the rules in their house. I chose my worst mothering moment: Missing the bus.

Here's a little excerpt:
"Last fall, on a beautiful September day full of lingering summer heat, Bella stepped onto the bus for her first day of kindergarten. She had been a shy and often tentative child for the first five years of her life, but she didn't hesitate as she skipped onto the bus. She had been looking forward to kindergarten all summer and she was thrilled to be riding the bus to school. She was ready.

When Bella returned that first day, she walked off the bus slowly but proudly. I could tell that she wanted to run into my arms, but was self-conscious about acting as cool as all the second and third graders around her. Her beaming grin, however, was not tempered by any inhibitions. She'd had a great day and was thrilled to find me at the agreed upon spot to tell me all about it. She'd stepped out into a new world, confident that the security of home would be awaiting her triumphant return.

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