Mothering Outside The Lines

In this collection, authors transgress and uphold their maternal integrity as they dance at the edge of comfort and take up the challenge of exploring the boundaries of maternal practice– their own, their mothers, and those found in literature, media, or popular culture. These mothers assume a hopeful stance; actively choose courage over comfort; push through what is fun, fast, or easy, and show how they come to mother outside the lines in all its simplicity and complexity. As they bust outdated, tired, and ambiguous boundaries, they find and (re)set new boundaries that restore dignity and self-respect for themselves, their children, their families, and for the matricentric feminist collective, particularly those whose voices may continue to be silenced and marginalized by structures and limits beyond their control. Thirteen stories are threaded together to form a compelling tale showing how and why some mothers, when faced with ambiguous and untenable boundaries, resist the urge to accept the assumed, the unpredictable, even the demanded– whether they be internal or external, visible or invisible, real or imaginary.

Inspired by the legacy of radical and queer black feminists of the 1970s and ’80s, Revolutionary Mothering places marginalized mothers of color at the center of a world of necessary transformation. The challenges we face as movements working for racial, economic, reproductive, gender, and food justice, as well as anti-violence, anti-imperialist, and queer liberation are the same challenges that many mothers face every day. Oppressed mothers create a generous space for life in the face of life-threatening limits, activate a powerful vision of the future while navigating tangible concerns in the present, move beyond individual narratives of choice toward collective solutions, live for more than ourselves, and remain accountable to a future that we cannot always see. Revolutionary Mothering is a movement-shifting anthology committed to birthing new worlds, full of faith and hope for what we can raise up together. Contributors include June Jordan, Malkia A. Cyril, Esteli Juarez, Cynthia Dewi Oka, Fabiola Sandoval, Sumayyah Talibah, Victoria Law, Tara Villalba, Lola Mondragón, Christy NaMee Eriksen, Norma Angelica Marrun, Vivian Chin, Rachel Broadwater, Autumn Brown, Layne Russell, Noemi Martinez, Katie Kaput, alba onofrio, Gabriela Sandoval, Cheryl Boyce Taylor, Ariel Gore, Claire Barrera, Lisa Factora-Borchers, Fabielle Georges, H. Bindy K. Kang, Terri Nilliasca, Irene Lara, Panquetzani, Mamas of Color Rising, tk karakashian tunchez, Arielle Julia Brown, Lindsey Campbell, Micaela Cadena, and Karen Su.

A gripping novel about a woman who sets out to find the father who left her years ago, and ends up discovering herself. When Eden was ten years old she found her father, David, bleeding on the bathroom floor. The suicide attempt led to her parents’ divorce, and David all but vanished from Eden’s life. Twenty years later, Eden runs a successful catering company and dreams of opening a restaurant. Since childhood, she has heard from her father only rarely, just enough to know that he’s been living on the streets and struggling with mental illness. But lately there has been no word at all. After a series of failed romantic relationships and a health scare from her mother, Eden decides it’s time to find her father, to forgive him at last, and move forward with her own life. Her search takes her to a downtown Seattle homeless shelter, and to Jack Baker, its handsome and charming director. Jack convinces Eden to volunteer her skills as a professional chef with the shelter. In return, he helps her in her quest. As the connection between Eden and Jack grows stronger, and their investigation brings them closer to David, Eden must come to terms with her true emotions, the secrets her mother has kept from her, and the painful question of whether her father, after all these years, even wants to be found. The result is an emotionally rich and honest novel about making peace with the past—and embracing the future.

No-nonsense, sanity-saving insights from the Washington Post on Parenting columnist--for anyone who's drowning in parental pressure and advice that doesn't work. Ever feel overwhelmed by the stress and perfectionism of our overparenting culture--and at the same time, still look for solutions to ease the struggles of everyday family life? Parenting coach and Washington Post columnist Meghan Leahy feels your pain. Like her clients and readers, she grew weary of the endless "shoulds" of modern parenting--along with the simplistic rules and advice that often hurt more than help. Filled with insights based on child development and hard-won lessons in the trenches, this honest guide presents a new approach, offering permission to practice imperfect parenting with a strong dose of common sense, empathy, and laughter. You'll gain perspective on trusting your gut, picking your battles, and when to question what's "normal" (as opposed to what works best for your child). Forget impossible standards and dogma, and serving organic salmon to four-year-olds. Forget helicopters, tiger moms, and being "mindful" in the middle of a meltdown (your child's or your own). Instead, discover relatable insights for staying connected to your child and true to the parent you want to be (and already are).

In this collection, contributors reject the narrative that suggests that the pain of mothers must never be exposed. They allow their pain to wander outside the frame of the requisite pathos; individual pieces reveal pain to be a complex and intersectional practice that encompasses denial and disenfranchisement where pain is birthed and named; disorientation leading to a search for stable ground; destabilization that inspires non-normative mothering; and discovery as an active stance that transforms intergenerational pain. As contributors take up the challenge of unravelling their stories, they reach for a life-sustaining and hopeful shift in consciousness that allows them to listen to what pain has to offer without judgment; to imagine and create a different future for themselves, their children, and the world; and to let go of maternal pain and suffering as a way of being. Readers will be inspired by raw honesty, authenticity, and willingness to embrace story as a gift to self.

Dr. Andrea O'Reilly is internationally recognized as the founder of Motherhood Studies (2006) and its subfield Maternal Theory (2007), and creator of the concept of Matricentric Feminism, a feminism for and about mothers (2016) and Matricritics, a literary theory and practice for a reading of mother-focused texts (2021). With this collection O'Reilly continues the conversation on the meaning and nature of motherhood initiated by Adrienne Rich in Of Woman Born close to fifty years ago. In In (M)other Words, O'Reilly shares 25 of her chapters and articles published between 2009-2024 to examine the oppressive and empowering dimensions of mothering and to explore motherhood as institution, experience, subjectivity, and empowerment. The collection considers the central themes and theories of motherhood studies including normative motherhood, feminist mothering, maternal regret, matricentric pedagogy, young mothers, academic motherhood, matricentric feminism, matricritics, motherhood and feminism, the motherhood memoir, the twenty-first-century motherhood movement, mothers and daughters, mothers and sons, pandemic mothering, and the motherline.

Mothers and Sons: Centering Mother Knowledge makes a case for the need to de-gender the framing and study of parental legacy. The actualization of an entire collection on this dyad foregrounding motherhood without particularizing the absence of fatherhood is in itself revolutionary. This assemblage of analytical, narrative and creative renderings offers cross-disciplinary conceptualizations of maternal experiences across difference and mothering sons at intersections. The authors' mother knowledge, or that of their subjects, delivers new insights into the appellations mother, son, motherhood and sonhood.

This book invites readers to step lightly into a transformative realm where the conventional narratives of pregnancy, motherhood, and femininity are defied, reshaped, and celebrated. In response to decades of limited portrayals of pregnant women and mothers as merely &‘ good,' &‘ bad,' or &‘ monstrous,' this anthology intervenes with a diverse array of contributions from scholars, artists, activists, and those who have lived the journey of motherhood. It brings forth a colourful mosaic of perspectives that push beyond the confines of societal norms, presenting images, writings, and creative expressions bursting with authenticity and power. This anthology is an affirmation, a celebration, and a transformative journey that invites all to join in reframing the pregnant body and the lived experiences of motherhood, and in to deeper engagements with maternal feminist writing and thought.