The Gift Of An Ordinary Day : A Mother's Memoir
By: Katrina Kenison
Publisher: SpringBoard Press
Date: September 7, 2009
Format: Hardcover
Category: Biography &Autobiography
Pages: 320
My Rating:
About the Book:
The Gift of an Ordinary Day is an intimate memoir of a family in transition-boys becoming teenagers, careers ending and new ones opening up, an attempt to find a deeper sense of place, and a slower pace, in a small New England town. It is a story of mid-life longings and discoveries, of lessons learned in the search for home and a new sense of purpose, and the bittersweet intensity of life with teenagers--holding on, letting go.
Poised on the threshold between family life as she's always known it and her older son's departure for college, Kenison is surprised to find that the times she treasures most are the ordinary, unremarkable moments of everyday life, the very moments that she once took for granted, or rushed right through without noticing at all.
The relationships, hopes, and dreams that Kenison illuminates will touch women's hearts, and her words will inspire mothers everywhere as they try to make peace with the inevitable changes in store.
My Thoughts:
If you're thirty (or above)and have children, I think this novel will speak volumes to you. Actually, anyone that has ever questioned the meaning of their own life and wondered "What if?" would love this novel. Alright, it's one that I would recommend to anyone.
This is a beautifully written novel with a lesson that speaks from the heart. It makes you think about your day to day actions and how it effects your family. Have you ever wondered what your family life would be without the complications of "life" in general getting in the way? You know ... the schedules, the appointments, the here and there and most of all the materialistic nature of most "trying to keep up with the Jones'? Life without the harshness, rumors and fast-pace?
Our main Character Katrina Kenison suddenly finds herself feeling just like that. Overcome with life and searching for a life not so cluttered. She decides to take her family back to her quiet childhood home in New Hampshire, far away from the busy Boston streets. It's there where they find life at a much slower pace, where she can savor the time she has with her children and find out exactly who she is.
As a mother, it is tough to separate ourselves from being just that, "someones mother" and "you as a person". As an example or to better explain this, my own personal reference would be am I "D's Mother" or "Amy". For most mother's it's hard to see the *I* in all of this. What we want for ourselves and not just for our children parents seem to naturally just do that. Once you're a mother, that's the position we take on for life. Usually pushing back what we want and/or need for what we consider to be best for the child. I know I'd give up anything so my child could have what he wants and most mothers I know, feel the same. Kenison does a wonderful job in explaining the importance of being there for your child but not smothering them, letting them blossom into the people that they want to be, show them good from bad and live each day with all you have.
I couldn't have loved this memoir any more. It's one of those life-changing books. I believe that as mother's we both look forward too and yet feel a sense of loss with each big milestone. I know you're probably thinking I'm crazy but I think of When my son started Kindergarten, I was so proud that he was starting school and going to make new friends but felt a sense of loss that I no longer had my "baby". Then his first full day of school where I couldn't believe how much he'd grown and how much he was learning but again was away from me all day. Then Junior high school, high school, and *gasp* girls. We all know that it's coming and that they are all meant to be nurtured, shown right from wrong and then let go to live their own lives, make themselves happy and be the people they want to be.
What's left of you when you've made your whole life the nurturer, the one that shows right from wrong, and then the one that watches them make their own lives from afar. You have to be YOU and not just your child's mother. It's important to their well-being as well as your own and Katrina really leads the way. And for that, I can't thank her enough for The Gift Of An Ordinary Day.
About the Author:
KATRINA KENISON has been the annual editor of The Best American Short Stories since 1990. Along with John Updike, she edited The Best American Short Stories of the Century, a New York Times bestseller. Also the coeditor of Mothers: Twenty Stories of Contemporary Motherhood, she has written essays that have appeared in such publications as Redbook and Ladies' Home Journal. Katrina Kenison lives outside of Boston with her husband and their two sons.
Visit Katrina's Site!
Read an Excerpt!
By: Katrina Kenison
Publisher: SpringBoard Press
Date: September 7, 2009
Format: Hardcover
Category: Biography &Autobiography
Pages: 320
My Rating:
About the Book:
The Gift of an Ordinary Day is an intimate memoir of a family in transition-boys becoming teenagers, careers ending and new ones opening up, an attempt to find a deeper sense of place, and a slower pace, in a small New England town. It is a story of mid-life longings and discoveries, of lessons learned in the search for home and a new sense of purpose, and the bittersweet intensity of life with teenagers--holding on, letting go.
Poised on the threshold between family life as she's always known it and her older son's departure for college, Kenison is surprised to find that the times she treasures most are the ordinary, unremarkable moments of everyday life, the very moments that she once took for granted, or rushed right through without noticing at all.
The relationships, hopes, and dreams that Kenison illuminates will touch women's hearts, and her words will inspire mothers everywhere as they try to make peace with the inevitable changes in store.
My Thoughts:
If you're thirty (or above)and have children, I think this novel will speak volumes to you. Actually, anyone that has ever questioned the meaning of their own life and wondered "What if?" would love this novel. Alright, it's one that I would recommend to anyone.
This is a beautifully written novel with a lesson that speaks from the heart. It makes you think about your day to day actions and how it effects your family. Have you ever wondered what your family life would be without the complications of "life" in general getting in the way? You know ... the schedules, the appointments, the here and there and most of all the materialistic nature of most "trying to keep up with the Jones'? Life without the harshness, rumors and fast-pace?
Our main Character Katrina Kenison suddenly finds herself feeling just like that. Overcome with life and searching for a life not so cluttered. She decides to take her family back to her quiet childhood home in New Hampshire, far away from the busy Boston streets. It's there where they find life at a much slower pace, where she can savor the time she has with her children and find out exactly who she is.
As a mother, it is tough to separate ourselves from being just that, "someones mother" and "you as a person". As an example or to better explain this, my own personal reference would be am I "D's Mother" or "Amy". For most mother's it's hard to see the *I* in all of this. What we want for ourselves and not just for our children parents seem to naturally just do that. Once you're a mother, that's the position we take on for life. Usually pushing back what we want and/or need for what we consider to be best for the child. I know I'd give up anything so my child could have what he wants and most mothers I know, feel the same. Kenison does a wonderful job in explaining the importance of being there for your child but not smothering them, letting them blossom into the people that they want to be, show them good from bad and live each day with all you have.
I couldn't have loved this memoir any more. It's one of those life-changing books. I believe that as mother's we both look forward too and yet feel a sense of loss with each big milestone. I know you're probably thinking I'm crazy but I think of When my son started Kindergarten, I was so proud that he was starting school and going to make new friends but felt a sense of loss that I no longer had my "baby". Then his first full day of school where I couldn't believe how much he'd grown and how much he was learning but again was away from me all day. Then Junior high school, high school, and *gasp* girls. We all know that it's coming and that they are all meant to be nurtured, shown right from wrong and then let go to live their own lives, make themselves happy and be the people they want to be.
What's left of you when you've made your whole life the nurturer, the one that shows right from wrong, and then the one that watches them make their own lives from afar. You have to be YOU and not just your child's mother. It's important to their well-being as well as your own and Katrina really leads the way. And for that, I can't thank her enough for The Gift Of An Ordinary Day.
About the Author:
KATRINA KENISON has been the annual editor of The Best American Short Stories since 1990. Along with John Updike, she edited The Best American Short Stories of the Century, a New York Times bestseller. Also the coeditor of Mothers: Twenty Stories of Contemporary Motherhood, she has written essays that have appeared in such publications as Redbook and Ladies' Home Journal. Katrina Kenison lives outside of Boston with her husband and their two sons.
Visit Katrina's Site!
Read an Excerpt!
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