And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready

by Meaghan O'Connell

“Nobody knows how to read yet,” my mom assured me. “That’s why you’re in school. To learn!” “No, Mom!” I told her. I was insistent. “They do. I can tell because during silent reading time everyone looks at the pages of their books and moves their lips.” “Oh,” she said. “Well, what do you do?” “I look at the pages of my book and move my lips!”

What if, instead of worrying about scaring pregnant women, people told them the truth? What if pregnant women were treated like thinking adults? What if everyone worried less about giving women a bad impression of motherhood?