Between Mothers and Sons

""The challenge for mothers of sons is to realize that because we do not share a sexual identity, that because we have not grown up in a male body, we cannot presume to understand everything there is to know about our sons' worlds."" -- Patricia Stevens "Between Mothers and Sons" is the first anthology in which women writers attempt to answer the question that all mothers have contemplated in the course of mothering the opposite sex: "Who is this male child who came out of my body?" Or, as a pregnant Mary Gordon said when her doctor told her she was having a boy, "Oh, my God. What am I supposed to do with one of them?" From the earliest days of nursing to the good-byes of college and looming adulthood, these writers collectively explore, in a thrilling range of styles and sensibilities, the delights and frustrations, the deep and often conflicted emotions, they feel in their roles as mothers to their male children. "Between Mothers and Sons" resoundingly and unflinchingly celebrates this journey we are all making with our boys.
with essays from:
Julene Bair + Janet Burroway + Robb Forman Dew
Deborah Galyan + Mary Gordon + Joy Harjo + Anne Lamott
Susan Lester + Jo-Ann Mapson + Leigh McKinley
Valerie Monroe + Naomi Shihab Nye + Eileen Pollack
Jewell Parker Rhodes + Patricia Stevens + Sallie Tilsdale
Kris Vervaecke + Patricia Williams

CONTENTS

Sons as Teachers: An Introduction

Sallie Tisdale

Scars; In Four Parts

Anne Lamott

Operating Instructions
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Janet Burroway

Soldier Son

Deborah Galyan

Watching Star Trek with Dylan

Kris Vervaecke

Fourteen

Jewell Parker Rhodes

Evan

Eileen Pollack

Syllogisms

Naomi Shihab Nye

Little Nomad

Julene Bair

Nick's Door

Joy Harjo

Understanding the Weave: Notes on Raising a Son

Susan Lester

Belongings

Mary Gordon

Mother and Son

Priscilla Leigh McKinley

Jonathan Bing

Jo-Ann Mapson

Navigating the Channel Islands

Robb Forman Dew

Safe as Houses

Patricia J. Williams

On Throwing Like a Girl

Patricia Stevens

Auto Mechanics

Valerie Monroe

Feet

Permissions

List of Contributors

Acknowledgments