84 Comments

This was so beautiful and is the first time I've ever heard the term "mother-writer" but it makes all the sense in the world. I'm currently writing this comment during nap time, and I have two hours ahead of me of uninterrupted time to write until the mothering begins for the rest of the day. When you spoke about your kids growing up it gave me a pit in my stomach, knowing that my own will quickly grow right before my very eyes. What a sacred time mothering is. Thank you for sharing this.

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Thank you so much Hunter. I remember those precious nap time moments so clearly. Sacred indeed. 🤍

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Beautifully written. 'Gently teasing out the writer thread' , a lovely image. My 2 boys left home 20 years ago. It is a slight wobble of the boat, but, with your writing habit embedded, I feel you'll float on the bobbing waves. Thank you for your words.

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Oh thank you Jude, that’s encouraging. The gradual change is disconcerting, but it feels like a blossoming too, somehow. 🤍

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Laura, I just read it for the first time somehow, and it resonates so deeply. I'm also a mother-writer, although perhaps more of a writer-mother these days. And as I emerged from the early years, I found myself in the sea, as well as on the page.

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And I definitely found myself in the water, too.

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Ahh, thank you Annette. Yes, I too am moving towards writer-mother territory now...

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Such beautiful words Laura. I am a dad, and reading your words helped me to see what my wife may be experiencing. Our kids are in their early 20s and at various stages of getting ready to leave the nest. Thank you for your use of words to give me yet another perspective that the love of my life might be experiencing as a mom.

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That’s so wonderful to hear, thank you Dan 💫

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THIS. This resonated so very much, as both a mother of babies + toddlers, and a teenager. Thank you for sharing your beautiful words!

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Thank you for reading! 💫

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I feel this. But as a mother-musician. The disentanglement is knotty.

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So knotty!

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I’ve become a grandmother-writer. It is only now that I have the time to do the thing I love. I applaud all the mother-writers out there. Keep it going!✍️

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I love this so much. My own grandmother started writing a blog at eighty! Grandmother-writers have so many stories to tell 🤍

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I can relate although I was a working mother with a full-time day job, but now a grandmother-writer. I too have snippets of adventures and such with my children and now grandchildren who I spend almost as much time with them as I did my own. Now retired, I'm busier than ever and also have to make time to write, but I love it and will continue to do so. The article hit home for me. It's so good to know I'm not alone with this. Yes, we write in isolation, but we are still a united and very unique group.

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Yes, so true. Thank you Vera 💫

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We are both grandmother-writers! How lovely to share this title.

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A beautiful read. I hope to be a mother-writer one day and it's lovely to read about how you navigate that balance. Love the idea of our writing existing around the "edges" of our lives and then there being shifts that put the writing more at the centre - can relate to elements of that even now.

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Thank you so much Charlene. Sometimes even day by day it feels like a shifting balance between the edges and the centre, doesn’t it? 💫

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Absolutely - I'm trying to redress the work / writing balance at the moment so that I can share more consistently on Substack. I've just started but I feel determined to carve out that time and prioritise it. Feels good to make things... ✨

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Lovely ❤️ and I can completely resonate as I feel I have longer stretches of time to myself throughout the day... my son is 15 and I now have to ask him to spend time with me 😂

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Haha, same! 😄

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It’s the first time I hear the term “mother-writer” and I couldn’t relate more as I’m full time mom of a 15 months baby with a cookbook deal signed. Nap time are so precious to me, but reading what you said about the arms that were once around your neck you and that now reach to the world just made me realize how much I love having those arms around My neck and how fast she’ll grow. Thank you so much for the words and the reading tips. Sorry for any typo or anything (I’m brazilian)

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Oh wow, congratulations on your cookbook deal! And on your little one - those arms are indeed so precious. Do you read A Lot on Her Plate, Rosie Birkett’s Substack? She’s also a food writer with a little one. All the very best with your book :)

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No, but I’m gonna take a look right now :)) thanks

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I loved this. It’s so rare to have motherhood described in such a way these days. It is such a polarizing topic and an oddly precarious place to be.....you are slowly working your way from one calling into another. The scales are tipping over into your writing universe.

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Oh I love that... from one calling to another... yes! Thank you.

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Oh my word, I feel this post deeply. My youngest just started school 8 weeks ago and I've been feeling so topsy turvy at the transition from writing stories in my head to the possibility of assuming a new identity as a writer. Ahhhh but mother-writer sounds perfect to me xxx

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Yes! We can be - we are - both. 🤍 The youngest starting school is a big day. Sending you all best.

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I resonate with what you wrote here so much. It fits that my little 3 month old is napping on me while read this. I too started a substack, so mothering and writing seem to be "my thing" right now in this season of life. Mothering has brought me back to my love of writing and this piece you wrote is such an inspiration to keep on exploring this new season in words. xx

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Oh how wonderful to read this whilst your baby naps on you! I'm so glad that it resonated.

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Beautiful words.

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Thank you Claire 🤍

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So beautifully written

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Thank you 🤍

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