Why Did I Want to Be a Mother?: A Workbook for Mothers Who Are Wondering Why Motherhood Isn’t Quite the Way They Thought It Would Be

By Kate Lindley PhD

Most books tell us about how to be a good mother to our children, which is sometimes needed. There are few books that tell us about what it is like to be part of the community of mothers, about the challenges that we face and that give us something to reflect upon.

I am concerned about mothers’ well-being, which depends to a great extent on the recognition and support that they receive. If our children’s well-being depends on their mothers, then we would all be better off if we helped mothers rather than blaming them. While I was researching for my doctorate, I often asked the question, why do we spend so much money on studying mother-child interactions instead of spending it to support mothers?

There is a working theory, which states that if we want to help children we need to help their parents. As it is so often the mothers who bear the major part of the responsibility and the daily involvement of bringing up children, I have chosen to write about and for them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Oct 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781984592002

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by Kate Lindley, PhD.

ISBN:                  Softcover                        978-1-9845-9201-9

                            eBook                              978-1-9845-9200-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date:    10/15/2019

Xlibris

800-056-3182

www.Xlibrispublishing.co.uk

802273

For my mother Anne C. Lindley who taught me so much about being a Mum

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Don’t We Have Enough Books About Mothers?

Time Out for You

Be Careful What You Wish For

Time Out

Bad Mothers Don’t Have A Maternal Instinct

Time Out

Getting Used to Motherhood

On an upwards learning curve

Time Out

What’s Important To You?

Reflecting on Challenging Situations

Reflecting on Wonderful Situations

Tackling Mother Guilt

Time Out

Bibliography