Remembering My Mother
Being the youngest of 10 children, I probably got more attention than my siblings did, particularly from my mother. My mom, Jeanette, was very good with babies; she could magically calm them down, when the rest of us had no success. My first child was born when I was very young myself, and having Jeanette as my mother really helped me to develop myself as a parent. By watching her, I learned to bathe, sooth, feed and comfort him. One night she came home from work and he had been fussy for hours, and nothing could calm him; she took him from me and within moments he was calm and sleeping- she couldn't stand to see a baby cry! As the babies got older, she wasn't so good with them asserting their independence, but she was the best baby soother I have ever seen. When I was giving birth to my first son, my mother was outside the room waiting and listening. Although she had 10 children, she knew little about childbirth because of the wonders...