May 7th, 2009
Giveaway: Copies of Certain Girls for Certain Women
This month in our REVIEWS section, I reviewed the latest offering from the fabulously funny Jennifer Weiner, Certain Girls . This novel is a mother-daughter story, that’s also a sequel to Weiner’s very first novel, Good in Bed.
In honor of Mother’s Day, and because the nice folks at Atria Books have made it possible, we have FIVE copies of this novel to give to some of our readers in the US and Canada (sorry, the cost of shipping limits who can win).
How do you get one?
Leave us a comment on this post about your favorite mother-daughter moment (in your life). We’ll pick five, and let you know in our June 1 update who the winner is. Deadline? May 29th.
May 16th, 2009 at 7:39 am
My favorite mother-daughter moment, you ask?? Let’s see..My mother and I do not have what you would call a typical “mother-daughter” relationship so this one is a bit tricky. My fondest memories of my mother come from my early childhood. My parents were that tumultuos, dramatic “on and off’ couple who tended to seperate for the majority of my youth so most of my time growing up was spent with my mother and when I tell you that I was far from the dream child it is putting it mildly!
I was painfully shy growing up and the only friends that I had were the two Ukrakranian sisters who lived around the corner from our second story apartment, who were only allowed to play with me in increments of 20 or so minutes. Needless to say, my best friend became the television set and my mother.
She tried desperately to get me friends in one silly way or another. My mom would throw these little parties for me for no reason just to get the neighborhood kids over to our apartment in an effort to score me at least one little girl who was willing to play with me.
After being dragged kicking and screaming by their parents to attend my mothers little shin digs, they would be forced to sit there and watch the clock as my mother struggled the best she could to entertain a group of seven year olds because her lame ass daughter just sat on the piano bench with her head down, silently pressing keys in an effort to create any sound that would drown out the humilation running coarsely through her little veins.
I will never forget this one particular get together where I again, sat silent on the piano bench of my grandmothers house in which we were living, staring into space, not having a clue as to what to say to these red headed siblings who shared our back yard, whom my mother had basically forced to come to my “party” and be my friend. In a valliant effort my mother went up into the attic in search for a board game, anything that these kids might find remotely fun and as she climed the last flight of stairs, my new found friends announced they were leaving and walked out our front door. My reaction; as usual, silence. Hard to imagine what the rush was in them leaving!
I will never forget that vision of my mother coming down the last set of our grandmothers’ stairs, a few lame games in her hands because they were all we could afford and the astonishment on her face at the emptiness of our living room.
“Where did everyone go!?” she asked as if there were more than two of them.
“They left.” I replied quietly.
Suddenly she took me by the hand and dragged me off of my piano bench sanctuary and led me out our front screen door.
“Well, we have to make sure that they got home okay.”
“Please don’t knock on their door, mommy.”
Silence.
“Mommy?”
“I won’t, I just want to make sure they got home okay, It is dark outside.”
Halfway around our block, I burst into tears and I could hear the heartache in my mothers’ voice.
“It’s okay, Jessi. We will throw another party and this one will be even better!!”
“I’m not crying about them leaving..I’m crying because you tried so hard and they left anyway. I feel so bad for you!”
“Jessi! Why are you worrying about me!? Don’t worry about me! Come here.”
I don’t remember what words were exchanged after this moment, but I do remember my mother holding me and even at the tender age of seven, I knew with every ounce of my being that being a mother could be the most heartbreaking thing in the world and I was in no rush to become one.
May 17th, 2009 at 3:31 am
[…] your favorite mother daughter moment via a comment on this post, and you could be one of five lucky winners of a free […]
May 26th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
I have so many moments in my life that include my mother. Some not so good, some downright terrible, but most very good and the kind that leave you feeling warm and fuzzy and thankful you have the mother that you do.
One of the very best moments I had with my mom was during a trip we made to visit a college I was applying to in Savannah, Georgia. The trip was a difficult one for us. It was a time when I was rebellious, in love and didn’t want to leave for college, but was madly in love with college and the idea of leaving. So it was a pull and push kind of time for both myself and my mother.
After such a long time of travel, we finally made it into the city and of course, we drive right into the worst part of town. Tired, lost and in the dark, we looked at each other as our car aimlessly rolled around the dark streets.
There was a moment of panic as we came to grips with the fact that we were lost and had no one to call or get directions from. We did not have any hotel reservations, we didn’t have a map and we had no idea where we were going. But as we looked at each other, and even though we were in the midst of that teenage angst period of our lives where we loved and fought with equal passion, we knew that regardless of what happened, we were together and things were alright. We had endured and things would get better and worse, but having each other made it totally worth it.
It’s the kind of moment that passes between two people with only a look. No words needed to be spoken. It was the pure pleasure and joy of knowing you were with someone you loved and had experienced so much with, good and bad, and the one person that you could draw strength from. Even though the moment came and went so quickly, that understanding we shared at that moment, in that car, in that street, and at that point of our lives significantly made a difference in our trip and in the years to come.
That moment has come and gone and I am now a mother myself. Because of all those small moments I’ve shared with my own mother, I know find myself much more aware of my own special moments with my daughters. Will they remember things as I have? What special moments will they remember with me? I think about this a lot and in doing so, it has framed the way I relate to my girls. Acknowledging those little moments with my mom, has given me the ability to form stronger and better moments with my girls. Thanks mom…you will always rock!
May 29th, 2009 at 3:07 am
One of my favorite Mother Daughter moments was when my daughter and I volunteered at the local humane society side-by-side!
It wasn’t easy but we felt so good about what we were doing=)