Looking for a new book to read this summer?
Christina and Carolyn were thrilled to find out their babies would be born close together. Already sisters and best friends, they could now be ‘Mom-friends.’ After the babies were born they quickly found momm-ing was a challenge and often a lonely journey, even together. So they issued an open invite throughout their community with the added lure of coffee and donuts. It didn't take long for them to realize moms wanted something more than playgrounds, they wanted to connect on a deeper level. A casual mat-leave coffee club evolved into a community of women, a movement of mothers seeking connection, and a safe place to share experiences. When the pandemic hit and sharing drinks and snacks was no longer possible, a book – a collection of stories from the MomBabe community became an idea and then a reality.
The MomBabes: A Motherhood Anthology is a collection of stories about strength, sadness, humour, grief, loss, personal and professional triumph, marathons, unexpected bowel movements and more. It’s full of previously un-shared stories that reveal how complex and resilient the inner lives of women really are.
Authors Christina and Carolyn shared some insight into the book, the community and what it takes to be a MomBabe.
We are Christina and Carolyn, sisters, moms, wives, daughters, friends, authors, podcasters, and founders of the MomBabe community. Technically any person who identifies as a mom is a MomBabe and is automatically part of our online (or offline) community. Being a mom is the toughest job in the world. Sometimes it’s infuriating and sometimes it’s mind-blowingly awesome so anyone who can relate to that rollercoaster is in.
What began as an experiment in friendship has quite literally become a community. It is motherhood; It is womanhood; It is sisterhood.
We are moms, but we are so much more. We are Babes. And this book proves that, over and over again, chapter by chapter, piece by piece. No two stories are alike, and yet they all have one thing in common: behind each chapter is a woman who, at one time or another, struggled to see her inner-Babe, struggled to overcome a challenge, to know acceptance, or to find her people.
We’ve always been passionate about the idea of leaving a legacy. We realized when our dad passed away a few years ago that we don’t want to look back on our life, we want to focus on living. Stories and sharing experiences brought the MomBabe community together so we knew there were stories to tell. And when the pandemic stopped us from sharing our stories in person we found 20 women to connect on zoom and we all got writing.
“See a Mom, Ask a Mom.” Period.
Think grade school when you wanted to ask someone over to play, or you awkwardly asked to join someone’s lunch table in junior high, it’s like that. So, walk over there and ask another mom, hey want to grab a coffee? Or, hey your kid rolls in the dirt, mine too, let’s be friends. Once you’ve broken the ice with small talk about your children keep it real. Once you move on to the coffee date or dog walk, change subjects. Don’t just talk about your kids. Eventually, move onto what real women actually need to talk about. Ask questions.
For this, you’ll have to be brave, which doesn’t always come easy but it’s worth it.
The MomBabes, and this anthology, began as an experiment in the power of community—notably, of course, for mothers. However, we discovered in publishing this book that motherhood is so much more than simply caring for another human being. It is a journey of learning how to care for ourselves again, and that includes sharing parts of ourselves we’ve kept hidden away. We realized over the course of this journey how deeply lonely the experience of being a mom can be and just how much shame is rooted in our inability to share more of who we are - not just as mothers but as human beings with incredible stories of survival, resilience, and triumph.
No matter how pervasive the feeling of loneliness is for new moms (and also seasoned moms and moms who fight to be moms), it is still decidedly taboo. Nobody is talking about it. That is why we wrote this book.
This book is for anyone who is a mom, relates to a mom or has a mother-figure in their life. There are ALL types of women navigating motherhood; the full-time working mom, the new mom, the seasoned mom, momming triplets or teens, foster moms, an adoptive moms, and everything in between. Maybe you’re a mom-to-be or a mom yet-to-be. It’s for the mothers who never had children of their own; the aunts, sisters, babysitters, nannies who give us breaks, encouragement and love. And to the Dads! This book is for anyone who can learn from the experiences of others, which we believe, is everyone.
You can get your copy of the MomBabes: A Motherhood Anthology here.
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