TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
This week I bring you:
Are we the mothers we had ourselves, or do we make a choice to be different? What kind of mothers will you be?
This is part of an entry from Barbara’s journal. Barbara is the deceased mother of four daughters in Things I Want My Daughters to Know; she began keeping the journal when she was reaching the end of her illness and her life.
Barbara Noble will be on Book Club Girl tonight to discuss her latest novel, find all the details and learn how to tune in, here.
So, are we the mother we had ourselves? I always thought I would do things differently when I was a mother, but, you know, now that I am a mother, I find that my own mother did it right most of the time! 
I definitely do some things differently than my mother. But alot the same too. I PROMISED myself as a child that I would NEVER say ‘because I am the mom’. The first time I said this (my girl was 6) I had to sit down and breathe deeply. Thankfully I can laugh about it now – saying it regularly too!
I am completely different than my mom. Thankfully.
I am almost done with this book. My power went out last night so I still have 50 pages or so to read.
Great and thought-provoking teaser
I am very different from my mother in some ways, but apart from a few teenage years I have always loved and admired my parents so I do not consciously try to do everything differently.
I really want to read this book!
I’m not sure what kind of mother I’ll be, but I do take after my own mother.
I really enjoyed this novel. I’ve read all of Noble’s books and they’re all great. I’m always on the look out for what she’ll do next. Good teaser too. I’m not a mother to a kid but I am to a dog and I do tend to take after my mother when getting after him. She yelled a lot and so do I. lol.
This sounds like a good one. You raise a good point. I know I’m similar in some ways to my mother but I made a conscious decision to do some things differently. Now I see my daughter doing the same with her children. Ahh, life moves ahead.
I definitely think my mom was a fantastic mother in many ways. I also feel like I fall short of the example she provided in many ways!!
I think this would probably be too hard for me to read since my mother died when I was so young.
I am so different from my mom in many ways (I look like her, but I’m my Dad on the inside!) Yet the older my kids get, the more I tend to appreciate what my mother did for us, even though my style is very different. She made plenty of mistakes, but she loved us — and that’s what really matters.
Ever since I became a mother, reading about motherhood has been a side hobby for me. (I mean, of course it would be … how could a reader not then read about one of the biggest experiences of her life? And hardest!) I think I’m going to have to look for this book. Thanks!
Michele – LOL! I had a list of things I wouldn’t say, including “because I said so”. Hmmm, guilty as charged!
Ti – we were away for the week and I was without my laptop (which was a nice break, I’ll admit), so I didn’t get to call in; I’ll listen to the podcast of the interview.
Dorte – the older I get, the more like my mother I find I am. A friend once told me a story/joke with the punch line “one day you’ll put on a sweater and your mother’s hand will poke out the end of the sleeve”
Swapna – It’s a whole different world from when I was growing up. My kids’ lives are different than mine was, but I think my values are very similar to my own parents’
Dar – and we can’t have pets because the boys have allergies, so I hear about that all the time. And, yes, we had a beautiful collie who was my “little brother” for 14 years!
Margot – so in Darwin’s world we’ll have perfect children in generations to come
Shana – what a compliment to your mother; but don’t be so hard on yourself … it’s a different world and we face different challenges/hurdles/obstacles than our mothers ever imagined when they were raising us!
Lenore – the book is well done, and we don’t see a lot of Barbara suffering with her illness. It might be difficult because it chronicles a year of the four daughters coping with the gap she left.
sarah – yes, as they say, hindsight is 20/20. I understand more of my parents’ choices now that I’m an adult/parent.
Jenners – Parenting styles and children’s personalities are like snowflakes … endless possibilities!
Hi — I’m back again. Just wanted to say — hope you had a relaxing and fun vacation! Welcome back. And I looked up Mystery Date in the coffee table book I posted about and it is in there — a two page spread in the Marvin Glass section. Just wanted to let you know and I couldn’t put my hands on your e-mail right away! : )
Unless you count my furbaby, then I’m not a mother lol.
I so want to read this book one day. By the way, I see by the button on your sidebar that you are going to participate in a breast cancer walk this year. I just wanted to personally say thank you. Breast cancer can be beat in our lifetime and I appreciate your efforts.