When Did I Get Like This? Indeed, When Did I?!? Guest Post from Author Amy Wilson!

Amy Wilson perfectly expresses the feeling of so many women, who suddenly find themselves with a child or two--all the illusions they had about motherhood have flown out the window and all they (read: I) really want is some peace and quiet and to sleep in one morning (ANY morning!). She is the author of the off-Broadway hit Mother Load which is now on tour, and today, her memoir, How Did I Get Like This? The Screamer, The Worrier, The Dinosaur-Chicken-Nugget Buyer & Other Mothers I Swore I'd Never Be goes on sale. I'm so pleased to have this guest post from her about how she's reclaiming reading in her mommy life. Read on, I think many of you will relate.

I am so excited to write a guest post for Book Club Girl, because for me, 2010 has been the year of Rediscovering Reading. For most of my life, I was a voracious reader; I finished at least forty Agatha Christie mysteries from the library up the street the summer that I turned eleven. But after having three kids in five years, the only reading I was doing was Skippyjon Jones. Every single night.  Once the kids were in bed, I’d flop on the couch, watch something inane on the DVR, then stumble to bed, too exhausted to do anything else.

But this year, two things happened to bring the joy of reading back into my life. First, my older two children became old enough to enjoy chapter books read to them at bedtime. We began last summer with Little House in the Big Woods. I prepared myself to not be too disappointed when my two sons had no patience for Half-Pint and her adventures in pioneer Wisconsin. But they hung on Wilder’s every word.  Since finishing that series, we have gotten through the first two and half Harry Potter books, and I am at least as excited as the boys to snuggle on my seven-year-old’s bed to find out what happens next at Hogwarts.

Second, I read Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project (I know you liked it too Book Club Girl!), which stressed the importance of refinding the things in which you take great joy, but have let fall away. For me that’s reading, I thought, but I just don’t have the energy. I’m too tired. It took a moment for it to dawn on me that at that moment, I was reading, and it was later than ten p.m., and I’d read two chapters, and I wasn’t snoring yet. My baby is two-and-a-half now. I sleep through the night now. I can once again make time for the things that I love the most—even for things that are just for me.

And so I haved vowed to read more (and watch TV less) in 2010, and I have, and it makes me very happy. Last month I devoured Game Change and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and now I’m on to A Gate at the Stairs. I don’t belong to a book club—yet—but that’s my next project. I may just start my own: Formerly Exhausted Mothers Who Have Reclaimed Their Reading Time.

To find out more about When Did I Get Like This? check out the hilarious video below. Browse inside the book, look for Amy on tour near you and, you can also follow her on Twitter and friend her on Facebook. You won't be sorry you did. 

Comments

[Stephanie]

Looks like we are reading the same things! My 8 year old daughter and I have been enjoying Harry Potter also and are currently in the middle of book three. It is a re-read for me, but an entirely new experience for Leah! Her teacher is currently reading Little House in the Big Woods to Leah's second grade class. Like you, I'm surprised by how much all the kids are enjoying it! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on motherhood and reading with us!

[Martha]

It took me a long time to reclaim my reading time but now, I lavish in it. By taking my reading time I've shown my kids the importance of reading on their own. Now, we're all a family of readers.

[Mrsdsm929]

I stumbled across this page looking for reviews on When Did I Get Like This? I too have rediscovered reading...my son is 6 and a half and my daughter 2 and a half. I just finished Game Change as well and after your mention I may have to read the Happiness Project. I am currently reading Begin with Yes but it is quite a snore. Your post resonated and inspired me...thanks